James Harmes

James Harmes
Harmes playing for Melbourne in April 2018
Personal information
Full name James Harmes
Nickname Horse
Born (1995-10-05) 5 October 1995
Original team Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)/Devon Meadows
Draft No. 2, 2014 rookie draft
Debut Round 15, 2015, Melbourne vs. Essendon, at MCG
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Position Midfielder
Club information
Current club MOE Western Bulldogs
Number 22
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014–2023 Melbourne 152 (78)
2024–2025 Western Bulldogs 22 (16)
Total 174 (94)
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

James Harmes (born 5 October 1995) is a former professional Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted to the Melbourne Football Club, making his made his AFL debut during the 2015 season and receiving a Rising Star nomination the following season. He played in Melbourne's drought-breaking 2021 premiership. He joined the Western Bulldogs in 2024 and retired from the AFL prior to the 2026 season.

Early life

Harmes was raised in Devon Meadows and attended Hillcrest Christian College in Clyde North and later Hallam Senior College (as part of their selective football academy) for secondary school.[1] He played his junior football with the Devon Meadows Football Club, including eight senior games when he was a horse at sixteen years of age.[1] He was recruited by the Dandenong Stingrays in 2012 to play in the TAC Cup as a bottom-aged player and played six games for the season.[2] He received mid-year state honours in 2013 by representing Victoria Country at the AFL Under 18 Championships and played two matches.[3] He spent the majority of his final junior year playing for the Dandenong Stingrays, including the grand final loss to the Eastern Ranges,[4] in addition he received the most determined award.[5]

AFL career

Barracking for the Melbourne Football Club as a youngster, Harmes was drafted by them with their first selection and second overall in the 2014 rookie draft.[1] In 2014, he spent the season playing in the Victoria Football League (VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions; he punctured his lung in the middle of the season which left him injured for six weeks.[6] After playing with the Casey Scorpions for the first half of 2015, he was promoted to Melbourne's senior list in July, replacing the injured Jack Trengove,[7] and he made his AFL debut in the nine point loss against Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round 15.[8] He played eight out of the nine remaining matches for the season after being rested for the round 22 match against Fremantle at Domain Stadium.[9] In the final round match against Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium, he received praise from the head of football writer at the Herald Sun, Mark Robinson, for his tenacity and contested play.[10] After two seasons on the rookie list, he was promoted to the senior list in November.[6]

After playing every pre-season match in the 2016 NAB Challenge,[11][12][13] Harmes started the season playing in the AFL when he played in the two-point win against Greater Western Sydney at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round one.[14] Stating that he plays his best football when he wins contested possessions,[15] he was named the round seven Rising Star nominee in the seventy-three point win against Gold Coast, where he recorded twenty-six disposals — eleven of which were contested — three goals, and five tackles.[16] He missed his first match for the season when he was omitted for the Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood in round twelve.[17] He returned to the side for the twenty-two point loss against Adelaide at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round fifteen.[18] He missed only one match for the remainder of the season, the round twenty-two match against Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground[19] to finish with nineteen matches for the season and place nineteenth overall in the club best and fairest count.[20]

At the conclusion of the 2023 AFL season, Harmes was traded to the Western Bulldogs for a future third-round selection.[21]

In February 2026, Harmes announced his retirement from the AFL, having played 174 matches across 11 seasons with Melbourne and the Bulldogs, kicking 94 goals.[22]

Statistics

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  #  
 Played in that season's 
premiership team
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2014 Melbourne 43 0 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 0
2015 Melbourne 43 8 3 5 43 51 94 19 24 0.4 0.6 5.4 6.4 11.8 2.4 3.0 0
2016 Melbourne 43 19 12 4 162 167 329 46 65 0.6 0.2 8.5 8.8 17.3 2.4 3.4 2
2017 Melbourne 43 17 14 12 138 156 294 50 57 0.8 0.7 8.1 9.2 17.3 2.9 3.4 0
2018 Melbourne 4 25 15 13 257 276 533 87 131 0.6 0.5 10.3 11.0 21.3 3.5 5.2 4
2019 Melbourne 4 22 12 16 274 264 538 82 113 0.5 0.7 12.5 12.0 24.5 3.7 5.1 4
2020[a] Melbourne 4 13 2 2 87 105 192 30 27 0.2 0.2 6.7 8.1 14.8 2.3 2.1 0
2021# Melbourne 4 18 7 10 152 222 374 52 94 0.4 0.6 8.4 12.3 20.8 2.9 5.2 0
2022[b] Melbourne 4 21 12 6 173 170 343 72 75 0.6 0.3 8.2 8.1 16.3 3.4 3.6 2
2023[c] Melbourne 4 9 1 5 50 61 111 13 31 0.1 0.6 5.6 6.8 12.3 1.4 3.4 0
2024 Western Bulldogs 22 9 7 2 71 67 138 37 25 0.8 0.2 7.9 7.4 15.3 4.1 2.8 4
2025 Western Bulldogs 22 13 9 6 104 122 226 40 34 0.7 0.5 8.0 9.4 17.4 3.1 2.6 1
Career[23] 174 94 81 1511 1661 3172 528 676 0.5 0.5 8.7 9.5 18.2 3.0 3.9 17

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ^ 2022 statistics include one game in which Harmes was substituted out of the game with an injury (round 9) and was replaced by Kade Chandler and two games in which he was an unused medical substitute (rounds 21 and 22).
  3. ^ 2023 statistics include three games in which Harmes was a used substitute (rounds 7, 8 & 11).

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c McEvoy, Simon (27 November 2013). "Lifelong Melbourne Football Club fan James Harmes fulfils his Demon dream through draft". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Player Profile—James Harmes". TACcup.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  3. ^ "2013 draft prospect: James Harmes". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. ^ Twomey, Callum (22 September 2013). "Likely No.1 pick Boyd fires as Eastern Ranges win TAC Cup flag". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  5. ^ Potter, Jarrod (23 October 2013). "Harmes keeps on keeping on". Pakenham Gazette. Star News Group. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ^ a b Ryan, Peter (28 October 2015). "Young Demon Harmes rewarded with senior elevation". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  7. ^ Burgan, Matt (9 July 2015). "Harmes a chance to debut against Dons". MelbourneFC.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  8. ^ Burgan, Matt (9 July 2015). "Harmes over the moon about debut". MelbourneFC.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  9. ^ Burgan, Matt (27 August 2015). "Brayshaw, Harmes to rest". MelbourneFC.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  10. ^ Robinson, Mark (7 September 2015). "Mark Robinson's likes, dislikes from Round 23". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  11. ^ Thring, Harry (27 February 2016). "Second-half blitz helps Demons run over Power". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  12. ^ Ryan, Peter (6 March 2016). "Determined Demons outlast young Bulldogs". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  13. ^ King, Travis (13 March 2016). "Dees' belief building as win over Saints maintains perfect record". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  14. ^ Schmook, Nathan (26 March 2016). "Hogan leads late charge as Dees cut down Giants". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  15. ^ Landsberger, Sam (9 May 2016). "James Harmes claims Rising Star nomination for Round 4 after setting personal records in Melbourne's win". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  16. ^ Guthrie, Ben (9 May 2016). "'Unprofessional' Harmes goes from nearly cut to Rising Star nom". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  17. ^ Burgan, Matt (11 June 2016). "Viney, Kennedy named in final 22". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  18. ^ King, Travis; Navaratnam, Dinny (1 July 2016). "Demons dump Trengove, Crows stick to winning formula". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  19. ^ Schmook, Nathan; Guthrie, Ben (19 August 2016). "TEAMS: Dogs drop Stringer, Cats rest two". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  20. ^ Burgan, Matt (6 September 2016). "Viney edges Jones to win first 'Bluey'". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  21. ^ @AFLHouse (10 October 2023). "Trade paperwork approved. Melbourne trade James Harmes to the Western Bulldogs for its future Round Three pick (tied to the Western Bulldogs)" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  22. ^ "Harmes announces AFL retirement". westernbulldogs.com.au. 10 February 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  23. ^ "James Harmes". AFL Tables. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
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