James Sicily

James Sicily
Sicily playing for Hawthorn in June 2017
Personal information
Full name James Sicily
Born (1995-01-06) 6 January 1995
Original teams Keilor (EDFL); Western Jets (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 56, 2013 national draft
Debut Round 2, 2015, Hawthorn vs. Essendon, at MCG
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 90 kg (198 lb)
Position Key Defender
Club information
Current club Hawthorn
Number 6
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014– Hawthorn 181 (76)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2020 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 1, 2026.
2 Representative statistics correct as of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

James Sicily (born 6 January 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer and the current co-captain of the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), alongside Jai Newcombe.

Early career

Sicily's junior career was spent playing for the Keilor Football Club.[1] In 2013, Sicily kicked 26 goals from 16 games for the Western Jets and represented Vic Metro at the National Championships.[2]

AFL career

Sicily was drafted by the Hawthorn Football Club with the fifty-sixth pick in the 2013 AFL draft.[1] In 2014, he was widely considered Box Hill’s best player in the losing grand final, kicking a team-high three goals, and finishing with 15 disposals and five marks.[3]

He made his AFL debut against Essendon in round 2, 2015 starting as the sub. He came on replacing the injured James Frawley in the first quarter and later kicked a goal. He went on to play three games for the year.[4]

In the absence of the injured Jarryd Roughead, Sicily was named in Hawthorn's team for the opening round of the 2016 AFL season, kicking 4 goals against West Coast in round 2 and kicking the match winning goal in round 3 against the Western Bulldogs.[5][6] He was named as the round 13 nominee for the Rising Star after kicking a career high five goals and recording 13 disposals and 5 marks.[7] 2016 was regarded as Sicily's breakout season.[5]

During the 2017 season, Sicily, who had previously been a forward, was shifted to the backline, after being dropped from the team while playing as a forward.[8] He impressed in that position, but nonetheless at the end of the season was still the subject of some uncertainty around his position in the team.[9] On August 22, 2017, Sicily signed a three-year contract extension keeping him at the club until 2020.[10]

Sicily was suspended for one match in the early stages of the 2018 season for kneeing Geelong captain Joel Selwood.[11] Notwithstanding this, Sicily was widely tipped to be on track for a nomination to the All-Australian team of that year before breaking bones in his wrist in Round 17, only returning during the finals series.[12] Despite this injury, Sicily had a season widely perceived as excellent,[12] and was considered to have potential to become one of the league's best defenders.[13]

Sicily had another good season in 2019, being selected in the extended All-Australian squad for that year, the only Hawthorn player to do so.[14] He was considered especially important to Hawthorn's defence.[15] At the end of the season, he re-signed with the club till at least the year 2022.[16]

Sicily missed the 2021 season as he was recovering from an ACL injury sustained during the 2020 season.

On 16 May 2022, Sicily announced that he had agreed to a 5-year contract extension with Hawthorn, tying him to the club until at least the end of 2027.[17]

In February 2023, Sicily was appointed the 38th captain of Hawthorn, with the 28-year-old succeeding the retired Ben McEvoy who served in the role for two seasons.[18]

In Round 11 2023, Sicily had a career high 43 disposals against St Kilda in the Hawks' 10-point win.[19]

In january 2026, James sicily was apointed a co captain with Jai Newcombe.[20]

On-field temperament

Sicily is widely regarded and known for having a short temper, something he himself has acknowledged.[21]

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 1, 2026.[22]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
  †  
 Led the league for 
the season
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2015 Hawthorn 21 3 4 1 19 19 38 11 3 1.3 0.3 6.3 6.3 12.7 3.7 1.0 0
2016 Hawthorn 21 22 30 18 168 84 252 100 43 1.4 0.8 7.6 3.8 11.5 4.5 2.0 3
2017 Hawthorn 21 19 13 9 204 148 352 131 22 0.7 0.5 10.7 7.8 18.5 6.9 1.2 1
2018 Hawthorn 6 16 6 1 264 109 373 114 26 0.4 0.1 16.5 6.8 23.3 7.1 1.6 8
2019 Hawthorn 6 22 3 2 352 112 464 158 32 0.1 0.1 16.0 5.1 21.1 7.2 1.5 8
2020[a] Hawthorn 6 11 2 1 147 50 197 62 9 0.2 0.1 13.4 4.5 17.9 5.6 0.8 0
2022 Hawthorn 6 22 1 3 418 106 524 190† 32 0.0 0.1 19.0 4.8 23.8 8.6 1.5 7
2023 Hawthorn 6 19 2 4 324 177 501 189 29 0.1 0.2 17.1 9.3 26.4 9.9† 1.5 12
2024 Hawthorn 6 22 9 7 337 136 473 167 30 0.4 0.3 15.3 6.2 21.5 7.6 1.4 4
2025 Hawthorn 6 23 6 3 305 144 449 153 36 0.3 0.1 13.3 6.3 19.5 6.7 1.6 9
2026 Hawthorn 6 2 0 0 36 13 49 16 6 0.0 0.0 18.0 6.5 24.5 8.0 3.0 TBA
Career 181 76 49 2574 1098 3672 1291 268 0.4 0.3 14.2 6.1 20.3 7.1 1.5 52

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.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b D'Anello, Luke (22 November 2013). "Western Jets midfielder James Sicily drafted by Hawthorn". Herald Sun. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. ^ "AFL draft: James Sicily living the dream at Hawthorn". Brimbank Star Weekly. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Sicily, Hanrahan impress in VFL decider". Hawthorn Football Club.
  4. ^ Duxson, Nick (15 October 2015). "Season review: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b Hill, Jeremy (15 October 2016). "Season Review: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. ^ Twomey, Callum (10 April 2016). "Match report: Hawks hang on in dramatic finish with Dogs". Australian Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. ^ Guthrie, Ben (20 June 2016). "Match-winning Hawk nabs Rising Star nom". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  8. ^ Paine, Jackson (26 September 2017). "Season review: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  9. ^ Buckland, Ryan (22 August 2017). "Hawthorn's off season won't be as interesting as you might think". The Roar. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Sis signs on". Hawthorn Football Club. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Hawk suspended over knee on Joel Selwood". 3AW News Talk. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Season snapshot: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  13. ^ Carey, Wayne (10 May 2018). "James Sicily can become one of the great defenders". The Age. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  14. ^ "'19 Rewind: James Sicily". Hawthorn Football Club. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Who Are Your Club's Most Important Defenders?". Seven News. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  16. ^ McKirdy, Lachlan (25 October 2019). "AFL 2019: James Sicily re-signs with Hawthorn on a long-term deal". Sporting News. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  17. ^ "James Sicily has some news to share..." hawthornfc.com.au. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Sicily to captain Hawks in 2023".
  19. ^ "2023 in Summary: James Sicily". hawthornfc.com.au. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  20. ^ "'Significant day': Hawks' historic first revealed after 'robust' process as epic draft rise continues". Fox Sports. 22 January 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  21. ^ Waterworth, Ben (14 February 2018). "James Sicily admits he needs to control and manage temper on the field in 2018 AFL season". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  22. ^ "James Sicily". AFL Tables. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
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