James O'Donnell
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James O'Donnell | |
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| Born | August 31, 2002 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Footballer playing |
James O'Donnell (born 31 August 2002) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL).[1]
O’Donnell was signed as a Category B Rookie in April 2023, and made is AFL debut in Round 9 of the 2023 AFL season, just 5 weeks after joining the Bulldogs. O'Donnell is son the of Simon O'Donnell who appeared in 24 VFL games for St Kilda, six Test matches, and 87 ODIs for Australia[2]
Early life
Due to his father legacy, James played both Australian rules football and cricket. His dream was to play either sports professionally. At his early stages of his sporting he chose to pursue cricket as he was struggling with footy because of his size. O'Donnell was a young talented athlete playing in the U12 Victorian footy team and played along side Will Phillips (footballer) and Luke Cleary[3]. Growing O'Donnell he thought he'd be a cricket player and in 2019 O'Donnell made the decision to pursue cricket. But his bowling coach at Essendon Cricket Club, Mat Inness was also Western Bulldogs fitness boss. He was the one who introduced O'Donnell to Footscray VFL. The Bulldogs were impressed by his performances in the VFL and eventually picked O'Donnell in Round 9 where he would make his AFL debut. His junior football career began playing local footy for the Kilmore Junior Football Club and Kew Comets. O'Donnell attended Xavier College.[4]
References
External links
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