Tributes flow for Tasmanian football pioneer Des James

Jackson Clark – July 11, 2024

Tributes have poured in after the recent passing of Tasmanian football icon, Des James.

James was laid to rest earlier this week, with his life as a pioneer for Indigenous people honoured and celebrated.

The Yorta Yorta man achieved legend status in the Tasmanian Team of the Century and was shortlisted for the Indigenous Team of the Century after a wonderful career with Sandy Bay and Clarence.

James was a champion backman, registering more than 200 games for Sandy Bay, including three consecutive premierships in the late 1970s.

He captained the club for two seasons before moving to Clarence for a couple of years later in his career.

James represented Tasmania on 24 occasions and was selected in the back pocket of the All-Australian team from the 1979 State of Origin carnival.

AFL Tasmania released a statement crediting James as a trailblazer for not only Tasmanian footy, but the game as a whole.

“Des leaves a legacy as not only one of the finest players of his generation, but as arguably the greatest indigenous player in the history of Tasmanian football,” the statement read.

“Most importantly, he did so as a beloved member of the football community, respected and admired by all.”

James was born in Shepparton and began his football career with Goulburn Valley Football League club Lemnos-Shepparton.

He won the league’s U17 best-and-fairest and a couple of years later, aged 20, finished third in the GVFL’s senior award despite missing a large portion of the season.

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan played with and against James and said that he possessed the talent to have succeeded at the elite level.

“I honestly believe if there had been a draft around back then, ‘Desy’ would have been playing AFL football for sure – he would be today,” Fagan said.

“He’s the quintessential intercept ground-ball marking player that a lot of teams now have.

“He was one of the legends of the competition (and) he was so hard to play on that guy – he just had this amazing ability to read the ball before you did.

“You’d think you were just about to take a mark and then this blue and white flash would come across the front, take the mark and beat you to the ball by about half a metre.”

Michael Seddon – a former teammate of James at Sandy Bay – said the star back pocket was a “wonderful” footballer.

“We played together in the triple premiership teams,” Seddon told The Mercury.

“(He was) calm and collected, very skilful, had fantastic reflexes and a great reader of the game.

“I watched him as a youngster – I watched him as a fan to start with before we played together.”