James Aish

Date of Birth: 08/11/1995

Club: Fremantle FC

Games (Goals): 98 (23)

Recruited From: 2013 NAB AFL Draft, Pick 7 from Norwood FC (SANFL)

Achievements:

• NAB Rising Star Nominee 2014

• AIS/AFL Academy 2012 & 13

• U/18 All Australian 2012 & 13

A highly touted recruit from a rich South Australian Football family, James had already been a pivotal member of two senior SANFL Premierships for the mighty Norwood Football Club before he as drafted by the Brisbane Lions in 2013. With an already amazing resume, which included Under 18 All Australian honours and a member of the AIS Academy, James took everything in his stride in his first two seasons of AFL at the Lions which included being one of the favorites to win the Rising Star.

James has had one of the more interesting AFL journeys to date. Drafted to Brisbane, James decided to leave the club and join Collingwood after two seasons. Whilst it was a tough decision, it brought a lot of joy to James as he settled into the Melbourne way of life and playing for one of Australia’s biggest sporting clubs. During his time at the Pies, there was frustrations due to injuries, to almost achieving the ultimate when narrowly being defeated by the Eagles in the 2018 Grand Final. However his time at the Pies came to an unexpected finish when with a year to go on his contract and with some list pressures at the club, James opted to take a trade and join Fremantle with his current Assistant Coach, Justin Longmuir, who had just been named as the Dockers new Senior Coach.

Joining a relatively young list, James brought a lot of experience and knowledge of Justin’s game style which resulted in some on field success for a team that looks destined to climb the ladder.