James Rowbottom

James Rowbottom (born 19 September 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Sydney Swans with the 25th draft pick in the 2018 AFL Draft.^[1]

James Rowbottom
Personal information
Full name	James Rowbottom
Nickname(s)	Rowy
Date of birth	(2000-09-19) 19 September 2000 (age 24)
Original team(s)	Oakleigh Chargers (TAC Cup)/St Kevin’s College (APS)
Draft	No. 25, 2018 AFL draft, Sydney
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Number	8
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2019–	Sydney	123 (37)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 6, 2025.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Rowbottom participated in the Auskick program at Glenferrie in Hawthorn.^[2] He played his junior football with Prahran, Camberwell Sharks and St Kevin's College before progressing to the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup. He was recruited by the Sydney Swans in 2018 AFL draft at Pick No. 25.

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2024 season.^[3]

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)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2019	Sydney	8	12	4	5	90	74	164	32	59	0.3	0.4	7.5	6.2	13.7	2.7	4.9
2020[a]	Sydney	8	16	4	4	132	105	237	22	58	0.3	0.3	8.3	6.6	14.8	1.4	3.6
2021	Sydney	8	17	6	3	152	110	262	35	105	0.4	0.2	8.9	6.5	15.4	2.1	6.2
2022	Sydney	8	24	8	7	279	164	443	60	163	0.3	0.3	11.6	6.8	18.5	2.5	6.8
2023	Sydney	8	24	6	6	238	192	430	27	176	0.3	0.3	9.9	8.0	17.9	1.1	7.3
2024	Sydney	8	24	7	7	236	220	456	47	186†	0.3	0.3	9.8	9.2	19.0	2.0	7.8
Career			117	35	32	1127	865	1992	223	747	0.3	0.3	9.6	7.4	17.0	1.9	6.4

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.

Personal life

He is the nephew of former AFL player and current Channel 7 AFL commentator Brian Taylor^[4] and the brother of Charlie Rowbottom, who was drafted by Gold Coast with the number one draft pick in the 2021 AFL Women's draft.^[5]