Max James is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played for South Melbourne

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL). He also spent some time in the South Australian National Football League

South Australian National Football League

The South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....

 (SANFL) with Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Football Club

The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...

 during the 1970s.

James started out at Port Adelaide in 1971 and was a member of their 1977 premiership team

1977 SANFL Grand Final

The 1977 SANFL Grand Final saw the Port Adelaide Magpies defeat the Glenelg Tigers by 8 points. The match was played on Saturday 24 September 1977 at Football Park in front of a crowd of 56,717 ....

. Known for his high flying marks, James transferred to South Melbourne and made his VFL debut in the opening round of the 1978 season, in the same game as then Essendon player Roger Merrett

Roger Merrett

Roger Merrett is a former Australian rules footballer who played in two Victorian Football League premiership sides with the Essendon Football Club in the mid-1980s before moving to the fledging Brisbane Bears, later captaining the new club for seven seasons...

. Most of his games where played from centre half forward but he was used in various others positions during an injury riddled stint in the league.

When South Melbourne relocated to Sydney in 1982 he joined them in the move but could only manage three appearances. His son Heath James

Heath James

Heath James is a former Australian rules footballer, who retired in 2005 due to a number of injuries.After being drafted by the Sydney Swans at Pick #28 in the 1998 AFL Draft, under the Father-son rule from the Port Adelaide Magpies in the South Australian National Football League, James made his...

 would later play for the Sydney Swans

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

.

He represented South Australia in a total of eight interstate matches over the course of his career, including at the 1975 Knockout Carnival

1975 Knockout Carnival

The 1975 Knockout Carnival was the 19th Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition .The carnival was due to take place in Melbourne but as it would have interrupted the 1975 VFL season the organisers made a shortened version. Just three games were to...

. In 1977 he was awarded a Simpson Medal

Simpson Medal

The Simpson Medal, a prize for Australian rules football, has been donated by Dr. Fred Simpson and family since 1945. It is awarded to the best player in a WAFL Grand Final and the best player in an interstate game involving Western Australia....

 for his performance in a match against South Australia.

James ran as an independent candidate at the 2010 South Australian state election in the House of Assembly

South Australian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

 seat of Port Adelaide

Electoral district of Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. Named after Port Adelaide because of its geographical location, it is a 113.4 km² urban electorate on Adelaide's Lefevre Peninsula and stretches east to cove some of Adelaide's northern...

 held by Rann

Mike Rann

Michael David Rann MHA, CNZM , Australian politician, served as the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party to minority government at the 2002 election, before attaining a landslide win at the 2006 election...

 Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 Treasurer Kevin Foley

Kevin Foley

Kevin Owen Foley , Australian politician, is the current Minister for Industry and Trade and Minister for Federal/State Relations in the Rann Labor government. He previously served as Treasurer of South Australia and Deputy Premier of South Australia from 2002 until his resignation in 2011...

. James came third, receiving 11 percent of the vote.