Brett James

Biography

AFC Debut Number: 78              AFC Debut Game:  Round 1 v Brisbane, 1997

AFC Career Guernsey Number: 11

From Kersbrook in the Adelaide hills, Brett James was a ball-getter, renown for his hand-balling, He was selected by Collingwood at number 31 in the 1993 pre-season draft, and went on to play 42 games for that club between 1994 and 1996. In 1997 he was involved in a trade that saw him transfer to the Adelaide Crows. It proved to be a wise move for the back-pocket/centre-man, as Premiership success followed immediately, being a key part of Adelaide’s 1997 and 1998 AFL premiership teams.

In 1997 he also played with younger brother Roger (who was on Port’s AFL list) in Norwood’s SANFL premiership side. After being delisted at the end of 2000, James returned to a successful SANFL career with Norwood, for whom he made 234 appearances and captained between 2002 and 2006. James played State of Origin in 1998 and 1999, and captained the State in 2001 and 2002.