BIO

The older brother of Roger (76  games) and Paul (54 games) Brett James made an outstanding contribution to the Norwood Football Club. From Kersbrook, he was Norwood Under 17s Premiership captain in 1989. Playing most of his junior career as a centre-man, he also represented the State in the Teal Cup.
 
He made the meteoric rise from U17s to League at the start of the 1990 season, playing his early games as a rover. After spending a short time in the Reserves, he was moved to a back pocket and was named in that position for the 1993 Grand Final. He had been elected vice captain at the start of 1993 and played also State football during the season.
 
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 (ironically involving another Norwood player, Jonathan Ross), 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.
 
1997 was particularly fruitful, as he had the distinction of playing in a Adelaide Crows winning Grand Final, and then a Norwood Premiership a week later. Sharing the Norwood victory with his brother Roger made it all the more enjoyable. In 1998 James went on to play in back-to-back premierships with Adelaide. At the end of 2000, after a total of 76 games for Crows, he returned to the Parade for good.
 
James then took his SANFL performances to another level. Over the following six seasons he won three Best and Fairest and was runner-up in 2001, 2004 and 2006, as well as being club captain from 2002 to 2006.
 
Amongst his other career achievements, James played State of Origin in 1998 and 1999, and captained the State in 2001 and 2002.

R Cialini June 2014