Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- Brian Knight James
- Born
- Friday, 9th April, 1943
- Died
- Friday, 10th January, 2020 (Aged 76 years and 276 days)
- Place Of Birth
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Honours & Awards
Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.
- World Cup
- 1968
- Interstate Series
- 1968
- City vs Country Firsts
- 1968
- NSWRFL Premiership (NRL)
- 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968
- Preseason Cup
- 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969
Known Family Links
- Father
- Jack James
Biography
The son of former Country forward Jack James, Brian James was a GPS star with Newington College before playing RU for St George. A professional sprinter, he joined the St George Dragons in 1962 but battled for recognition in the champion club and moved to Souths in 1966. James was on the wing in the Rabbitohs' 1967 grand final win over C’bury and, after overcoming a serious illness, broke into rep football in 1968. Following two games for NSW he was called into Australia's victorious World Cup squad. James was again on the flank in Souths' 13-9 grand final win over Manly in 1969 but was unlucky not to have been awarded a try in the club's 1969 grand final loss to Balmain when he was controversially ruled to have hit the corner-post.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
| Representative Career - International | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests (Senior International Matches) | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| World Cup | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | New South Wales Firsts | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | Australia | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Representative Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Interstate Series | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| City vs Country Firsts | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Club Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | 6 | 95 | 37 | 0 | - | 111 | 68 | 25 | 2 | 71.58% | List | ||||
| NSWRFL Finals | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 2 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| Preseason Cup | 4 | 20 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 85.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||||
| First Class | 119 | 42 | 0 | - | 126 | 97 | 30 | 3 | 81.51% | List | |||||
Test Matches - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Australia | 1968 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
World Cup Matches - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Australia | 1968 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Australia - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSW City Seconds | 1967 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Firsts | 1968 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| NSW City Firsts | 1968 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1967-1968 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| St George | NSWRFL 1962 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| St George | NSWRFL 1963 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| St George | NSWRFL 1964 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| St George | NSWRFL 1965 | 8 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| South Sydney | NSWRFL 1966 | 18 | 8 | - | - | 24 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| South Sydney | NSWRFL 1967 | 24 | 14 | - | - | 42 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| South Sydney | NSWRFL 1968 | 15 | 4 | - | - | 12 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 73.33% | List | ||||
| South Sydney | NSWRFL 1969 | 22 | 6 | - | - | 18 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 81.82% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| St George | 1962-65 | 16 | 5 | - | - | 15 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| South Sydney | 1966-69 | 79 | 32 | - | - | 96 | 56 | 23 | 0 | 70.89% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1962-1969 | 95 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 68 | 25 | 2 | 71.58% | List | ||||
Contributions:
Paul Carter, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Greg Fiveash, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Max Turner, Tony McCarron, Wests Archives
Your Say
29/04/2020
According to my father Brian James scored the quickest try in rugby league history of a kick off
18/03/2024
Brian James was my mum's father cousins son, watched him play for South's from 1967 - 69, during that time he was selected for NSW & Australia in RLWC, retired from playing in 1970, continued on with his business company, last time I heard he was selling his 2 storey mansion in Mosman, then later he died from a accident on his farm property 4 years ago, no one on my grandads side of family spoke about Brian after he retired from NSWRL.
12/03/2026
Brian probably didn’t get the accolades he deserved, maybe because he retired early. To my mind he was one of the first block busting, tough modern type wingers, following the normal up to this time, speedy squibs. He was, as well, a very smart footballer similar to Campbell Graham. I was always happy to see him run out to play in what was one is Souths all time good teams.
Want to have your say about this player? Add a comment.