Broncos sign former Titans captain Ryan James
The Brisbane Broncos have offered an NRL career lifeline to Ryan James, with the former Titans captain on the verge of inking a two-year deal with the Gold Coast’s M1 rival.
James is in the final stages of negotiating a release from Canberra to join the Broncos until potentially the end of 2023.
James has agreed to terms with the Broncos and just needs to finalise his exit from Canberra before the deal can be announced.
At 30 and with 158 games in the NRL, James will bring experience to
Brisbane’s blossoming forward pack headlined by young gun props Payne Haas and
Tom Flegler.
James spent 11 years in the Titans’ NRL squad after debuting in 2010, playing 144 games for his local club that he went on to captain.
His final two years at the Titans were plagued by back-to-back knee reconstructions, with James only managing six games and not featuring at all in the 2020 season.
He resurrected his career under Ricky Stuart at the Raiders this year, making 12 NRL appearances for Canberra and two on-loan to Canterbury late in the season.
James was contracted to the Raiders for 2022, but will be released to return to Queensland to be closer to family and add an injection of experience to the Broncos.
James will become the seventh new face either signed or elevated into Brisbane’s top 30 by coach Kevin Walters for the 2022 season.
The Broncos have already snared South Sydney’s
Adam Reynolds and Penrith’s Kurt Capewell as their two marquee recruits along with the likes of North Queensland’s Corey Jensen and Dragons winger Jordan Pereira.
While the Broncos boast some of the NRL’s best young forwards, Walters and football chief Ben Ikin have recognised the club is in need of some experience up front to help nurture the emerging brigade.
The
Broncos recently released young forward Ethan Bullemor from his 2022 contract to Manly and will replace him in the forward rotation with James.
