Roger James

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**Roger James**
Personal Info
Birth	October 21, 1975,
Recruited from	Norwood Football Club (SANFL)
Playing Career¹
Debut	Round 5, April 27, 1997, Port Adelaide vs. Brisbane Lions, at Football Park
Team(s)	Port Adelaide (1997-2005) 147 games, 87 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season
Career Highlights
Norwood (SANFL) premiership team 1997 Port Adelaide premiership team 2004

Roger James (born October 21, 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.

James debuted during Port Adelaide's inauguaral season in the AFL and made a name for himself as a tough midfielder. The brother of former Adelaide Crows player Brett James, Roger displayed immense talent throughout his career, but suffered groin injuries during 2003.

He bounced back early in the 2004 season where he played every game from Round 7 onwards, and was one of the best players during Port Adelaide's maiden premiership win that year.

In 2005 things took a turn for the worse though, with James' knee cartilage deteriorating in condition after Round 18, limiting him to only 10 games for the season.

In late August Port Adelaide announced that due to the condition of the knee they would not be offering him a 2006 contract and on medical advice, James was forced to retire at only 29 years of age - “I’ve spoken to a couple of doctors and they’ve advised me that it is in my best interests to give football away now so that further down the track I’ll be able to live a normal life,” he said.^[1]