How Wigan Warriors' move for Gold Coast Titans captain gave him NRL 'belief'

He was spotted by the Warriors' former development coach Brian Foley, who twice tried to persuade him to move to the UK as a teenager after seeing him play when he toured these shores.

And James says Wigan's interest, which swelled his confidence that he could make it as a professional player in Australia.

He told NRL.com: "I met Brian Foley when I was there and he asked if I was keen to play at Wigan.

"When someone like Brian asks you to play overseas it makes you realise you must be doing something half right.

"It gave me the belief that I could do anything. I was just 15 and you never think at that age that you can really play footy as a job, even though it is something you want to do.

"I was away from family and didn't know what to think of it at the time. I thought 'is this real? Can I really pursue something in England?'"

Foley made another approach the following year, in 2007, shortly before James signed for the Titans.