He also played for the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL and at representative level for the Indigenous All Stars and Country Origin.

[5] During the 2017 NRL season, the club endured a torrid time on and off the field with then coach Neil Henry and star recruit Jarryd Hayne reportedly involved in a long-standing feud.

Following the club's round 24 loss to Parramatta where it was rumoured that the playing group was split and Henry was about to be terminated, James angrily told the media in defence of the team and his coach "You can say allegedly from an unnamed source and you can say anything, it's BS".

[6][7][8][9] After being named co-captain alongside new teammate Kevin Proctor, James signed a three-year extension with the Titans to keep him on the Gold Coast until the end of 2020.

[15] The following week, TFH announced that they would continue to sponsor the Gold Coast after reversing their decision to end their sponsorship and apologized publicly to James.

[17][18] On 31 January 2020, James suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury during pre-season training for the 2020 NRL season and was ruled out of action indefinitely.

Gold Coast head of performance and culture Mal Meninga said in a statement "Everyone at the Titans shared Ryan's pain today, He is obviously a hugely popular part of this club, and earned even more respect with the positive way he applied himself to his recovery from the original injury last year, without ever once getting down or feeling sorry for himself".