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James Graham.

muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,708
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Dragon66

Juniors
Messages
640
I wonder how many minutes Graham will get this weekend?

I think if Packer had stayed he may give better value on the field because of his bullocking runs and quick play the balls.
But I think Graham will be the better value to our side because of his influence on the players around him and competitiveness and mobility, but most importantly his ball playing (As long as McGregor doesn't stifle his opportunities).
 

Banjo2014

Juniors
Messages
484
Watch the game vs Bulldogs last year - Graham had buggar all hit ups or tackles.

I think he is very over rated.

His Sydney heart is with the doggies and that is a concern as well.

Too old as well in the modern game
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
grahamj-1821704-1.jpg



Graham giving Dragons pack extra beef and belief
Author
Tanisha Stanton
Timestamp
Fri 2 Mar 2018, 07:29 PM

James Graham has only been at the St George Illawarra Dragons for a couple of months but he is already inspiring his teammates in their mission to get their forward pack the recognition they deserve.

Graham, who has joined the club after a six year stint at the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, only begun pre-season training with the Dragons after the Christmas break following his starring role for England at the World Cup.

Fellow recruit Ben Hunt and Dragons forward Leeson Ah Mau have been amazed by Graham's work ethic on the training field and said the veteran prop had already made a significant impact on the club’s engine room.

The arrival of Graham, Jeremy Latimore and Mitchell Allgood, has given the Red V arguably the best depth in the forward stocks in the NRL.

“He’s the type of player you really want in your team and you want to play for,” Hunt said.

“The biggest thing James [Graham] brings is his leadership, I think everyone says that about him.

“The way he goes about his work and he does all the little things. He’s not a huge talker but he leads by example.”

Last season the Dragons forwards displayed an impressive performance averaging the most metres pre-game with 1706m, leading the competition for offloads with 353 and the greatest metres made from effective offloads with 110.6m per game.

Ensuring that the forwards bring and maintain that metre-hungry aggression this season, Hunt should have no trouble in adding support from his end and complimenting the Dragons natural offloading game.

“I watched a bit of the footy here last year and I think they had a great forward pack. They really backed that up I think in the trials, I was pretty happy with how they went,” he said.

“It’s [offloading] not something we plan to do it’s just the type of team we have.

“We got some really good off-loaders and they can create a different style of footy for us so if I can be aware of when that is coming and push up and try play off that.”

Ah Mau is similarly in awe of Graham's ability.

“We know what we are going to get out of him and everyone has already enjoyed taking the field with him,” he said.

“If we are not doing our job in the middle it’s going to be hard for our halves to play so we’ve really made a focus on laying that platform for Gaz [Gareth Widdop] and Benny [Ben Hunt] to do their stuff.”

For the Dragons going up against the Brisbane Broncos at Jubilee Oval in the first game to kick off the season, Ah Mau says it will be their defence that will determine the end result.

“We all know what type of players they are so as a middle we gotta keep working hard for each other and make sure that we are covering each other’s inside in defence.”

https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/03/02...t-george-illawarra-dragons-pack-extra-belief/
 

2010

Bench
Messages
3,490
As mentioned earlier about Graham, or any other player moving from one club where the player has spent the best part of their career.
Can such a player ever get the passion for a new club or is it all about the money.
I don’t know whether I have phrased the question properly.
 

epDragon62

First Grade
Messages
5,053
As mentioned earlier about Graham, or any other player moving from one club where the player has spent the best part of their career.
Can such a player ever get the passion for a new club or is it all about the money.
I don’t know whether I have phrased the question properly.
I’m sure they can, lots would depend on what they find and how others respond.
 

Red V for life

Juniors
Messages
886
As mentioned earlier about Graham, or any other player moving from one club where the player has spent the best part of their career.
Can such a player ever get the passion for a new club or is it all about the money.
I don’t know whether I have phrased the question properly.
I get your point.

I won’t hazard a guess on Graham ever having passion for the club, but from what I’ve observed he absolutely hates losing. It was no surprise to see him chasing hard tryscorers even when it was all over during the trials and i’m sure we’ll see it during the season (hopefully not too much though :wink:). Seeing him drag JDB and Vaughan into a mini huddle during the Charity Shield after we’d scored barking orders got me pumped (and a little excited).

If this attitude and commitment is maintained during his time with us, that’ll do me.
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
So the question for me is if for some reason Graham doesn't fire or gets injured where to for us particularly this season?
It appears to me that, we have an awful lot of eggs sitting in that basket and if our hopes are truly dependent on 1 player we have our heads firmly in the sand and have learnt nothing.
Yes I know people will say, what about Hunt and that is true but if the forwards don't fire, I wouldn't be expecting Hunt to be able to carry us to the semis on his back alone.
In hindsight maybe we should have spent the Allgood, Latimore monies plus what was left in the bank on another quality prop.
Some will no doubt say no we needed another quality outside back and that is also probably true so in the end I am not so sure exactly how good our squad is?
 

ouryear

Juniors
Messages
780
As mentioned earlier about Graham, or any other player moving from one club where the player has spent the best part of their career.
Can such a player ever get the passion for a new club or is it all about the money.
I don’t know whether I have phrased the question properly.
I don't think Cooper Crook at the Rorters will have a problem.
Nor Tedesco.
Nor Gagai with the Rabbits.
Even Sharon Woods should be OK for the Dogs, after years at tigers.

Jimmy Graham hates losing, he wont let us down. It's in his DNA.
 
Last edited:

dragonssamy61

First Grade
Messages
5,549
I don't think Cooper Crook at the Rorters will have a problem.
Nor Tedesco.
Gagai for the Rabbits.
Even Sharon Woods should be OK for the Dogs.

Jimmy Graham hates losing, he wont let us down.

Agree ouryear.
He has to much pride in his own performance.
All champions do.
You can see that the other guys love his toughness.
 

ouryear

Juniors
Messages
780
So the question for me is if for some reason Graham doesn't fire or gets injured where to for us particularly this season?
It appears to me that, we have an awful lot of eggs sitting in that basket and if our hopes are truly dependent on 1 player we have our heads firmly in the sand and have learnt nothing.
Yes I know people will say, what about Hunt and that is true but if the forwards don't fire, I wouldn't be expecting Hunt to be able to carry us to the semis on his back alone.
In hindsight maybe we should have spent the Allgood, Latimore monies plus what was left in the bank on another quality prop.
Some will no doubt say no we needed another quality outside back and that is also probably true so in the end I am not so sure exactly how good our squad is?
That is a concern old timer, we do have many eggs in Jimmy Grahams basket.
Too many.

We needed to spend our left over cap money, but no one is available in any case.

It's a concern.
 

rasaint

Juniors
Messages
1,046
I was concerned with Graham’s signing which is a $600K a year for the next 3 seasons I understand. So I am with OT on this issue.

I reckon that’s about $2ooK overs for this sunset period of his career.

He will go alright but I think the whole leadership advantage etc is overstated.Lets face it he was at the Dogs and they were not setting the comp on fire for quite a while.

Anyway, it is what it is.
 

ouryear

Juniors
Messages
780
I was concerned with Graham’s signing which is a $600K a year for the next 3 seasons I understand. So I am with OT on this issue.

I reckon that’s about $2ooK overs for this sunset period of his career.

He will go alright but I think the whole leadership advantage etc is overstated.Lets face it he was at the Dogs and they were not setting the comp on fire for quite a while.

Anyway, it is what it is.
Possibly right, but I think he will be good for us. Our pack overall is much better than dogs.

Even Reynolds at the dogs as their half was poor.

Dessie has become a hopeless coach, worse than Mary.
 

dragon thomo

Juniors
Messages
1,143
I agree with Old Timer, we are one quality front rower short. I thought that when we released Thompson we were after a quality signing.
 

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