James Graham (rugby league)

This article is about the English footballer. For the politician from Kentucky, see James B. Graham.

James Graham
Personal information
Born (1985-09-10) 10 September 1985 (age 39)
Maghull, Merseyside, England
Playing information
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight17 st 0 lb (108 kg)[1]
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–11 St Helens 225 53 0 0 212
2012–17 Canterbury Bulldogs 135 9 0 0 36
2018–20 St. George Illawarra 51 1 0 0 4
2020 St Helens 12 1 0 0 4
Total 423 64 0 0 256
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–19 Great Britain 9 2 0 0 8
2008–18 England 45 3 0 0 12
2015–16 NRL All Stars 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3][4]

James Graham (born 10 September 1985) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop for St Helens in the Super League, and at international level for England and Great Britain.

After 224 appearances for Super League team St Helens,[5] and having won a number of Championships and Challenge Cups with them, he moved to Sydney for the 2012 NRL season. Graham has played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League, and has also played for the NRL All Stars.

Graham is considered somewhat of an unlucky figure in his playing career when it comes to grand finals, losing six grand finals in a row including five in a row with his former club St Helens in the Super League competition across the 2007–2011 seasons, and with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the Australian National Rugby League in 2012.[6] He then went on to play in the 2014 NRL Grand Final defeat by the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and he also featured for England in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Final defeat by Australia.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Meet the Teams First Team Players". St Helens RFC. 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Player Summary: James Graham". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. ^ "James Graham - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ "England International Stats". England Rugby League. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Player Profile - James Graham". St Helens R.F.C. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  6. ^ Proszenko, Adrian (30 September 2014). "Canterbury Bulldogs' Dally M-winning prop James Graham eager to break finals losing streak". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  7. ^ Pengilly, Adam (2 December 2017). "Rugby League World Cup 2017: England's James Graham won't apologise for sledging". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  8. ^ Lane, Daniel (11 October 2014). "How James Graham gave an 11-year-old boy a grand final memory he'll cherish forever". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.