Just been looking on the SL stats website and this guy is just a freak.

He has now DOMINATED the metre making for three years. Rather than experience a Fielden-esque burnout he seems to be increasing his dominance.

In 2008 he beat the nearest prop in terms of metres made by 278, in 2009 he beat the nearest prop by 818 and this season he is 962 metres ahead. The player second in metres made is Graham's wingman, James Roby, who I'm sure benefits hugely from the big red machine's productivity.

An outstanding player.

Don't forget he's probably played the most minutes of any prop in the league too.


Still an impressive stat though.

When's he off to the NRL?

He's rubbish. No-one that is ginger can be any good

I think Graham has carried the Saints pack all season due to the injuries you have suffered, so in that respect it is an unfair comparison to match stats to other props in the league.

That said IMO Graham is fastly becoming the best all round prop forward I have ever seen in the game, and I have been watching 32 years. His passing is better than some half backs, he is as fast as some centres, and his power in the collission matches the best forwards around.

I have however a genuine fear that he will be burntout in the next 3 or 4 years unless Saints start to treat him properly. I said the same thing about burn out with Fielden when he was at the Bulls, and I think that was proven to happen to him.

Won't be our problem if all the Home and Away references on his twitter account are anything to go by

His metres made look brilliant but when comparing to Morley is it worth doing the extra metres alone?

He is making an average of 6.749 metres per carry from 598 carries. Morley makes an average of 8.024. The carries are 598 for Graham and 373 for Morley. Graham however has played 2 more games.

When looking at the tackles made, Graham has made 615 and Morley has done 673 despite the two less games. That makes Graham average 23.65 and Morley average 28.04. Graham will do the full 80 most weeks?

Morley has made more offloads also.

Morley will do the first 30 mins of first half and then possibly last 25 mins of second half normally. Would be interested to do an average per min on the field that would be a real indicator.

I dont mean to bash Graham as he is a damn fine player but if he was spelled more, his total metres would be less but would his overall effectiveness improve?

and thats what could lead to burnout later in his career. Hope it doesnt happen as he is a very good player. Thats the problem with all these stats, they dont take into account minutes played. If he was used less his meters per carry would be higher than 6.7

Still think Graham has had a fantastic year , but he will suffer if he is continued to be used as much as he is. Looking at the Saints pack for next year you would think Graham wont get as much time on the pitch, which will be a good thing for him.

Graham's got far more to his game than Fielden and so will find it easier to adapt his game as he gets older. Fielden's ball security was never great and he's not a passer of the ball nor was he particularly good on his feet. Graham surpasses him in all these areas and that should ensure his longevity.

Graham plays a different game to Morley so it's difficult to compare based purely on those stats. Graham passes far more, especially set plays, where Morley would be involved in making the hard yards in this situation.

Of course it would improve. But he is a different player to Morley. Morley is about impact at important times, a big hit here, some tough defense when needed, some big hit ups at key times etc. Great player, but a different kettle of fish to Graham who is about grind. He is as strong in the last minute as he is in the first and there is very rarely a pack that can get on top of his effort. He also has a few more strings to his bow that Morley, he is often involved as a pivot in Saints moves and passes before the line, which although it terrorises defenses at times probably takes a good chunk of his metres per carry off him. If Graham wasn't doing it for Saints there is no one to pick up the slack. A Super League side with Morley and Graham together would be hard to beat.

it does affect his game though, an its something that teams have started to pick up on, he was done a few times against leeds by Mgcuire and Burrow, and Rangi Chase ran through him twice last weekend,

A big lad like that struggles massively against speed and great footwork, this is exacerbated for Graham because he gets through so much work that a quick PTB leaves him either turning his back on the play or left flat footed against a Mcguire/Chase type player

He goes missing when you a put a few big hits on him.

He's been playing this year without the greatest support. With Perry (and LMS and Puletua) next year, you'll probably see his carries go down and average metres go up.

That said, he's doesn't quite have the impact in the collision that Morley (or perhaps Peacock) has, but his appetite for work is asounding. He also has a smater passing game in a Lee Crooks stylee

If you go through the season and check how many timse Graham is on the scene chasing back after a break or kick over (considering his work in going forward) it really is impressive.

I don't buy into the "Burnout like Fielden" theory. Fielden's issuse were with form and mindset, not physicality and fitness imo.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

It's something I've noticed with Graham in those games, particularly late on, and it's cost Saints points. It's not just McGuire and Chase: Senior and Hudson targetted and benefitted from it too.

Saints fans will be able to judge if he's always going to be vulnerable to this, or whether if it's because he's shot late in games, late in a season where he's been overworked. Either way it's a bit of a worry.

He's still an outstanding player, obviously. We'll wait and see about the Fielden burnout. It didn't happen to Morley or Peacock, but at Graham's age Morley and Peacock were both still second-rows...

meh, i'm still pretty sure andy bracek will be the better prospect in the long run.

that was 20K not wasted, at all.

It's the game time that worries me about Graham from a representative point of view. When it comes to the Four Nations, how much is he going to have left in the tank?

How do you type it - ROFLMAO!?!?!

There is that. Also, if Terry Matterson and Ryan Hudson can work out things to exploit in his game, what are Tim Sheens and Cameron Smith going to do?

He'll be fine for fuel in the tank, and he'll get spelled more during the 80 to give Morley, Peacock and AN Other game time, so isn't as likely to be as exposed as you suspect.

Also, if what I suspect is true, Graham is more aware of any frailties in his game than any of us and is working to iron them out as we speak.

Totally agree that the guy is a Machine, will be sad to see him go to Oz at the end of Next season....

Fielden in his prime at Bradford was a better player than Graham.

I'm sure there'll be a few NRL CEO's wining and dining him during the 4nations in oz.

It's not set in stone that Graham will leave yet. Its up to Saints to offer him a deal he cant refuse. If he leaves at the end of next season he wont play in our new stadium. If he stays then i have no doubts he will the captain to lead us out at our new stadium. His also due a testomonial in 2014.

If he does go then it'a huge loss for not only Saints but for Super League. As for all the 'it'll improve England' bull*hit im not having it. We need to keep our best players over here. Im not paying £200 a year on my season ticket to watch our best players leave to the NRL. While we get their dross.

We have improved in the last 5 years by blooding more youngsters the fact Australia have the freakish backs ever seen hasent helped us at all.

Not really, the big hits on him have been mostly head high tackles to put him off his game. But he just gets up and carries making metres as the 4000+ metres prove this season.
He never goes '"missing" in a game, unless he's injured, he,s had the odd game where he's played semi-conscious for a short while..................but going missing No.

Think thats a pretty balanced asssessment comparing Graham-Fielden-Morley. Adrian Morley performance throughout his career is pretty remarkable in comparison with Cunningham as playing standard is concerned.
We all know about the Fielden "burn out" for a couple of seasons, but don,t think this is going to happen with Graham though especially next season when he will have a bit less game time, which I know he won,t be too happy about.