He was made the best offer that Saints have ever made to any player, but that didn't change his mind. If Saints can't change his mind with money, Warrington certainly won't be able to.

He isn't going for money. He is going for the challenge, to fulfill a lifetime ambition. No monetary value can be placed on that.

I think when lefty was talking about his return after he has his fun/ fails/ get's homesick/is too old for the NRL any more. Although he says he wouldn't want to play against saints it will be three years time and would probably like a nice cheque before he gets moved to Salford or Widnes.

In that case, I am sure he would be tempted by Moran's money bags and the super league champions Warrington (I can hope) offering him a lucrative contract.

I may be mistaken by speaking for lefty. However, I feel there is something to this.

50, i still fry with that on whilst in the south of france!

Good luck to Graham, a fine forward I would have loved to see play for us.

A man true to his word. Few and and far between in today's society.

I know what you are saying Sal and I bow to your knowledge and memory.
What I was sort of getting at was that I can't remember Morley having that sort of (petulant is probably the wrong word) Animated personality like Graham has.
Your memory is better than mine but I cant remember many Aussie props over the years that have the sort of expressions during a game that we see with Graham. I cant remember Aussie props having a go at the ref if things weren't going their way but I clearly see more of Graham than I have done of the NRL over the years
Still he is a great player and I am sure he will do well in the NRL and maybe he will chill out a bit without losing his enthusiasm during his time in Aus.

Being out here in Oz for the last couple of years and watching the NRL week in week out, I think its good to see British players cutting it out here. Moz certainly paved the way , and now Ellis , Burgess and even Flanagan are going great guns,gaining the players respect and even the likes of cynics like Gus Gould and more importantly the RL fans who live and breathe the game out here. There are constant articles in the national press, segments on the likes of The Footy Show, and other RL shows profiling them interviewing them etc. Personally I'd like to see more of them out here , it will certainly help the international game.

The fat moaning, ginger tossser is gonna fry like a vampire.

Fair play to him,just shows he want to test him self at the highest level.Shame more English players havent got the balls to go and give the NRL a try.Is it because they might get found out,that they are not as good as the British press make them out to be.

Apparantley he's only packing his essentials; a pram, a dummy and his toys.

On Twitter, Daniel Anderson has mentioned how Jammer always talked about playing in the NRL. Jammer himself has said that he was tempted to go at the last round of contract negotiations but opted to stay. However, he felt this would be his last chance as Saints would want him to sign a longer contract this time (spot on) and he would be too old then to try it in the NRL. Nothing naive in recognising that while the man will want to make a living, there are other motivations. James Roby was also approached but he wants to stay in St Helens with his family playing for his local club. In his words, he 'couldn't be happier' than he is at present, so he signed up. He will have been offered similar no doubt to James Graham. He's certainly of the same class as James Graham. But they are two different men wanting two different things out of life. It isn't all about money, no matter how cynical some people are. If it was all about money, it is very possible we would have retained him because we offered him the best deal ever made to a player at Saints. But it was about adventure and trying something new. No amount of money or other carrots can overcome that.

I hear that almost every week from a Sts fan about a wide amount of players.

I heard Kyle was offered the most of any sts player. Now Graham is. The amount of time it is said. Graham must have been offered a few million.

Not about money? You do realise the NRL salary cap is about £2.8 million pounds.

Well, that's because it was our chairman who said so. He didn't say the same about Kyle, incidentally.

So?

How much much more ginger/orange, does he want to be?

I think it is a fair point about it being down to more than money. English people, young people especially, by and large are less keen on relocating than people from other countries. Look at football, other than Beckham you rarely see English players go abroad despite the fact you hear Gerrard/Lampard/Rooney etc linked with big clubs overseas. It's not about money either because the big clubs in Serie A and the Spanish league pay big money just like the Premiership clubs do.

Also how come at pretty much every English university, there are stacks of overseas students, but how many English students go and study abroad? It's cheaper to go and study in Europe and a lot of universities teach in English, so how come you don't get more going over there?

I reckon there's a cultural comfort zone thing, by and large Brits prefer to stay at home with what they know than go to a different environment. A lot of players are willing to switch from RL in England to try RU in England but when it comes to going abroad its a different kettle of fish.

If James Graham was money driven then he'd have stayed at saints for his testimonial and then gone to the NRL straight after, he'll be giving up some serious money by missing out on a testimonial.

His timing has suprised me a bit, i thought he would have stayed for 2 more years at saints so that he could play in the new stadium and have his testimonial, time is still on his side as he hasn't even hit his prime yet for a forward.

As I have stated earlier, I am pleased that Graham has been true to his word and gone and tested himself. But, if anybody thinks he has done this at the expense of his earning power, then they are seriously naive.

Spot on.
Graham will be earning quite a big wad I would imagine and good luck to him for doing so,short career rugby is.

No one has said it was [iat the expense of[/i anything. He has wanted to play in the NRL for years and has been open about it. It was a dream of his when he played in the youth teams. What I am saying is that money alone does not drive some people. If his ambition had been to see Saints win another Grand Final before he expires (something that is looking less and less likely the number of times we turn up but lose!) then regardless of what the Doggies or anyone else had offered him financially, he would have stayed. Just as Roby has stayed, because no amount of money would have motivated him to go. He has other priorities. Jammer has other priorities. We could have offered him double the amount of money the Doggies offered and he would not have stayed. His priority is to go to the NRL before it is too late for him to try it. He has said that clearly, he has been consistent about it and I have no reason at all to doubt him on it. Just as I have no reason at all to doubt James Roby when he says he couldn't be happier than doing what he is doing at present: playing for his local team.

So is he going to be getting more money from Canterbury than he would have done at Saints?
Or not?

You don't know - this is up there with those Matt King is on half a billion pounds a year assumptions of yore.

English football players dont go aboard beacuse like english super league players,they will get found out.Ie they are not very good.

Good luck to him. I'll always wish an Englishmen to do well playing in a country the other side of the world. Graham, for me, as earnt his chance to play in the NRL, and to test himself at the highest level week in week out, so good luck to him. He's a class player.