RARELY has a prop forward made such a massive impact at a young age as Maghull’s James Graham.

Front rowers tend to grow and mature into this most physically demanding of positions before truly establishing themselves, but the former Blackbrook junior broke into the side as a teenager and then made the position his own.

The flame-haired front rower wore his heart on his sleeve in the red vee, leading by example and inspiring others with words and, more importantly, actions.

He never shirked the hard carry in his own half and defensively hit big, just ask Ryan Bailey.

But it was the finer points to his game that made him stand out from the front row crowd, specifically his ability to pass at the line.

With Graham’s distribution it was not a speculative ship out of the tackle on impact, but rather a measured ball to a supporting colleague.

It was reminiscent of the ball-playing forwards of the Brian Lockwood generation.

Graham made his senior debut in 2003 as an 18-year-old, but began to establish himself in 2005. That year he scored in the thrilling 18-16 win over Warrington and his impressive showings earned him Saints’ Young Player of the Year Award.

The arrival of Jason Cayless completed Saints’ awesome foursome in 2006, with Graham complementing the other props during the domestic clean sweep.

He played his full part in two further Challenge Cup wins and a fourth consecutive League Leaders Shield.

And in 2008 he earned the coveted Man of Steel before living up to top billing Down Under in an otherwise disappointing World Cup.

But Saints had begun to rebuild and with the loss of some giants Graham found himself as the leader during some tough campaigns.

An 80 minute display was not uncommon, as joint skipper Graham tried to lift his side and we saw that during the rollercoaster 2011 campaign where Saints fell at the last hurdle after playing every game away from home.

Alas there was to be no fairytale ending before he departed for Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL.