FORMER Saints favourite James Graham believes St Helens fans will be “sh*tting” themselves over Sam Burgess’ Warrington Wolves move.
Graham, a legend of the Merseyside club, reflected on the appointment of England great Sam Burgess as head coach of the Warrington Wolves.
Speaking on his own The Bye Round podcast, Graham stated that the move is “absolutely huge”.
“I can’t understate just how big this is for the Super League to get one of the brightest up and coming coaches – an English coach as well,” Graham said.
“I just love this man’s drive. I spoke to him on the phone a couple of days ago before it was announced and the drive in this person is insane in what Sam is willing to do.
“Let’s look back at his career. Came over here (Australia) as a 20-year-old, shows drive, shows ambition. Then he makes a name for himself here, dominates as a young English kid, which is incredibly difficult to do, and wins the Grand Final.
“But before that, he backed himself to go to rugby union, not entirely sure what happened there, but he made the English Test team from what I’m seeing. I thought he did really well. That’s drive, that’s ambition.
“Then he thinks, right, I’ve got to make it as a coach. Well, I’m just going to go around the assistant jobs or whatever but no, I’m going to go and get my own team.
“He went and coached the (Orara Valley) Axemen in group seven in Coffs Harbour, that’s drive and that’s ambition. That’s willing to go above and beyond and now he’s taken up this role at Warrington.”
Graham also feels that the appointment is a concern for Saints fans because of what it might mean in terms of trophies.
“For me as a St Helens fan, I’m sh*tting myself because I hate Warrington and I’m really worried that he’s going to deliver them a Premiership.
“Then St Helens fans won’t be able to sing ‘It’s Always Your Year’ at them anymore because it might actually be with him going there. So watch out for that.
“I’m delighted for him and I think he’ll go over there and be great for that experience. I don’t think it’ll be long before we see him in an NRL coaching position.
“It’s quite interesting to look at the contrast between a man like himself and Benji Marshall, who I consider a friend as well.
“His pathway to coaching, there’s not one pathway, there’s no cookie cutter approach, there’s different ways you can go to become an NRL coach. Sam’s taking on a big job over there, but he’s an ambitious person, this will not phase him.”
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