A former rugby league superstar – who owes his love of the game to his West Cumbrian father – is taking part in a major Australian documentary on concussion in sport.
James Graham, whose father hailed from Maryport, went on to make nearly 450 professional appearances after his rugby mad dad introduced him to the sport.
Graham is taking part in a new podcast that will attempt to come closer to shedding some light on the subject of concussion and its later effects.
Capped 44 times for England and nine for Great Britain, Graham is now 36 and played his last game for St Helens in the 2020 Super League Grand Final.
In between starting and ending his career with the Saints, Graham played almost 200 games in Australia with Canterbury Bulldogs and St George Illawarra.
Over that time he has suffered many concussions and head knocks, telling The Australian: “I have around 20 official concussions and as for unofficial head knocks ranging from the hundreds if not the thousands.”
In the podcast Graham interviews major Australian sports stars such as Olympians and rugby union men and women in a bid to assess the wide-ranging issues stemming from concussion.
“I am willing to go where no footballer has gone before, and that is to have my brain tested and scanned and to share the results as I receive them,” Graham said.
“I wanted to be really open and honest about this issue, and I wanted people to come on this journey with me with an aim to create a constructive conversation around the issue – but mostly I want to create positive change.”
Graham has been vocal about the head issue problem in the past and now he has explained why people should care about it.
“It’s a very, very complex issue and I had to do some really deep thinking about what I wanted to do [during my career]. And what are the consequences [for] me,” Graham said.
“Most of us can remember a time when continuing to play on after a concussion was worn like a badge of honour where TV commentators would praise our bravery for throwing ourselves back into the action.
“But today it’s a different story. We keep hearing the games we play are safer than ever before but is that the truth?”
Graham has previously revealed how his Cumbrian father was the inspiration behind his rugby league career.
If it wasn’t for his dad, John, originally from Maryport, he may never have taken up the sport. Graham is from Maghull, in Merseyside and was more of a football fan when he was younger.
He said: “Being in Maghull there’s not much rugby but my dad’s from Cumbria and he’s rugby mad. He went to the 1993 Challenge Cup final on a Saints supporters’ coach. They stopped at a newsagents and he saw a flyer for St Helens Crusaders and that was how I got into RL.
“It’s strange to think what would have happened otherwise. Maybe I’d be playing for Everton in the Premier League – or maybe not!”
