Morgan Knowles has paid tribute to a St Helens legend ahead of his NRL debut this weekend, citing James Graham as a big influence on his career.
Graham played over 230 games for St Helens but Morgan Knowles was only around the squad for 12 of those with Graham returning from his lengthy NRL stint in 2020 to help Saints win Super League.
That Grand Final win was the second of four consecutive Grand Finals and it was the first of three that was overseen by Kristian Woolf as head coach, who Knowles has now linked back up with at the Dolphins in the NRL.
Named as the starting loose forward for the round one game against South Sydney Rabbitohs, Knowles has now paid tribute to Graham and the impact that he had during the pair’s time together.
“Jammer had a massive impact on me and my career.” Knowles told AAP.
“I learnt loads off him, directly and indirectly, with how he goes about his business and his mentality of being all-in.
“That last year at St Helens his body was busted and he was in pain but he’d keep turning up and turning up.”
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Knowles also found himself in awe at the fact Graham, who was 35 at the time, would consistently do extra training despite his already busted state.
The Dolphins forward explained: “He would always do extras at the end of sessions and me and the younger players would try and come off the back of that.
“A great role model and someone who carried a real aura when you played with him. You don’t want to let your teammates down but you didn’t want to let him down either. You wanted to impress him.”
Knowles has already impressed in the off-season and that’s seen him earn a starting spot for the weekend with co-captain Tom Gilbert declaring: “You just know he is going to have a huge role in the club’s success and he has shown us that both sides of the ball.”
For Knowles, he’s clear on his purpose and that’s effort and trying to help reshape last year’s top points scorers into also being a defensively solid team as well.
He explained: “I am an effort-based player. I work hard and keep turning up for the boys. That is what he is trying to instill here as a team.
“We have got some unbelievable talent and strike, and the lads attacked really well last year, but we want to try and make the foundation of a real hard-working team and defensively getting after it.”
