James Graham pulls you up when you ask him if his good mate, St Helens legend James Roby, could be the greatest Englishman to never play in the NRL.
“Could be? He is the best English player to have never played in the NRL,” Graham says.
“I’ve got no doubts he would have made it [in the NRL]. A huge part of me would have loved to have seen ‘Robes’ come out here and show the Australian public and NRL fans what he’s all about. They would have loved him.
“That said, I also completely respect the choices he’s made, he’s still had the best possible career, and I don’t think it lessens his achievements by not coming here. He’s done what’s been right for him and his family.
“There’s absolutely no doubt about it as far as I’m concerned that he’s the best player Super League’s ever produced, in the Super League era. I don’t say that lightly.”
Graham won two Super League titles with Roby, who will start at hooker for St Helens in their opening trial against St George Illawarra on Saturday night.
James Roby (centre) celebrates St Helens fourth straight Super League title last yearCredit:Getty
The 37-year-old has played a staggering 522 games for St Helens, which easily eclipsed the previous Super League record of 454 games set by Leeds legend Kevin Sinfield. In the coming months, Roby will overtake Kel Coslett’s club record 531 games, which came in the 1960s and 1970s.
After surviving a captain’s run in Sydney’s stifling heat on Friday, Roby took a seat in the shade and told the Herald about the two previous occasions he had the chance to come Down Under.
The first time he was only 20 and had featured on the 2006 Great Britain tour of Australia. Paul Wellens, the new St Helens coach, was Roby’s teammate.
Roby had been shown an interest by the Roosters, and they were happy to fly back him back from the north of England to inspect their facilities.
James Roby (far left) and his St Helens teammates have soaked up the sun at Manly all week.Credit:Flavio Brancaleone/SMH
“But my wife [Natasha] who was my girlfriend at the time, she was pregnant, she was 18, I was 20, and we were worried about being young parents away from home,” Roby said.
“I then had talks with Parramatta in 2013. I was very tempted, it was the closest I had come, and the emails went back and forth for a few weeks.
“In the end, it wasn’t a bad thing because a year later they [the Eels] were done for all the salary-cap stuff.
“When I was younger, the money wasn’t too different [between the two competitions], and I was happy being a hometown lad. The money now is vastly different, and if I was 20 years old again, maybe I would have made a different decision.”
Roby will retire at the end of the year. A statue of Keiron Cunningham, Roby’s dummy-half predecessor, stands out the front of St Helens’ home ground. So, you can only imagine it will be a matter of when – not if – Roby is enshrined somewhere around Totally Wicked Stadium.
Roby does not crave fame. He recently completed a masters degree in sports directorship.
Another interesting fact about Roby is the little-known fact he is colourblind.
“Every now and then, you might say that’s blue, but I’ll say purple,” Roby said.
“I’m just glad I play rugby because my team is behind me and the other team is in front of me. If it’s soccer or football, and the jerseys are similar, I’d struggle.”
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