Royce Simmons thinks squad can recover from departure of James Graham - Rugby
The St. Helens coach, Royce Simmons, while talking to the BBC reporters on Wednesday, December 7, shared that his updated squad will easily cover up for the recent loss of forward James Graham, who has agreed to a three-year-deal with the Canterbury-Bankstown
Bulldogs starting from 2012.
Expressing his views about the current status of the squad after the departure of an exceptional player, Graham. Simmons said that someone will have to match up with the James Graham's calibre.
He said, "We've got Josh Perry, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Anthony Laffranchi and that challenge is out there to those boys to play the long minutes. He's a month behind the rest of the lads because he needed an operation."
Graham made his debut in Rugby League in 2003 with Saints and stayed there until the end of 2011. During his spell at Helens, Graham played a total of 220 games where he earned 208 points along with 52 tries. Graham has a host of accomplishments to his credit.
During his stay at the club, Graham was part of the Challenge Cup winning squad in 2006, 2007 and 2008, which further boosted his record.
His strong performance at the club gained him recognition as the Player of the Year in 2006. Then, later in 2008, he was also part of the Super League Dream Team. In the same year, he also scooped up the Man of Steel award, beating Jamie Peacock and fellow
team-mate Leon Pryce, who were his contenders for the prestigious award.
Now that Graham has said his goodbyes to Super League in a bid to test his fate in National Rugby League (NRL), all eyes are on New Zealand international Lance Hohaia, who is all set to make his come back to rugby after his knee injury.His recovery from
injury was a speedy one as he is now fit to make his come back a week prior to schedule.
Expressing his views about Kiwi international, Simmons said, "The operation was better being done by a surgeon he knows and has worked with before. They're very happy with the surgery and it went really well. He was due to come over on 12 December, but he's
coming a week early, so he's a week ahead of schedule.”
Previously, the player was filling in as the hooker or the full-back at New Zealand but now he will play as either the scrum-half or half-back at England.
It will be interesting to see him play at scrum-half or half-back, that too in a new country, which will be a brand new experience for him. Regarding his voyage in Rugby League, the player will have to get used to his newer surroundings as soon as possible.
High hopes are attached with the 28-year-old, who is considered as the probable replacement for the extraordinary Saints’ player, Graham.
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