'If you didn't know his age you'd sign him now': Why Roby is Super League's best

James Graham has declared James Roby the greatest player of the Super League era and Ian Millward, the coach who gave him his debut, believes the 37-year-old could still play in the NRL.

“If you didn’t know his date of birth, you’d sign him now for an NRL club,” said Millward, who is now St George Illawarra pathways manager. “Two years ago, I know at our club we looked at him.”

After 521 appearances for St Helens and 39 Tests for England and Great Britain, Graham believes his former team-mate is worthy of a statue in his honour at the club’s Merseyside stadium.

Ahead of Saturday night's clash between St Helens and the Dragons, Graham and Millward - who have proud connections to both Red V outfits - paid tribute to a player whose career rivals that of Cameron Smith for longevity and success.

“I have played with some players who have had amazing seasons but consistently he is the best player I have ever played with,” said Graham, who came came through the junior ranks with Roby and played alongside him until moving to the NRL in 2012.

I think he is Super League’s best ever player.

"To do it all for one team, I think adds to it even more. He would have had his head turned to come over here but for different reasons he decided not to, and I think he should be commended for that.

“I’m not sure how many Australian fans would be aware that before James Roby was Keiron Cunningham, and he was that good that at the new St Helens ground, which was opened in 2012, they built a statue of him.

“There were a lot of question marks from fans about whether James could fill Keiron’s boots, but if that statue gets built today there is a statue of James Roby. It’s a big statement to say but James has gone past Keiron for me.”

Millward said that Roby’s loyalty to St Helens and willingness to bide his time at the club behind Cunningham and fellow Test hooker Mickey Higham were other traits that stood him apart from most players.

Cunningham, who played 446 matches for St Helens and 26 Tests for Wales and Great Britain, was regarded by many as the best hooker Britain had produced and Higham was considered the next best dummy half in Super League at the time.

As a result, Roby – a halfback in his junior days – was forced to shift between fullback, five-eighth, lock and even wing – until the departure of Higham to Wigan in 2005 enabled him to share the hooking duties with Cunningham.

“We were short one week so I picked him on the wing, in a play-off match against Wigan,” said Millward, who took St Helens to victory in the 2000 and 2002 Super League grand finals, 2001 and 2004 Challenge Cup finals and 2001 World Club Challenge.

“Everyone talks about James Roby as a great player and the amount of games he has played, but the biggest thing for me is the respect of the position he was in.

How many young guys would be prepared to sit behind the No.1 and No.2 players in their position.

"James Roby had respect for those people, and he really loved St Helens, so he was wanted to stay and learn off those guys.

“No one would have said to him, ‘just be patient, you will end up playing 500 games here’. Most people would have said ‘you need to get going’ and he had plenty of clubs after him.

“It was obvious he was very talented, and it was obvious he was a good person, so that attracts other clubs to want to throw the kitchen sink at him.”

Among the offers Roby has turned down to remain at St Helens for 20 seasons were a number from NRL clubs.

He has previously visited Australia and New Zealand for the 2008 and 2017 World Cups, the 2006 Tri-Nations, 2010 Four Nations and 2020 World Club Challenge, but always resisted the temptation to play in the NRL.

“The first time I was only 20 years old and my girlfriend, who is my wife now, was pregnant at the time and as young parents we were a bit scared of coming over without any grandparents to help out and that sort of thing,” Roby said.

“Another time we had just moved into a new house, so it has just never really transpired to be honest.

It was nice to get some opportunities but it is not something I regret.

“Obviously I would be too old now. I don’t think anyone would sign me as a 38-year-old at the end of this season.”

Roby made his international debut in the same Tri-Nations series as Cameron Smith, in 2006, and their careers ran almost parallel until the Australian hooker and captain’s retirement in 2020 at the age of 37 after 430 matches for the Storm, 56 Tests and 42 Origins.

Both played in the 2008, 2013 and 2017 World Cups, which was Smith’s final appearance in a green-and-gold jersey, while Roby played one more Test – in Denver in 2018.

Roby ruled himself out of last year’s World Cup after initially planning to retire at the end of the 2022 season.

“If you are the English hooker, you always get compared to the Australian hooker at the time,” Roby said. “I played against Cameron Smith a number of times and I have a lot of respect for him, and what he done in the game.

“His longevity and his consistency speak for itself, and he was a great player who always seemed to deliver.”

The only survivor from the last St Helens team to win a World Club Challenge in 2007, Roby had to endure five consecutive grand final defeats alongside Graham before winning a second Super League premiership in 2014.

He took over the captaincy from Jon Wilkin in 2018 and has led Saints to a record four consecutive grand final triumphs, including 2020, when Graham returned to the club following a stint with the Dragons.

“Going back there in 2020, it just really hit home how much of a leader of men he was,” Graham said. “He didn’t have that role when we were growing up.

“Playing in the middle for so long, he puts his body through so much but then also mentally - when you are coming off four or five grand final losses - to have the ability to regroup and lead St Helens to four premierships in a row is phenomenal.

“I personally would have loved to have seen him come to the NRL but as a Saints man I am glad he stayed and has achieved what he has done. He is an incredible human being. You don’t see him stop, he just keeps on moving.

“Even at the ripe old age of 37, he will be leading the kick-chase and he will be leading the support. He has got talent as well but his resilience, work ethic  and willingness to face adversity is what sets him apart.”