Apparently he is only coming back and finishing this season with them lot then retiring?

In that case a good deal for them. Although I still cant get my head around how any club can consider making signings given the circumstances, either for this year or next year.

Why? The season is restarting in August. Why can’t you get your head around it?

They released Thompson to cut their salary costs and have asked all of the squad to take a big pay cut. Clearly just a couple of many actions needed to try and safeguard the future of the club (in the short to medium term at least). Seems counterintuitive to recruit a big name player with everything going on - if we're really honest does it really matter who wins the trophies in the next few years in the scheme of things?

Is Graham (35) playing at St Helens any different than O'Loughlin (3icon_cool.gif, Ellis (3icon_cool.gif, Leuluai (35), Cuthbertson (35) still playing or Westwood (3icon_cool.gif playing until last season?

Still a good return buy for Saints!

Not quite. I think you’ve twisted things slightly to suit your narrative there.

We released him because he was offered an immediate deal with Canterbury and he preferred that option to taking the pay cut. (His own statement explains this). We didn’t make the decision to release him purely to “cut salary costs.”
We also received a transfer fee for him don’t forget. Furthermore, it wasn’t a “big” pay cut that the players have agreed to either.

Graham won’t be earning any more than Thompson was so we are no worse off financially, so it makes perfect sense us signing him.

As for it not mattering who wins trophies, each to their own but I want Saints to win things this year just like any other year and I won’t be making any excuses if we don’t.

Not sure I understand your point. Yes he preferred the Canterbury option but Saints could have kept him on his full salary if they chose to. They decided it was more important to cut their salary costs so they released him. I also think what is more likely is Thompson enquired whether it would be possible for Canterbury to take him early when he found out about the proposed salary cut but that's a different issue.

Yes your salary bill may be no worse off replacing Thompson with Graham but the whole point of the salary cut (across all staff not just the squad) was to reduce expenditure as much as possible. Fair enough about the transfer fee but it surely wont exceed the cost of Grahams salary. I accept fans will argue the club needs to do this whilst maintaining as competitive a squad as possible but my point is those fans might need to sort out their priorities. What's the point in winning a trophy in 2020 if the club is threatened by liquidation in 2021?

That's crazy if true. Graham is rumoured to be on £300-350k and Thompson last renewed his contract at the end of 2017 - I would doubt he's on anymore than £200k. Surely he wouldn't take a 50% paycut just to play 1 or 2 years with Saints?

I suppose the big difference is that he's coming into a team that already have seven forwards aged between 30 and 35.
If he is only on a one year deal then he'll probably do a job but that pack will need a big refresh in the next couple of years.

I’d also add to that that the players quoted didn’t have such a significant drop off in form that Graham has.

If it’s just for this season as rumoured though I’m sure he will be a good signing as he will be running on emotion. Anything more and I’d be questioning the signing.

Nostalgia only gets you so far as Cunningham found to his cost.

By a drop in form of older players like Graham, some would say that the same same also applies to some of our players like Burgess G, Burgess J,Clubb, Leulaui and O'Loughlin.

Are they too, running on emotion and being selected on nostalgia?

Non of those mentioned have had such a loss of form so drastically as Graham.

Has Graham's form really dropped off? He was a real force when he went over to the NRL. Could this 'drop off' be calculated against his own high standards as well as against the top performing opponents in his his position over there.

For instance how would be compare now to let's say Flower & Clubb over here?

Clubb barely runs. Never mind on emotion.

You really need to take those Cherry & White tinted glasses of Jonh, Lockers has been going down hill for years, Managing 8 minutes in one game and 17 in another is awful