Graham on a high but tearful too

JAMES GRAHAM admits he can’t get his head around the way his legendary career ended in the most dramatic Grand Final in Super League history.

The St Helens hero (above), who was also a superstar in the NRL, was desperate to bow out in fairytale fashion with a winners’ ring.

But the 35-year-old warhorse says he would have been laughed at if he had predicted the sensational ending at Hull’s KCOM Stadium.

He said: “If you wrote about it in the papers you would think it was a cartoon, Roy of the Rovers stuff. It was unbelievable, you could not have scripted it.”

With just over a minute to go, defending champions Saints thought they were dead and buried when Wigan got a penalty for offside.

But Zak Hardaker missed the long range effort and, with extra time looming, Saints launched a final raid.

Tommy Makinson unleashed a 40-metre drop goal attempt that bounced off the post as the hooter sounded.

Wigan full-back Bevan French hesitated and 19-year-old Saints winger

Jack Welsby raced in to grab an unbelievable try.

Graham, who burst into tears of joy when the touchdown was confirmed, said: “It does not feel real but I am going to dine out on that for quite a while.”

Welsby said: “I don’t think I will top that in my career. To do it on a night like this was amazing.”

Graham’s cameo return from the NRL has given Saints an extra spark but Welsby says it’s 35-year-old skipper James Roby who inspires the team.

He said: “I just chased Tommy’s kick as hard as I could and thought, ‘I’m going to put everything into this last couple of seconds’. But I’m surprised Robes didn’t beat me to it. He’s the one we get our work ethic from.”

Prop Kyle Amor believes the final will go down in sporting history, not just rugby league folklore. “If you talk about the greatest endings to games then that has got to be up there,” he said.

“What a wave of emotion in that last few minutes. I thought we were gone when Hardaker got that penalty. Just amazing.”