Today’s Carnegie Challenge Cup final could well be the last occasion that Keiron Cunningham, Paul Sculthorpe and Sean Long, the inspirational spine running through the St Helens side during a decade of almost uninterrupted triumph, line up together on the big stage. “They’ve been awesome,” James Graham, part of a new Saints generation, said. “If we win, I’m pretty sure it’ll be down to those three. You look down the line at those guys and you know you’re going to bust your backside for them.”

It is fairly safe to assume that, in a few years’ time, people will be saying something similar about Graham, if not already. The 22-year-old Liverpudlian prop, with the carrot-top hair and fanatical work ethic, has not only set the benchmark for St Helens in an injury-plagued front row, often forced to do full 80-minute stints this year, he has mounted a compelling case among his fellow professionals for the sport’s annual Man of Steel prize. He has been consistently outstanding in a team now rivalling Wigan’s one-time cup dominance.

During a 12-year span from 1984 to 1995, Wigan lifted the trophy on nine occasions. St Helens have won it six times in the past dozen years and Graham admitted that he would be lying if he said that Wigan’s record was not a motivating factor against Hull and for a third consecutive cup success.

“I’m not sure what it was like at Wigan in their heyday, but at this club it’s drilled into you that second best isn’t good enough,” he said. “You’ve got to be a winner, you’ve got to go out wanting to win every time. If you don’t want those things, it’s simple: you don’t get picked.

“As much as I want to win, though, I look at the years Wigan won the cup eight times on the spin and can’t see anyone coming close to that. It’s more of a level playing field now in the full-time era, but St Helens’s success over a similar period is pretty remarkable. It shows what a great side St Helens are and it boils down to people like Scully, Longy and Keiron, because they’ve bled themselves dry bringing that success. I wouldn’t want to be the person who lets them down.”

Graham’s memories of his first visit to Wembley in 1996 - the beginning of Saints’ cup era – were revived for him recently watching ESPN sporting classics. “Bobbie Goulding’s bombs raining down on Bradford and there was Keiron doing his stuff even them,” he said. “It’s almost weird seeing him play that long ago. I was 10. We’re all hoping he’ll go around another year – he’s definitely got a couple more medals in him – because it’s a privilege playing alongside such a legend.”

Football was Graham’s childhood passion growing up in Maghull in Liverpool as an Everton supporter. Few Scousers cross over to rugby league but his father, John, from league country in Cumbria, dragged his seven-year-old to a training session at St Helens Crusaders after spotting a poster in a newsagent’s on his way to see the 1993 final. Four years later, Graham scored a try for St Helens Schools in the 1997 final curtain-raiser alongside James Roby, his future St Helens and England teammate. “We tore up half the pitch for souvenirs,” he said.

As well as leading from the front, Graham’s qualities as a captain were earmarked early – he guided England Under18 to a rare series victory in Sydney against the Australian Institute of Sport. He made his St Helens debut at 18 and was quickly marked for stardom by Daniel Anderson, the coach. He might not look so foreboding at 6ft 1in and 16st 10lb, but his aggression, strength, balance, speed and defensive technique are those of a shuddering front-row colossus.

The World Cup in Australia is on his agenda after a potential cup and league double last achieved by St Helens in 2006, but which proved bittersweet for Graham. A hand injury in the subsequent celebrations meant that he missed Great Britain’s Tri-Nations tour. “I’ve pretty much put that one to bed,” he said. “Hopefully in 20 years I’ll be able to laugh about it. If I starting thinking about the World Cup now, I’ll lose my concentration for Saints. I’m just thinking, ‘Hull, Wembley and winning.’ ”