Footy great who ‘abused alcohol’ lifts the lid about his stint in rehab for the first time – and explains why he left earlier than doctors wanted him to

James Graham has revealed during a confronting and honest interview that he checked himself into a rehabilitation facility in 2025, after struggling with alcohol and mental health issues.

The rugby league legend explained that the past 12 months had been particularly difficult for him, revealing that he had ‘abused alcohol’ and had been striving to obtain balance in his life.

The 40-year-old former NRL player hoped that sharing his story could help encourage others to seek assistance.

Graham enjoyed a glittering 17-year career at the top of the sport, playing for St Helens, the Canterbury Bulldogs and St George Illawarra Dragons. He would also win 54 international caps for England.  

However, after retiring in 2020 during lockdown, he said he was exposed to what ‘real life was like’, admitting that sport had helped ‘mask’ issues with finding structure and mental stimulation.

After hanging up his boots, Graham said he had received some help from the doctor at St George, who had ‘aligned him with a therapist’ and ‘gave him some medication’.

The former St Helens star then said that ‘things were going OK, [I was] managing it’ but added that it had become tougher over the past year.

‘This last 12 months has been particularly hard, there’s probably a number of different reasons why that’s happened,’ Graham said on the Bye Round podcast.

‘Not many people know about this. I made the decision to go to rehab. When I said I was away on holiday, I [spent] a week in a facility for mental health – which wasn’t long enough.

‘You’re supposed to stay there for three. But due to my job, I couldn’t disappear for three weeks.

‘Disappearing for one week was difficult enough.’

He added: ‘I’m pretty good at justifying things, if I was involved in an accident and had an illness and I needed three weeks off work I’d do it, but this, for some strange reason [I didn’t stay].’

Delving further into why he did not stay in the facility, Graham said: ‘I guess maybe one of the main reasons why I didn’t [stay] was because people would know. But why would I care if people know or not.

‘I’m still wrestling with that. Even now.’

He added that he would consider going back and spending more time in the facility in future, stating that it had ‘changed his life’.

‘It’s been impactful enough and some things from there that will really stay with me for a very, very long time,’ the footy great said.

Graham also spoke on the importance of checking in with friends.

The former St Helens and Canterbury Bulldogs star believes that this is something men, generally, need to be better at.

It came after one of his friends had told him something which Graham said had ‘hit him between the eyes’.

‘My best mate from school, we talk every day,’ Graham said.

‘When I was away on the [Ashes] tour recently, and having a decent drinking session, I go off my phone. The next time we spoke, he said something that hit me between the eyes.

‘He said: “Lad, I actually genuinely worry you’ve done something when I don’t hear from you”.’

Graham’s friend had been worried the former footy player had taken his own life.

The Canterbury great told the podcast: ‘I’d never, ever do that.’

‘And I think that’s important to know, and he knows that too, but I think to hear your friend say that [is eye-opening].’

Graham urged anyone who was struggling to seek help.

‘I can’t recommend it highly enough,’ he said.

Following his retirement, the 6ft 2in prop forward began working in the media, taking up a commentary role with Triple M Sydney alongside his podcasting work.

Despite admitting himself to the rehabilitation facility, Graham said he felt he had recently begun to ‘slip back into old habits’.

‘[It] was so nerve-wracking going in [to the rehabilitation facility],’ he said. ‘During the week I spent there, I felt like I learnt so much and started to see things differently, but I have started to slip back into old habits.

He added: ‘Unnecessary drinking and abuse of alcohol.’

The conversation comes after the former Canterbury Bulldogs star had previously opened up about how he had suffered from anxiety and depression during the Covid-19 pandemic.

By the time he retired at the age of 34, Graham had played a whopping 424 games in both the NRL and the Super League. But the England international believes he had suffered more than 100 concussions and 18,000 collisions during his career, which he believes triggered his mental health issues.

Graham heartbreakingly even spoke on how he had written a letter to his kids to ‘explain who he was’ in case he had ‘a cognitive decline or succumbed to dementia’.

Doctors had told him to ‘pull back on drinking,’ but Graham explained that he had found it difficult to find an equilibrium.

‘People talk about balance in life, I don’t have that balance, for me it’s just go hard at everything,’ he said, before adding that running helps his mental health.

‘That’s going hard at partying, waking up the next day, hungover, dealing with the mental health, and then I go running. 

‘I run a lot, which I’ve found is so beneficial for mental health.

‘I do weight training as well, but running in particular is helpful.

‘I’ll finish a really hard run but then want to go hard again on the drinking or eating, or whatever it may be, working. It’s not a balancing act; it’s just all in.

‘It’s funny because I take my training quite seriously, medically prescribed testosterone and peptides to help with recovery. I’m extreme in terms of looking after my body but extreme in terms of abusing my body, literally in the same day.

Graham gave an example of a day he had recently. He revealed he had gone to Hyrox in the morning, then went and did an upper-body workout in the gym.

Graham then went to work at Triple M, before attending a Canterbury Bulldogs game, before going out on a ‘massive night’.

‘This is all in the space of 20 hours.’

Graham reflected on the matter further, stating that he struggled with periods of inactivity during his retirement, even saying that he’d go to the gym after competing in Hyrox.

‘Who I was, as a person and as an athlete, I didn’t manage the boredom; I got it by being quite extreme and a very different person.

‘So, yeah, I guess, finding ways to manage that level of inactivity is very, very difficult for me to the point where it probably was detrimental,’ he said.

‘I think back to that day, if someone told me that they were doing that I would think: “Why on Earth are you going to the gym after doing Hyrox?”‘

Graham revealed that he is undergoing therapy and added that the sessions have been helping.

‘I can’t recommend it enough. If anyone is struggling, see a therapist, see a doctor… the therapy is amazing.’

• If you’re struggling, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, text 0477 13 11 14 or chat online.
• Call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or chat online.
• Call the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.