The driving force behind Sam Graham's 'gamble' to leave Northampton

Sam Graham admits that swapping top-of-the-table Northampton Saints for bottom-of-the-pile Newcastle Red Bulls next season is a gamble, but he feels it’s one worth taking.

Back-row Graham, 28, who is becoming a father this summer, has signed a two-year contract with the Red Bulls after being assured there is a real opportunity to be part of a building project in the North-East.

The former cook says the move isn’t purely down to finances. Instead, it reminds him of his time at Doncaster, when he joined from Bristol Bears earlier in his career.

“I’m not saying my move is a financial one, because it’s not. It’s about being invested in a programme from the start and building something from the ground up, which for me is completely compelling.

“The financial side, yes, there are benefits, but that wasn’t the biggest thing on my mind. Newcastle are at a different stage to Northampton.

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25 Apr 26

Bath

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“I don’t think anything is guaranteed, as I think we saw last year off the back of winning the championship, to then unfortunately underperforming for a large part of the season.

“I’m really excited. I think it probably is a gamble, but I’ve been reassured by the club, and everything I’ve heard from the guys up there is that it’s a real opportunity to be in a project from the very start, which really appeals to me.

“I had something similar when I was at Doncaster, in a way, with 25 new players all rocking up on day one and sort of digging in, albeit on a far less of a budget.

“But it’s a similar sort of thing, and there, it makes its own narratives as you go through the season, and it becomes compelling and I’m very excited for that,” he said.

Graham has already won one PREM title wearing the black, green and gold, coming off the bench in their 2024 final win over Bath and would love nothing more than going to Newcastle with another in his back pocket.

“The fact that I’ve managed to win one in my time with the Saints is insane. There are far better players than me who have played hundreds of games for their club who have never won anything.

“So it’s a real privilege that I’ve been involved in those situations. It would mean the world to me because I think it’s what this group deserves. I think we’ve done a lot of work, particularly in the last four years, of building a real trust in our game.

“On any day, we can beat any team, and I think we’ve proven that over and over again. To go out of the top would be truly special, and it’s definitely something that’s driving me,” he added.