SAINTS’ player of the season Luke Thompson has received a glowing endorsement from England skipper James Graham – but it came with the warning that the young prop’s performances will have put him on the radar of every NRL club.

Graham, a former Saints club captain, who has spent the past seven seasons excelling in Australia with Canterbury and now St George-Illawarra, has watched Thompson’s progression at close quarters in the clashes with the Kiwis.

Thompson has enjoyed an outstanding series in an England jersey – continuing the add to the accolades garnered during the domestic season which saw him sweep the board at Saints and named in the Dream Team.

His big engine, fearlessness in hitting the ball up at pace and his dedication and application in training are traits that have impressed battle-hardened front rower Graham.

Speaking at a forum held at Saints on Tuesday night, Graham said: “I was really impressed with Luke in the test series.

“I had seen him play watching Saints on Sky.

“He had been talked about for a number of years about being one of the next big things and he has certainly lived up to that hype.

“I got to meet him in Denver when we went over for the mid-season test.

“You could tell there was something about him.

“It was only six days there but you could see with how he trained and put himself about, what type of person and athlete he was just by training.”

He missed out in Denver, but strong performances at Saints earned him a shot against France, scoring on his England debut at Leigh.

That secured him a bench spot, initially in the test series, but Sean O’Loughlin suffering a calf injury meant extra minutes and a start at 13 for the remaining tests.

“I was delighted to see him get a chance in this series,” Graham said.

“Coach Wayne Bennett was really excited about the prospect of him playing for his country.

"He just went out there and excelled.

“In the first test he put a hit on Martin Taupau and rocked him back.

“And speaking from experience in the NRL I have not seen that happen to him before.

“Luke is not the heaviest of guys but you can see with how he trains he can whack them.

“I like how hard he works and saw his dedication in Denver – not a thing goes in his body that he does not look into, he is so professional.

“I don’t want to be the scaremonger but Saints are going to have a hell of a job to keep him because after this test series there are going to be 16 teams over in Australia that will have Luke Thompson's name on their recruitment officers’ desks saying ‘let’s go and get him’.

“He is a phenomenal talent.

“What he has on his side at the moment is that he is really fast, which is rare for a prop. He has the fitness to knock out 60-70 minutes at 13.

“He has got pace and you can’t train that. It is scary how good he can be.

“Being a Saints fan I hope we can keep hold of him."