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| Born | (1990-10-25)25 October 1990 (age 34) Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 106 kg (16 st 10 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Five-eighth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wade Graham (born 25 October 1990) is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer who played as asecond-row forward and captained theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks in theNational Rugby League (NRL). He has played forAustralia at international level.
Graham previously played for thePenrith Panthers between 2008 and 2010 in the NRL, and has played at representative level for thePrime Minister's XIII,City Origin,Indigenous All Stars andNew South Wales in theState of Origin series.
Graham was born inBlacktown, New South Wales,Australia and is ofIndigenous Australian descent - fromBundjalung people.[2]
Graham played his junior rugby league forBlacktown City and attendedThe Hills Sports High School before being signed by thePenrith Panthers. Graham played forNew South Wales under 16's and 18's,[3] as well as the PanthersHarold Matthews andSG Ball teams. Graham started the 2008 season in theNYC for the Penrith Panthers before being called up to the first-grade squad, still as a 17-year-old in high school.
In round 15 of the2008 NRL season, Graham was called up to make hisNRL debut for thePenrith Panthers atfive-eighth against theSt George Illawarra Dragons in the 13–12 loss atANZ Stadium.[4][5] Graham finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 8 matches for the Penrith club in the2008 NRL season.
In round 4 against theWests Tigers, Graham scored his first NRL career try in Penrith's 42–22 win atPenrith Stadium.[6] Graham finished the2009 NRL season with him playing in 22 matches and scoring five tries for the Penrith club.
On 24 June 2010, Graham signed withCronulla starting from 2011 with a desire to play regular first-grade football from the preference for the halves combinations ofTravis Burns andLuke Walsh by the Penrith coachMatthew Elliot limited the number of games he could have played.[7][8] Graham finished the2010 NRL season with him playing in 12 matches and scoring 4 tries forPenrith.
In round 1 of the2011 NRL season, Graham made his club debut for theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks against theCanberra Raiders athalfback in Cronulla's 40–12 loss atCanberra Stadium.[9] In Round 4 against theNew Zealand Warriors atOwen Delany Park inTaupō, New Zealand, Graham scored his first club try for Cronulla in the 26–18 loss.[10] Graham finished the 2011 NRL season with him playing in all of Cronulla's 24 matches, scoring six tries and kicking two field goals.
On 26 May 2012, Graham extended his contract with the Cronulla club for a further two seasons to the end of the 2014 season.[11] Graham finished the2012 NRL season having played in 15 matches and scoring six tries.
Graham was invited to represent thePortugal national rugby league team in the 2012Cabramatta International Nines tournament.[12]
On 29 April 2013, Graham was among the first of many Cronulla players to be interviewed byASADA, where controversy ensued regarding his attending the interview in casual attire.[13] Graham was selected for theNSW City team in the 2013City vs Country Origin match off the interchange bench in City's 18–12 loss inCoffs Harbour.[14] In Round 17 against theWests Tigers, Graham played his 100thNRL career match, scoring a try in Cronulla's 36–22 win atRemondis Stadium.[15] Graham finished the2013 NRL season having played 23 matches and scoring two tries for Cronulla.
In February 2014, Graham was selected in the Sharks inaugural2014 Auckland Nines squad.[16] On 14 April 2014, Graham extended his contract with Cronulla-Sutherland for another three years to the end of the 2017 season after knocking back a $500,000 a season offer from theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs.[17][18] On 22 August 2014, Graham became one of the Cronulla players to accept reduced bans from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority for his role in the 2011Sharks supplements scandal.[19] Graham finished off the2014 NRL season having played 19 matches and scoring five tries.
On 31 January and 1 February, Graham captained the Sharks in the2015 NRL Auckland Nines, after originally selected captain,Luke Lewis, was ruled out with injury.[20] On 3 May, Graham captainedNew South Wales City againstNew South Wales Country, playing at second-row in his team's 34–22 loss atWagga Wagga.[21][22] He co-captained the Sharks alongsideMichael Ennis for a period whilst Cronulla's regular captainPaul Gallen was sidelined due to injury. Graham finished the2015 season having played in all of the Sharks 26 matches, and scoring four tries.[23] On 15 December, he was named on the interchange bench for theIndigenous All Stars due to play theNRL All Stars team on 13 February 2016.[24]
On 13 January 2016, Graham was named in the emergingNew South Wales Blues squad.[25] On 13 February 2016, Graham played for the Indigenous All Stars against the NRL All Stars, playing off the interchange bench in the 12–8 loss atSuncorp Stadium.[26]
Graham made his debut for New South Wales in game 3 of the2016 State of Origin series, after having originally been selected to debut in Game 2, however being ineligible due to a suspension resulting from a high tackle onJonathan Thurston in Cronulla's Round 14 win over theNorth Queensland Cowboys.[citation needed]
On 2 October, Graham was part of the Cronulla side that won the 2016 grand final to claim the club's first ever premiership.
In 2017, Graham was selected for the2017 State of Origin series. Graham was part of the Cronulla side which finished 5th at the end of the season. On 10 September, Cronulla played North Queensland in the first week elimination finals and suffered a 15-14 shock defeat.[27][28]
In 2018, Graham was not selected for NSW by coach Brad Fittler for the 2018 State of Origin series due to being out with injury for most of the first half of the 2018 season.[29]In week one of the 2018 NRL finals, Graham was taken from the field in the first half during Cronulla's match against Eastern Suburbs with subsequent scans revealing the player had torn hisanterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruling him out for the rest of the season.[30]
Graham made his return for Cronulla in round 13 against Parramatta, which Cronulla won 42–22.[31]Graham was selected for Game 2 of the2019 State of Origin series where he starred in New South Wales' 38–6 win atPerth Stadium.[32][33]Graham was retained for Game 3 of the series, which New South Wales won 26–20 atANZ Stadium. It was the first time since 2005 that New South Wales had won back to back series.[34][35]
Graham was limited to ten appearances for Cronulla in the regular2019 NRL season, where the club finished 7th. Graham played in the elimination final loss to Manly atBrookvale Oval.[36]
On 30 September, Graham was named in the second row and as captain of the Australia PM XIII. On 7 October, Graham was named in the Australian team for the2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, as well as the upcomingOceania Cup fixtures.[citation needed]
Graham played 19 games for Cronulla in the2020 NRL season as the club finished 8th and qualified for the finals. He played in Cronulla's elimination final loss against Canberra.[37]
Graham was limited to only 11 games for Cronulla in the2021 NRL season which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table.[38]Graham decided to end his season prematurely due to three head concussions he sustained including two in consecutive weeks.[39]
Graham played a total of 18 games for Cronulla in the2022 NRL season as the club finished second on the table and qualified for the finals. Graham played in both finals matches which saw Cronulla eliminated in straight sets.[40]
For his player advocacy work, Graham was given the prestigiousRugby League Players Association Dennis Tutty Award. RLPA CEOClint Newton said "In particular, Wade was incredibly influential in the roll-back of the restrictive COVID protocols NRL and NRLW players were facing in January, in working with the Association to negotiate the players’ share of outperformance, and now as we get to the table with the NRL to negotiate our joint-CBA."[41]
On 8 August, Graham announced his retirement at the end of the2023 NRL season.[42]In round 24 of the2023 NRL season, Graham played his 250th game for Cronulla and scored a try in their 36-6 victory over theGold Coast.[43]In the 2023 elimination final, Graham would play his final game which was a 13-12 loss against the Sydney Roosters atShark Park.[44]
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 |  Penrith Panthers | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 22 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 20 | |
| 2010 | 12 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 16 | |
| 2011 |  Cronulla-Sutherland | 24 | 6 | 0 | — | 2 | 26 |
| 2012 | 19 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 24 | |
| 2013 | 23 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 8 | |
| 2014 | 19 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 20 | |
| 2015 | 26 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 16 | |
| 2016 | 26 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 8 | |
| 2017 | 22 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 20 | |
| 2018 | 18 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 12 | |
| 2019 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 4 | |
| 2020 | 19 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 16 | |
| 2021 | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 18 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 15 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 8 | |
| Career totals | 297 | 50 | 0 | — | 2 | 202 | |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 |  Indigenous All Stars | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career totals | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  NSW City | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career totals | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 |  New South Wales | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career totals | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Season | Team | Matches | T | G | GK % | F/G | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |  Australia | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 16 |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career totals | 8 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 16 | |
