The heir apparent in terms of the club captaincy at the Sharks, Wade Graham realised his enormous potential during an outstanding 2016, a year in which he would win a Premiership with the Sharks and earn Origin selection for NSW.
A schoolboy prodigy, Graham arrived at the Sharks as a five eighth with promise, only to be trust into a positional change and a place in the backrow shortly after by Coach Shane Flanagan, a move which has since reaped outstanding rewards.
Graham has played 137 NRL games for the Sharks since joining the club from Penrith in 2011 and despite still being just 26 years of age, is fast approaching 200 NRL games in total.
Plays with toughness and a maturity beyond his years, however it may be his skill level which stands Graham apart from others in his position, a passing and kicking game honed by a junior career played in the halves making him a dangerous commodity with the ball in hand.
Current skipper Paul Gallen has anointed him as the man to take over the mantle upon his retirement, with Graham’s past form meritorious but his best perhaps still in front of him.
A key figure in the Sharks Premiership win in 2016, despite being in a hot field of current and former players, Graham is deserved of his nomination and a genuine contender for a place in the Sharks Team of the Half Century.
