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Late father spurs Graham
Brad Walter | September 21, 2007
ASHLEY Graham has a 25-centimetre scar that runs down the outside of his lower left leg. But it is nothing compared to the internal scar he carries from witnessing his father's death.
As a 16-year-old, Graham and his brother Brad watched their father Thomas die from a heart-attack. That experience has helped inspire the Cowboys centre to overcome what was initially diagnosed as a career-ending injury and climb to equal third on the try-scoring list in the NRL this season.
Since snapping his tibia and fibula and dislocating his ankle in a sickening collision with Shane Webcke at Suncorp Stadium in 2003, Graham has undergone 13 operations in a bid to live up to the promise that led to then Parramatta recruitment manager Noel Cleal, now with Manly, luring him from Cairns two years earlier.
"Dad passed away in 2000. He was 49. That's pretty young to have a heart attack, so it was pretty devastating," Graham told the Herald in Townsville this week. "It was pretty sudden. He was at home with me and my brother and we sort of just watched him die in front of us, which was pretty tough.
"But it's pretty motivating, too. I know he always wanted me to put 100 per cent into whatever I did and always wanted me to succeed so I apply that to my footy. That basically just motivates me to get out and do my best in every game.
"It was just after my dad died that I signed with Parramatta. Before that I hadn't really thought about it. Whenever I run out to play I just think of him and how he would be proud of me running out in the Cowboys colours."
But before Graham pulled on a North Queensland jersey for the first time, he played five seasons with the Eels - two of them alongside Jamie Lyon, the player he is most likely to mark in tomorrow night's grand final qualifier.
"I learnt a lot there under Brian Smith and really enjoyed my footy. Before going to the Eels I wasn't really huge on league, I probably played more union at school," said Graham, who has scored 18 tries this season.
After first dislocating his kneecap while playing for Queensland's Emerging Origin side in 2002 and then suffering the horrific injury that threatened to end his career the following season, Graham also learnt a lot about himself.
Complications plagued his recovery for the next three years and he was granted a release from the Eels after the first four rounds of last season to move closer to home and play for the Cowboys.
"At first, they actually told me I would never play again, just because of the extent of the injury - hence having so many operations on it," he said. "I had the first operation to put the plates and screws in, then when they closed it up there was too much pressure in there, so no blood could flow through to my foot.
"Then they couldn't close the wound up, and it took six or seven operations to do that and then just some arthroscopes and that sort of thing.
"I pretty much had to learn to walk again, but it's been two years now since my last operation, so hopefully the worst is behind me, and I think my footy is just benefiting now from having had my first full pre-season since.
"I'm starting to get my pace back, and I'd like to think that I'm pretty close to being back to where I used to be."
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/late-father-spurs-graham/2007/09/20/1189881683850.html
Brad Walter | September 21, 2007
ASHLEY Graham has a 25-centimetre scar that runs down the outside of his lower left leg. But it is nothing compared to the internal scar he carries from witnessing his father's death.
As a 16-year-old, Graham and his brother Brad watched their father Thomas die from a heart-attack. That experience has helped inspire the Cowboys centre to overcome what was initially diagnosed as a career-ending injury and climb to equal third on the try-scoring list in the NRL this season.
Since snapping his tibia and fibula and dislocating his ankle in a sickening collision with Shane Webcke at Suncorp Stadium in 2003, Graham has undergone 13 operations in a bid to live up to the promise that led to then Parramatta recruitment manager Noel Cleal, now with Manly, luring him from Cairns two years earlier.
"Dad passed away in 2000. He was 49. That's pretty young to have a heart attack, so it was pretty devastating," Graham told the Herald in Townsville this week. "It was pretty sudden. He was at home with me and my brother and we sort of just watched him die in front of us, which was pretty tough.
"But it's pretty motivating, too. I know he always wanted me to put 100 per cent into whatever I did and always wanted me to succeed so I apply that to my footy. That basically just motivates me to get out and do my best in every game.
"It was just after my dad died that I signed with Parramatta. Before that I hadn't really thought about it. Whenever I run out to play I just think of him and how he would be proud of me running out in the Cowboys colours."
But before Graham pulled on a North Queensland jersey for the first time, he played five seasons with the Eels - two of them alongside Jamie Lyon, the player he is most likely to mark in tomorrow night's grand final qualifier.
"I learnt a lot there under Brian Smith and really enjoyed my footy. Before going to the Eels I wasn't really huge on league, I probably played more union at school," said Graham, who has scored 18 tries this season.
After first dislocating his kneecap while playing for Queensland's Emerging Origin side in 2002 and then suffering the horrific injury that threatened to end his career the following season, Graham also learnt a lot about himself.
Complications plagued his recovery for the next three years and he was granted a release from the Eels after the first four rounds of last season to move closer to home and play for the Cowboys.
"At first, they actually told me I would never play again, just because of the extent of the injury - hence having so many operations on it," he said. "I had the first operation to put the plates and screws in, then when they closed it up there was too much pressure in there, so no blood could flow through to my foot.
"Then they couldn't close the wound up, and it took six or seven operations to do that and then just some arthroscopes and that sort of thing.
"I pretty much had to learn to walk again, but it's been two years now since my last operation, so hopefully the worst is behind me, and I think my footy is just benefiting now from having had my first full pre-season since.
"I'm starting to get my pace back, and I'd like to think that I'm pretty close to being back to where I used to be."
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/late-father-spurs-graham/2007/09/20/1189881683850.html
