i got bored and went searching the net and found this
Raiders speedster is having the last laugh
By Steve Mascord
March 29 2003
Speed to burn: Canberra's Phil Graham in action against the Roosters last year. Photo: Nick Laham/Getty Images
At first Phil Graham thought his NRL career was a joke. A practical joke. He was standing on a golf course in Brisbane with some Redcliffe teammates at the end of the 2001 season when the call from Canberra coach Matthew Elliott came.
"After our grand final I was playing golf with a few of the Redcliffe boys, on the drink, and Matty gave us a ring," Graham, 22, said after training at Bruce Stadium yesterday. "He talked to me a couple of times after that and then I came down.
"Mate, I didn't know if it was just one of the boys playing a trick on me or what. I was a bit intoxicated ..."
Phil Graham still isn't a household name but there are plenty of pundits willing to bet that by the end of this season he'll go close.
When the NRL's official match program, Big League, did a survey this week of players' sprint times at training, Graham came up as the fourth-fastest player in the premiership. The only blokes ahead of him are South Sydney's Joven Clarke, Penrith's Rhys Wesser and the Rabbitohs' Chris Walker.
The Raiders centre clocked 4.69seconds for 40 metres but protested: "I don't know if I'm the fastest down here. There are a couple of blokes who are pretty quick. Moggy [Adam Mogg] and Marky McLinden."
But Graham isn't only quick. He has rare balance with the ball, possesses a lethal swerve and - most significantly - isn't afraid to take risks, such as a little kick early in the tackle count or a tricky pass.
"Matty just said to me: 'If you see something, go for it, just keep it under control'," he said.
"If I think I can do it, I'll go and do it."
The one area in which Graham put in plenty of work during the off-season, however, was defence. At 86kg, he's still lanky rather than powerful. "They've given me some guidelines," he said. "I've just got to keep it up."
And tonight at Canberra Stadium he'll face a big test in that area: the St George Illawarra centres are Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier.
Asked whom he expected to mark, Graham said: "Gasnier's side, I think. I've got my work cut out tomorrow, trying to stop him!"
If he succeeds, the youngster would like it known he is a New South Welshman, not a banana-bender. His junior club was West Tamworth.
"Our manager at West Tamworth, his brother was playing up there [Queensland]," he explained. "A few of us from Tamworth went for a trial up there and got picked up."
The rest is history but the future is tonight against St George Illawarra. It was against Canberra in the ACT that the Dragons joint venture had their first-ever win - in 1999.
"They always play well down here, I've been told," Graham said. "It's going to be our toughest game so far. We'll be switched on, it's our first home game, it should be good."
But there are plenty of reasons to suspect Elliott's side will make it three from three tonight. Jason Ryles and Trent Barrett are still out of the St George Illawarra line-up and Canberra are coming off their first back-to-back away wins in two years.
Elliott's ploy of flying into an away game on match day and leaving straight afterwards - while not applicable to the first-round flogging of North Queensland - is paying dividends, according to his players.
"I prefer that than going up there the day before," Graham said. "I found in the motel, you're just relaxing and taking it easy and we just played terrible. It's working out well, so far."
When it was suggested to Elliott after the 46-14 round-one win over North Queensland that Graham was increasingly looking like a representative prospect, the coach quipped: "You're sounding like his manager."
But Graham is off contract at the end of the year and no doubt recruitment predators are circling. "I want to stay down here, it's good," he said. "We'll see what happens. I like everyone down here, the club's good and I like living down here."
Raiders speedster is having the last laugh
By Steve Mascord
March 29 2003
Speed to burn: Canberra's Phil Graham in action against the Roosters last year. Photo: Nick Laham/Getty Images
At first Phil Graham thought his NRL career was a joke. A practical joke. He was standing on a golf course in Brisbane with some Redcliffe teammates at the end of the 2001 season when the call from Canberra coach Matthew Elliott came.
"After our grand final I was playing golf with a few of the Redcliffe boys, on the drink, and Matty gave us a ring," Graham, 22, said after training at Bruce Stadium yesterday. "He talked to me a couple of times after that and then I came down.
"Mate, I didn't know if it was just one of the boys playing a trick on me or what. I was a bit intoxicated ..."
Phil Graham still isn't a household name but there are plenty of pundits willing to bet that by the end of this season he'll go close.
When the NRL's official match program, Big League, did a survey this week of players' sprint times at training, Graham came up as the fourth-fastest player in the premiership. The only blokes ahead of him are South Sydney's Joven Clarke, Penrith's Rhys Wesser and the Rabbitohs' Chris Walker.
The Raiders centre clocked 4.69seconds for 40 metres but protested: "I don't know if I'm the fastest down here. There are a couple of blokes who are pretty quick. Moggy [Adam Mogg] and Marky McLinden."
But Graham isn't only quick. He has rare balance with the ball, possesses a lethal swerve and - most significantly - isn't afraid to take risks, such as a little kick early in the tackle count or a tricky pass.
"Matty just said to me: 'If you see something, go for it, just keep it under control'," he said.
"If I think I can do it, I'll go and do it."
The one area in which Graham put in plenty of work during the off-season, however, was defence. At 86kg, he's still lanky rather than powerful. "They've given me some guidelines," he said. "I've just got to keep it up."
And tonight at Canberra Stadium he'll face a big test in that area: the St George Illawarra centres are Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier.
Asked whom he expected to mark, Graham said: "Gasnier's side, I think. I've got my work cut out tomorrow, trying to stop him!"
If he succeeds, the youngster would like it known he is a New South Welshman, not a banana-bender. His junior club was West Tamworth.
"Our manager at West Tamworth, his brother was playing up there [Queensland]," he explained. "A few of us from Tamworth went for a trial up there and got picked up."
The rest is history but the future is tonight against St George Illawarra. It was against Canberra in the ACT that the Dragons joint venture had their first-ever win - in 1999.
"They always play well down here, I've been told," Graham said. "It's going to be our toughest game so far. We'll be switched on, it's our first home game, it should be good."
But there are plenty of reasons to suspect Elliott's side will make it three from three tonight. Jason Ryles and Trent Barrett are still out of the St George Illawarra line-up and Canberra are coming off their first back-to-back away wins in two years.
Elliott's ploy of flying into an away game on match day and leaving straight afterwards - while not applicable to the first-round flogging of North Queensland - is paying dividends, according to his players.
"I prefer that than going up there the day before," Graham said. "I found in the motel, you're just relaxing and taking it easy and we just played terrible. It's working out well, so far."
When it was suggested to Elliott after the 46-14 round-one win over North Queensland that Graham was increasingly looking like a representative prospect, the coach quipped: "You're sounding like his manager."
But Graham is off contract at the end of the year and no doubt recruitment predators are circling. "I want to stay down here, it's good," he said. "We'll see what happens. I like everyone down here, the club's good and I like living down here."
![TiTTieS_[CNTDN]](/data/avatars/m/5/5289.jpg?1151924577){kind=avatar}
