So there was something up.........
THERE’S a bunch of old photos tucked neatly into a scrapbook at Wade Graham’s parents home in Blacktown.
In one of the pictures, Graham is 11-years-old.
Crouched alongside the blue-eyed kid from Sydney’s western suburbs is rugby league immortal Andrew Johns.
Of over 200 boys and girls to attend an Easter holiday footy clinic on the Northern Beaches back in 2002, Graham was hand-picked to carry Johns’ kicking tee during the NSW Blues’ 32-4 State of Origin game one victory at ANZ Stadium.
To this day, Graham still smiles about the night he’ll never forget.
There are other photos too.
Treasured moments taken of his first game as a five-year-old, running around in circles for Blacktown City.
There’s one of Graham’s SG Ball debut for Penrith and another special one of him playing five-eighth for the NSW Under-17s alongside South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds.
And of course, there’s The Daily Telegraph back page of the 17-year-old schoolboy, plucked from Hill Sports High in the middle of his HSC, to make his NRL debut alongside his idols at Penrith in 2008.
Yet strangely, had Graham’s mother taken a box of matches last year to every one of those memories, he would’ve barely raised an eyebrow.
Put simply, the 23-year-old could no longer stomach the game which he loved, as both he and his Cronulla teammates bore the full brunt of an ASADA investigation which is still dragging on.
The kid who would kick the footy every afternoon after school until the street lights came on, suddenly found himself never wanting to leave his Shire home.
The intense investigation had sapped his energy, not only for football, but for life as well.
The cameras, the microphones, the uncertainty and the questions without answers, had created a living coma, which Graham says he only managed to emerge from last January.
“It feels like I lost a year of my life,’’ Graham says bluntly.
“Honestly, that’s what it feels like over the past year, as far as my footy years go.
“Last year, I was never thinking about footy. The only time I was thinking about footy was when I ran out (on game day).
“I know that was the case for a lot of the boys. For us to achieve the success we did, by going deep into the finals, shows the character we have at the club.
“Because there were times last year I didn’t even want to go to training. You knew we would be asked questions (by the media) we honestly didn’t have the answers for.
“Sometimes training would be called off because we’d have meetings with lawyers, it was all over the shop.
“In this game, where preparation is everything, this was something so far removed from being a professional footballer.
“I wouldn’t even leave the house. Toddy Carney would come and pick me up, just to get me out of the house because I didn’t want to go anywhere.
“He’d take me out for dinner or something, just to get me out.’’
This went on for months. Play football, find a hole, play football, find a hole.
On a rare occasion when Graham did emerge to face the music, he admits he hardly made life easy for the club by opting to wear a backward baseball cap, cargo shorts and thongs to his interview with ASADA in May last year.
“If I could go back I would definitely change it,’’ Graham said.
“I did myself no favours by rocking up in casual clothes to an interview like that.
“I suppose my mindset behind it was, at that stage we were told as players that we were going along to assist an investigation.
“We weren’t accused of anything, so in my mind all I thought we were going to do was sit down and have a chat and tell the them my point of view.
“But in hindsight, I should have understood the process a bit better.
“It came across as I didn’t care and I was disrespectful, where that wasn’t the case. This is my life we’re talking about, of course I cared about it.’’
Last week, Graham personally phoned South Sydney coach Michael Maguire to explain why he had decided to stay for another three years at the Sharks for less than the $1.5m offered by the Rabbitohs.
Graham, who is the youngest player to captain Cronulla in 25 years, made the call out of respect and because once again, he cares.
“I had a holiday in Hawaii during the off-season and while it still wasn’t resolved when I came back, I was over worrying about it,’’ Graham said.
“It’s been over a year and so that’s why I’ve been able to come to terms, completely refocus and football is football for me now.
“I can’t control what they’re (ASADA) doing, we can only react to a reaction. But what I can control is my happiness and for me that is here at the Sharks where I’ve got the smile back again.
“Despite our early form, I’m happy because I truly believe in what lies ahead for this club.
“That’s why I stayed at the Sharks, I want to be a part of this club for years to come. We have a great playing squad and it will only get stronger.
“Although we’ve struggled early this year and there are a number of reasons for that, I still believe we’ve got the same team if not better than last year and that success isn’t too far away.
“For me now, I’m going to training every day wanting to improve and help my teammates improve. I’m living for the now and enjoying the fact that I’m actually loving life and loving footy again.”
With the Sharks just one win from five matches, Graham knows they can ill-afford another loss tonight against an equally desperate Sydney Roosters outfit.
“With Gal (injured captain Paul Gallen) still out I’ve been given this great honour of leading the boys on Saturday night, I’ll be giving 100 per cent to give our fans something to believe in, something to remember.’’
Just like in the scrapbook.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...year-of-his-life/story-fni3gol8-1226889279081
