Sweep up that smashed coffee mug from the kitchen floor. Apologise to your mum for destroying her fine china. Find a way to say sorry to your dad for butchering his flower garden out the back. Wade Graham is the best edge forward of all time – and there’s literally nothing you can do about it.
OK, faked cockiness aside – I’m sure dad’s garden is doing just fine – Wade Graham is an absolute monster of a player. An absolutely mesmeric player. A world-class player in the very top, top echelon of world-class players.
I can’t think of any other edge forward – past or present – who is or was as complete as Wade Graham.
Want an extra five eighth? Wade’s your man. Want someone as hard as nails? Wade’s your man.
Want a deft, left foot kicking game that is up there with the very best? Wade’s your man. Want someone to bash the opposition pack into submission? You know what comes next.
And so the uproar likely goes, “Did you ever see Gorden Tallis play? What about Sonny Bill Williams? He doesn’t even start for New South Wales!”
Yes, all fair arguments – all easily refutable too.
Tallis could occupy two of the aforementioned four in-game roles. Yes, he could do them better than most – likewise for Williams, and probably more complete than Tallis too.
Sonny Bill could also play like a centre and be better than just about any other, and he was also one of the most underrated leaders of all time.
Neither the raging bull nor the code hopping super brand of Sonny Bill Williams had the complete game of Wade Graham though.
(AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Indeed, the Sharks back rower is a perfect concoction of finesse and whack. A match made in heaven, if you will. Something that cannot be, but most certainly is.
Why doesn’t he start for NSW then?
Well he plays in the same position as the skipper for a start, but he’s also just about the most ridiculously perfect Origin bench player too, which helps. He’s versatile enough to play in the halves and even at centre, but more importantly he offers a completely different dynamic to the rough and tumble, up and down nature of your conventional Origin big man.
Wade Graham’s NRL story began as a skinny kid from Penrith named to debut at halfback while still at school. A game day vomit in the toilet block near science class was about as raw and beautiful as rugby league debuts get. And that was before he set foot on the field of course.
He never quite set the world on fire at Penrith, but that all changed at Cronulla – and changed fairly quickly.
As his body developed and matured, Shane Flanagan saw the opportunity to throw Graham into the pack. It was a bold move not often seen and it proved an absolute master stroke.
A drought breaking premiership, State of Origin wizardry and a World Cup win says as much. He scored four tries in one of those World Cup matches, and did you see him go in Game 2 of this year’s Origin series? Breathtaking.
Now, he’s just come back from an injury lay off and chopped up South Sydney as though they were a park footy side struggling for numbers. In fact, that’s the theme of his 2019 season.
A knee reconstruction at the end of last year had many questioning whether the ball playing wizard would ever be the same player again, particularly as he headed toward the beautiful 30’s.
His first game back? Tore Parramatta to shreds. Origin return? Tore Queensland to shreds. If he plays for the Kangaroos at the end of the year – and he should – he’ll likely do the same to the Kiwis.
Wade Graham is as good as they come. The very best. Now please don’t throw that coffee mug.
The Barry
Roar Guru
You’ve made a solid case for Graham and he is a good player but are you seriously telling me that if you could pick any backrower from any era of the game to represent, Graham is top of the list?
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Michael Gordon is best fullback of all time too.
The Spectator
Roar Guru
The influence of mr perpetual!
The Spectator
Roar Guru
B Kennedy and Gifty twice on sundays!
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
If Wade's Mediocre how would you rate the Toads efforts this year - I'd say somewhere between Abysmal n Diabolical
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Yep, a good bench option. He can be mediocre in quite a few positions.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Adam agreed, difficult to compare eras- doesn’t mean you can’t have a go. I would put Raper,Coote,M Reilly,G Miller as champion backrowers,I’ve probably left a few out - Les Boyd comes to mind but he was suspended more times than Sammie. Of the more recent decades I could name S Menzies n C Parker. As I said earlier Wade has the potential to be up there with those legends
Nat
Roar Guru
To nominate Luke Ricketson... ;)
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
"The best of all time" is in the eyes of the beholder. It's like asking who's the greatest halfback of all time; Joey or JT? Some will say Joey, some will say JT. There's no right answer. You can't compare players from different generations either. IMO, Sam Burgess, Gavin Miller, Brad Clyde, SBW would all be ahead of Graham. But that's just my opinion. Many will agree, many won't.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Gavin Miller is a multiple time Dally M medallist, so he was pretty darn good!
Moth
Roar Rookie
Have to take your word for it mate. I'm too young to remember before the 90s. Another point is I guess it's hard to compare modern day players to older players as older players didn't have every match telecast like they do today.
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
Langlands was the best fullback of all time up until Darren Lockyer changed the way fullbacks play, essentially an extra playmaker out the back. These days Chang would be behind Lockyer, Slater and Tedesco.
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
Steve Menzies called...
Moth
Roar Rookie
This is the problem when people say of all time. Lots of positions are different these days. Look at fullbacks, they defend in the line a lot these days and are expected to be a quasi 5/8 as well. Does that mean Tedesco could be better than Langlands, probably not but it's an unfair comparsion but roles are different and the game is different and you are rarely comparing apples with apples. You could say the best of a his era/ generation and that would be fair. But these arguments have been and will be around as long as footy is played.
mushi
Roar Guru
The author did
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
Graham is decent but wouldn't even make the top 50 backrowers of all time. Author is fishing for comments with hyperbole
Renegade
Roar Guru
Lol I never said all time mate.
Arcturus
Roar Rookie
Bill Ashurst for mine. Could do everything Wade Graham can do AND could kick goals. And did it all before there was any conception of Wade Graham. Look him up in Wikipedia kiddies.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Good on you Jack for putting your opinion out there, but I think your arguments reveal more about who your man-crush is, than actually support your statement that he's the best. If he was the best of all time, he'd have nailed down the Australian and NSW left side 2nd row position. Name any other player who was best in their position (of all time!) but couldn't crack the starting side in rep teams. Sorry, hasn't happened. Furthermore, when rep teams are often picked with players out of position to ensure the very best are in the team, somewhere, he still can't get a starting gig. Citing how good he was in game 2 of origin this year doesn't verify anything, as Qld were awful that night. Every NSWelshman looked a million bucks that night! Why not look at games 2&3 of the 2017 SOO - he was a big part of the reason NSW lost those matches. Good player. Not the best of all time by a long margin though
mushi
Roar Guru
18 months =/= all time