Ashley Graham (rugby league)

Ashley Graham (born 4 June 1984 in Cairns, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played in the National Rugby League for the Parramatta Eels and North Queensland Cowboys mainly as a wing.

Ashley Graham
Personal information
Born (1984-06-04) 4 June 1984
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight91 kg (14 st 5 lb)
PositionWing, Centre, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2002–06 Parramatta Eels 41 18 0 0 72
2006–13 North Qld Cowboys 161 84 25 0 386
Total 202 102 25 0 458
Source: [1][2]

Rugby League Career

Graham played junior football for the Cairns Kangaroos but started his first-grade career in Sydney with the Parramatta Eels.[3] He was nmed the 2002 Parramatta Eels season's rookie of the year.

Graham moved back to north Queensland for the 2006 season to sign for the Cowboys. In 2007 Graham was named the Cowboys' most improved player, after a season in which he scored 18 tries in 22 matches. Graham was named 18th man for Queenslands origin II game against NSW that year.[4]

In 2011, the Cowboys named him as the club's player of the season.[5] In August 2011, NRL and Nine Network journalist Leila McKinnon named Graham as the most underrated player in the NRL, noting the disproportionality between his competition-leading 2702 metres gained, and his then 34-word Wikipedia article.[6] He had led the NRL for highest metres gained by an outside back, most hit-ups and highest avg metres 139. He was also the Cowboys top try scorer for the third time with 12. He also came close to representing Queensland in State of origin in 2011. He was the club's top try-scorer for the season (12) and led his teammates in hit-ups (417). Graham signed with the Cowboys until the 2012 season. Ashley Graham played his 100th club game for the Cowboys in 2011 and his 150th NRL game also in the same year.[7]

In late June 2012 Graham announced he had re-signed with the Cowboys for a further season, giving him the opportunity to play his 200th first grade game. Part-way through the 2012 NRL season Graham lead the competition for tries scored until a leg injury suffered in Round 19 put him on the sidelines. In Round 23 Graham scored three tries against the New Zealand Warriors. At the completion of the 2012 home and away season, Graham was the NRL's leading try-scorer with 21. Graham tied with Canterbury's Ben Barba for the award, although Barba became the overall leading tryscorer after the finals with 22 tries.

In seasons 2011 and 2012 Graham was named in the NRL's Academic team of the year.

In August 2013, after undergoing wrist surgery, Graham was forced into early retirement. He leaves the NRL totalling 202 first grade matches.[8]

Graham began working for the Cowboys as an strength & conditioning coach to the under 20s side in 2014, a role he still holds today.

References
  1. Rugby League Project
  2. NRL Stats
  3. "Player profile: Ashley Graham". www.cowboys.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  4. Peut, Natalie (2 February 2008). "Cowboys help NRL celebrate". Townsville Bulletin. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  5. "2011 Cowboy of the Year – Ashley Graham!". www.cowboys.com.au. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  6. McKinnon, Leila (2 August 2011). "In Touch: Most Underrated Player Award goes to …". www.nrl.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  7. "2011 Stats Leaders". www.cowboys.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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