I have tremendous belief in the club

Cronulla co-captain Wade Graham will finally put pen to paper, re-signing with the Sharks until the end of 2022. Despite previously admitting he was in no rush to re-sign while there was instability around the club, the 28-year-old state and Australia star will ink a three-year extension with the Sharks on Tuesday to secure his and the club’s
future. “I have tremendous belief in the club and in our playing group and I’m looking forward to the next four years and to the next chapter of my career,” he said in a statement released by the Sharks. Graham will spend the first half of the season on the sidelines as he recovers from an ACL injury that hampered his progress last year.

Graham to ink three-year Sharks extension

Cronulla have locked in the long-term leadership of their NRL team, with co-captain Wade Graham to sign a deal to stay until the end of 2022. Already the Sharks' co-captain, Graham is seen as the successor to Paul Gallen as the club's No.1 leader both on and off the field. The 28-year-old, who despite an injury-ravaged 2018, has already played 219 NRL games and represented NSW and Australia.

His extension comes at a crucial time for Cronulla, who have appointed John Morris interim coach with Shane Flanagan provisionally deregistered by the NRL for communicating with the club during his 12-month ban linked to the Sharks' peptides scandal. Gallen is also 37 and 2019 will almost certainly be his final season. Graham is meanwhile hopeful of returning to the field before the midway point of this years' campaign, as he recovers from knee surgery to repair an injury suffered in the 2018 finals.