Cronulla Sharks star had no intention of leaving NRL despite reported Super League interest

Cronulla Sharks veteran Wade Graham has signed a new deal with the club for 2023.

It comes after almost year long speculation about the 32-year-old’s future with Graham entering the off season with no deal.

According to reports in mid-season, Catalans Dragons were interested in bringing in the prop.

However, the forward has revealed that he had no intention of leaving the Sharks despite this interest and he was simply biding his time at Cronulla.

“It was a fairly easy conversation to be honest, me and (coach) ‘Fitzy’ were in constant dialogue throughout the year,” Graham told SEN.

“We sort of knew where we were heading towards the back-end of the year. It was more of a timing and priority thing, the club’s priority and obviously my priority.

“We’ve got a lot of guys off-contract here who are not only the future and (present) of the club, these are the guys who need to be looked after ASAP.

“We’ve got a number of guys who are important and integral to the club going forward. I was happy for them to take priority and the club to get the future of those guys sorted out,” Graham said.

“As soon as the season was finished it was pretty simple. The conversation between me and Fitzy had moved to ‘get it done’ – it was just a matter of timing.”