Rugged South Sydney centre Campbell Graham has played almost two entire finals games with a broken rib and will push through the pain barrier again on Saturday with his side 80 minutes from another decider.
While the Rabbitohs count the cost of their stirring semi-final win over the Sharks, the Herald has been told by sources familiar with the situation Graham’s mystery injury has proved why he’s considered so valuable to Jason Demetriou’s side.
The 23-year-old picked up the problem in the opening hit-up of the Rabbitohs’ wild elimination final win over bitter rivals the Roosters, when he burst out of the defensive line and braced for contact with Matt Lodge.
Graham then played the entire match against the Roosters, which featured a record seven sin-bins, unaware of the extent of the problem.
He wore a non-contact bib during the Rabbitohs’ captain’s run before their comfortable victory over the Sharks at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night, raising questions about the potential of an ongoing injury.
Demetriou would only reveal Graham needed a pain-killing injection before the Cronulla match, but the injury actually involved a rib fracture, which didn’t stop him from producing another outstanding display in which he produced two line-break assists and threw six offloads while running for 153 metres.
South Sydney centre Campbell Graham needed a pain-killing injection to play the Sharks.Credit:Getty
Graham is expected to line up at centre again in the grand final rematch, opposing Panthers young gun Izack Tago.
There was more concern for South Sydney over the fitness of Siliva Havili (calf), Alex Johnston (hip) and Jai Arrow (groin), who all suffered problems stemming from the Cronulla game.
Havili is considered the most unlikely for the showdown with the Panthers at Accor Stadium, putting more pressure on the middle forward rotation with prop Tom Burgess to serve the last of his two-match suspension for a high shot on James Tedesco in the win over the Roosters.
It will be the fifth straight year South Sydney have made the preliminary final.
“If that’s the case it’s just the next man-up mentality and that’s what we’ve had all year and we’ll keep that going,” South Sydney hooker Damien Cook said.
“It’s great for the club, the position we’re in. We’ve been really consistent over the last five years and have got our ourselves in a position to get to the grand final. I think we understand what it takes to get to them, and I think we understand what it takes to win a grand final now as well. [But we also] understand what it feels like to lose a prelim and a grand final. We’ve got to use that experience from the past.”
Cook will face State of Origin teammate and World Cup rival Api Koroisau in the grand final qualifier, with Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga to be a keen onlooker as he settles on his hooking options with Harry Grant and Ben Hunt watching on.
“There’s a big game in front of us [first],” Cook said. “The grand final is something we want here.
“Everyone wants to play World Cup, everyone wants to play representative footy … it’s the greatest honour in our game wearing that green and gold jersey. Let’s get the season done first and then go from there.”
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