The ridiculous numbers behind Richmond premiership hero Jack Graham’s first 22 gamesSeptember 19, 2018
Josh Gabelich
FOX SPORTSJACK Graham’s timing has been impeccable.
While Jack Riewoldt had to navigate through the dark times at Punt Road, the South Australian has arrived at the best possible time.
He made his debut in Round 22 last season before unforgettably winning the last five games of the year, including all the qualifying final, the preliminary final and the grand final.
Fast forward nearly 12 months and the 20-year-old has lost only twice in his first 22 games — never at the MCG.
Then there is the amount of people who have watched him play.
Graham has already played in front of more than 90,000 people five times, including last year’s decider in front of just over 100,000.
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury became the first player in the history of the game to play in front of 60,000 or more on 100 occasions last Saturday night.
Graham’s first 22 games have been attended by an average crowd of 61,635 people, even more than Jack Higgins who has played in front of an average of 55,577 people across his first 19 games.
It has been a whirlwind start for a player who wasn’t taken until Pick 53 in the 2016 National Draft and barely completed any of his maiden pre-season at Tigerland.
“It is pretty crazy. A couple of my mates threw some stats about that,” Graham told AFL Tonight ahead of Richmond’s blockbuster preliminary final clash against Collingwood on Friday night.
“I’m just enjoying my time at Richmond and I’m really excited about the next couple of weeks ahead. We just want that success again and that ultimate feeling.
“It is still crazy what happened (last year). I feel a bit more in the team this year playing a fair few games. I’m really experiencing what the AFL life is about.”
While Graham has enjoyed a fairytale start to his AFL career, not everything has gone completely to script.
The big-bodied midfielder-forward looked like he could be done for the year when he dislocated his shoulder against Adelaide in Round 16.
But he returned after a month and will go under the knife when Richmond’s season comes to a close, whenever that is.
“I’m hoping there’s two games left and then I’ll have surgery at the end of the year,” Graham said.
“100 per cent, I thought my season could be done now, I could potentially have had surgery that weekend. But the physio team said there’s a chance for me to get back and obviously I took that.
“We’re in a good position now and looking forward to the next couple of weeks. It is strong, but anything could really happen; an awkward fall could pop it back out. It is not really going to be at its full strength until I have surgery.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/the-ridiculous-numbers-behind-richmond-premiership-hero-jack-grahams-first-22-games/news-story/84d3c084a5f0bbde9e637105ea406301
