Reports Souths Were Counting Down The Seconds Until This Rookie Was Eligible To Play First Grade

Image: @SSFCRabbitohs

It was a fantastic debut for Campbell Graham on Friday night, with the young Rabbitoh only getting the call-up at 11.30am that morning following a late withdrawal from Robert Jennings.

As we reported last night, Graham had actually had the week off training to study for his HSC trials, so getting the call from coach Michael Maguire was certainly a bit of a surprise.

"He nearly fell through the phone, he was that excited," Maguire said.

"Campbell's actually been around our senior players quite a bit. I just felt he was going to be the right man to do the job."

Speaking on Triple M Saturday NRL, James Hooper said that Graham's debut has been a long time coming.

“They wanted to actually play him earlier this year but he hadn’t turned 18 yet,” Hoops said.

“Under the new rule, you have to have had your 18^th birthday to play.”