Graham a no-fuss try machine

MAROONS ace Brent Tate has declared Ashley Graham the most under-rated player in the NRL after the veteran Cowboys winger shared the tryscoring spoils with Bulldogs sensation Ben Barba at the Dally M Awards.

Barba and Graham were officially crowned as the NRL tryscoring kings for 2012 last night, and it is some measure of the Cowboy’s sizzling season that he matched the Canterbury custodian despite playing two fewer games.

While Barba has stolen the headlines in racking up 21 fourpointers from 24 games, Graham needed only 22 matches to finish the regular season as the NRL’s equal leading tryscorer.

It is the second major gong for the veteran of 186 NRL games, who last season was named North Queensland’s player of the year.

And now the former Eel is on the cusp of re-writing Cowboys history. Graham needs only two more tries to break Matt Bowen’s club record of 22, set in 2007, a feat he could achieve in Saturday’s sudden-death showdown with the Broncos at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Unable to attend last night’s gala event to prepare for the Queensland derby, Graham is a no-fuss player who is content to fly under the radar.

But Tate said no one at the Cowboys takes his finishing ability for granted.

‘‘I think he’s the most underrated player,’’ said Tate, who has forged a potent right-side combination with Graham.

‘‘If you have a look at the form Ben Barba is in and Ash Graham has matched him for tries, that’s a fair gauge of the form he has been in. He doesn’t get the wraps he deserves.’’

– The Courier-Mail