James Graham backs young Bulldogs halves to

ENGLISH international James Graham has rubbished claims that Kris Keating and Josh Reynolds are the weak link in Canterbury's premiership campaign.

Josh Reynolds and Kris Keating

ENGLISH international James Graham has rubbished claims that Kris Keating and Josh Reynolds are the weak link in Canterbury's premiership campaign, declaring the inexperienced halves can lead the club to a premiership.

The rookie pairing stood up to the might of Manly last Friday night, guiding the Bulldogs to within one game of a grand final appearance.

Graham, who won a premiership with St Helens in the UK Super League, described the halves duo as "outstanding".

"They can carry us right through," Graham said.

"There is no reason why not. They have done an outstanding job all year and I will back them to the hilt.

"They are as good as any (halves). I don't know who is saying that, but they are certainly getting the job done and that won't change."

Kris Keating

Keating and Reynolds had never played finals football before Friday night's match at ANZ Stadium.

Statistics show they are the second-least experienced halves pairing to feature in this year's finals series, with a combined 114 NRL matches.

Canberra's Josh McCrone and Sam Williams are the least experienced halves with a combined 110 matches under their belt.

Their lack of experience has led many critics to claim the blue and whites would crack under finals pressure.

TAB Sportsbet re-installed the Dogs as premiership favourites following Friday's win against the premiers. Graham's appraisal of his halves was backed by former Melbourne premiership prop Aiden Tolman.

"Just look at Manly last year," Tolman said.

"They had two rookie halves and they won the competition. We have all the confidence in the world that our guys can take us all the way this year."