Rejuvenated Cronulla captain Wade Graham glows in the dark

CRONULLA's stand-in captain Wade Graham again notches a stand-out performance during Paul Gallen's absence.

CRONULLA'S captain, as usual, was everywhere.

Scored two tries.

Came within a bee's appendage of three.

Looking every inch the bloke who refuses to let even one minute of a match pass without charging forward, flicking backward or bashing rivals despite a sternum injury so bad, he would rise from that press conference chair afterwards with an audible ooowh.

Yes, Paul Gallen has grown used to such bouquets. But what about the man now lumped with his little "c" and No.13 jersey?

"Ah," Wade Graham mumbled last night, "I'll just be happy when Gal gets back."

While he may have less to say about himself than a silent movie actor, Graham is quickly emerging alongside the great rugby league stories of 2012.

Impossible to miss even on an afternoon when, with the power out at WIN Stadium, 2GB started calling this Rivalry Round derby by mobile phone while the players finished it in near darkness.

Graham's first try, with 26 minutes gone, involved one dummy and two serious fends. His second, 13 minutes after the break, saw him making two Dragons defenders resemble turnstiles before spinning himself through a third.

Once upon a time the Sharkies had less hope of signing a superstar than the Warilla Gorillas. But now? Well, they should just show the development of this rejuvenated Penrith Panther proving the greatest Sutherland talent may not necessarily be those chicks all boob jobs and bubble gum-chewing on The Shire.

"Wade is playing really well at the moment," coach Shane Flanagan agreed. "He's robust when he needs to be and can add nice touches when he needs to as well."

Exactly who was best on field proved debatable.

Channel 9, who thankfully had a back-up generator to get them through said black out which hit the area, gave the gong to prop Trent Merrin.

Steve "Blocker" Roach, meanwhile, did the unthinkable and gave his 2GB award to Dragons flyer Brett Morris - the first time he has gifted a pick n' swinger the gong in 20 years of calling.

And as for quote of the afternoon? Well, we could give it to Flanagan, who attacked the touchies. Or Dragons opposite Steve Price, who unloaded on the poor old media for, as far as we can make out, not being nicer to his team.

But in the end we're going with the WIN Stadium staffer who admitted shortly before kick-off "if this joint were a shipping we'd be sinking".