Graham's heart set on a long career in red and green

Rabbitohs winger Campbell Graham plays his 30th NRL game on Sunday and he's only 19.          

He may not catch Mitchell Pearce's record of playing 200 while only 26 years old, but he might go close.

"I knew the 30-game number was coming up sooner or later," he told NRL.com in the build-up to Sunday's meeting with the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium.

"I'd like to think I can get to some of the numbers of the boys here like Sutto [John Sutton, 317], GI [Greg Inglis, 263] and Sammy [Burgess 171].

"If I can notch up as many games and extend this career out for as many years then I'll definitely be doing that. That's still a while ahead of me. I've got to do keep doing my role for the team to cement my spot in this side."

Well on those fronts, he's doing fine.

Graham has scored 13 tries in his 29 appearances since making his debut late in the 2017 season. He played 16 games last year and started 2019 with the same fire in his belly, scoring six tries in eight games.

"I know a lot of the senior boys have pretty battered bodies but I see them do all the little extras each week to make sure they're fit to play on," Graham said.

"If I can start doing that earlier in my career then I'm hoping to prolong my career. It's about being diligent with all those key areas of recovery, like nutrition.

"I might treat myself after a game with a bit of fast food but the rest of the week I'm pretty good."

Part of his learning curve in rugby league was being switched from the right wing last year to the left in 2019.

He's already had three coaches in two years (Michael Maguire, Anthony Seibold, Wayne Bennett) and two centre partners in one season - Braidon Burns, who was then sidelined with leg injuries - and now Kyle Turner.

"It's always good to play outside different players and get a feel for how they like to play, down to little things like getting their timing in sync with mine," he said.

"Playing outside [five-eighth] Cody Walker has also been big for me this season as I'm learning a lot off him – how he creates the space and opportunities for his teammates on that left edge.

"I'm happy where I'm at but I want to keep improving so I lock down my spot in this team."

Graham isn't concerned about reports that NSW Origin backs James Roberts and Latrell Mitchell could be heading to the South Sydney.

"I don't really pay much attention to it," he said.

"You obviously hear a lot of noise about it in the media … there's a lot of quality names being mentioned out there.

"But I'm confident in who we have here because it's been working for us so far. It's a great group that works really hard.

"The club will take care of that side of things. I'm keeping my eyes on what I need to work on."