Specualtion was rife that Graham wanted to relinquish the captaincy but the 31-year-old prop said such talk could not be further from the truth.

“I want to lead this team. I’m very proud to be the Bulldogs captain,” Graham told Fox Sports.

“I’m very proud to be the captain under Des Hasler and I want to be at the forefront of getting this team, this current crop of Canterbury players into a winning culture.

“I’ve spoken with the coach. He felt like he wanted to address the rumours to make sure that I was OK.”

Hasler fought to keep his job during a season review after the club was bundled out of the finals with some speculating he may not see out 2017- the final year of his contract.

Graham said Hasler’s success spoke for itself.   

“You look at Des’s record for the five years he’s been in charge; we’ve managed to make two grand finals," he said.

“But we didn’t bring home the prize. We all know that. No one else needs to tell us that. We’re all aware of that and it is disappointing.

“Because we have got a good roster, a great roster. We want to win games and generate that winning culture.”