Brendon Lade came to the club as part of coach Damien Hardwick's new coaching staff at the end of the 2009 season, having just retired from Port Adelaide.
Hardwick had been an assistant coach at the Power before leaving to go to Hawthorn to work for fellow Port assistant Alastair Clarkson.
The Tigers have one veteran ruckman in Troy Simmonds, but three younger ones in Graham (23 years old), Ty Vickery (19) and Andrew Browne (19).
Graham said having someone so recently out of AFL ranks - and who is still playing local football - was invaluable in the fast-tracking of the younger players.
"He's definitely up to date with modern ruckwork, the speed of the game and patterns of play," Graham said. "He was also one for going forward and kicking goals.
"He's shown me a lot of new types of tactics and different ways of going about things since he's been here full-time - training with him over pre-season gave good continuity.
"Hopefully I can continue my good form and become a quality ruckman like he was."
Graham said Simmonds had also been a huge help in his development because he had a bigger body than the club's other two ruckmen, so he couldn't be too easily pushed around.
"He's been really good, especially over the pre-season, rucking against him day-in, day-out for the last three months over summer," Graham said.
"I've been competing against him for a few years, and that continual practice has been invaluable, because without it I wouldn't be used to rucking against bigger bodies like him.
"He still shares his experience - he's talked to me the last few weeks on gameday and through the week, and talks me through my game, so from that point-of-view he's been really positive."
The 201cm Graham played 16 games in 2009, but had to wait until round eight this year to get his first chance back in AFL ranks.
He said he thought his early season form was okay, but he just couldn't crack a game in the AFL.
"I didn't think my form was that bad, but they chose to give Troy a go early on in the year and they went with Ty," Graham said.
"My form hadn't been bad in the VFL but I just hadn't got my opportunity, but then I got my opportunity and I took it - I thought my form was good last year, but with new coaches coming in and new ways of thinking, and trying different blokes, I just waited for my chance.
"Obviously I was disappointed not to play, but I just kept training - I got good feedback, and I got told I was in the mix, but I just had to keep playing well in the VFL."
