Cronulla halfback Wade Graham says he can't afford to make this weekend's return to Penrith a personal affair as he attempts to keep the Sharks' NRL revival on track.

Graham will make his first trek back to Centrebet Stadium on Saturday night since his off-season move to the Sharks - who shocked the rugby league fraternity with their 16-10 win over St George Illawarra on Monday night.

As he continues his adjustment to the role of `main man' at the Sharks, Graham said it was vital he didn't allow sentiment to get in the way against the Panthers.

"I have a lot of good memories at Penrith, it's just this time I'm going there in another jumper," Graham said.

"You can't get caught up in the emotion too much - I've got a job to do for the boys and I'll just go out there and try to do my best.

"I left them on good terms - we knew we had a heap of players off contract out there and someone had to go and unfortunately it was me."

While his pre-season was one to forget as he struggled to overcome a hamstring strain, Graham is slowly adjusting to life as an NRL halfback.

Not only is it a new position at a new club, Graham is also having to develop his skills alongside another relative newcomer to the NRL in five-eighth Albert Kelly.

"Flano's (coach Shane Flanagan) been really patient with me - I played most of my juniors and NRL career at five-eighth and I've always had (experienced) players like Luke Lewis and Luke Walsh around to help me and I just helped out," Graham said.

"At the moment it's me doing all that (organising) with me and Albi.

"We've both got a a lot of learning to do.

"That's only our second 80 minutes together, I missed most of the pre-season with my hamstring, so we've still got a few little issues there."

While delighted with his side's committed performance against the Dragons, Flanagan said he would learn about how far his side had come with how they backed up against the Panthers.

"The challenge for us now is to turn up next week against Penrith - they're in a similar position - they got touched up round one and played really well last week," Flanagan said.

"That's the challenge for every team - to have that consistency."

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