Canterbury firebrand James Graham felt the need to apologise to teammate Mitch Brown for giving him a vicious on-field spray in Saturday night’s NRL semi-final win over Manly.

Graham was livid that Brown gave away possession with a foolish offload when the Bulldogs were up 16-0 in the first half, and let his winger know all about it.

In an unusual display of aggression towards a man wearing his same jersey, footage showed Graham getting within inches of Brown’s face, spraying abuse and thrusting his finger towards his chest.

It wasn’t quite Brett Mullins shoving Mark McLinden at the Canberra Raiders back in 2000, but the brain snap was there for all to see.

Not long after, Graham screamed expletives at halfback Trent Hodkinson for a misdirected-directed pass.

Graham joked he has had many regrets throughout his career for the way he speaks to teammates in the heat of battle.

“Emotions get the better of me sometimes,” said Graham, suspended for 12 games following the 2012 grand final for biting.

“Mitch and me are really good friends and I apologised to him but he knows not to take me seriously.

“If he took it personally every single teammate I’ve had I’d be speaking to no one.

“I apologised to him straight away and I’ll treat him to coffee this week but mind you I always treat him for coffee. He’s tighter than cramps.”

Graham’s spray might not have looked inspirational on television, but that’s exactly how Bulldogs teammates describe the big Englishman.

In all likelihood, the front rower will take over from the departing Michael Ennis as club captain next year.

“I’m always pretty vocal throughout the team and in the week and in the build-up,” he said.