Cronulla youngster Blayke Brailey ready to play full 80 minutes
The fittest player this pre-season at the Sharks, SuperCoach hot shot Blayke Brailey has declared that after 15 NRL appearances, mostly from the bench, his desire is to play the full 80 in 2020.
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Rookie Cronulla hooker Blayke Brailey is the SuperCoach equivalent of the new iPhone 11 – everyone wants one.
The most popular player in the entire game of SuperCoach, Brailey boasts almost 50 per cent of ownership.
Brailey knows this to be true because his mum told him so – and his younger brother Taj, a promising hooker himself, is one of the many thousands to have bought the talented Sharks dummy-half ahead of the 2020 season.
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“My mum showed me that I was pretty popular with SuperCoach — I didn’t have any idea actually,'' Brailey said.
"I haven't had a chance to get into yet, but my little brother is. He's bought me, which I'm happy about – but we haven't told Jayden.''
Older brother Jayden, Newcastle's biggest off-season recruit, has enabled Brailey's elevation to the NRL at Cronulla. After three seasons and 69-games for the Sharks, Jayden's departure to the Knights will see the Brailey name live on in the Shire through Blayke.
The 21-year-old is an opposing style of player to Jayden, whose reliability to play long minutes and high work rate in defence, was highly sought after throughout the NRL.
However, Brailey has excelled through the representative lower grades with an up-tempo and attacking mindset and a willingness to target the defence with either his running game or deft kick.
The fittest player this pre-season at the Sharks, Brailey has declared that after 15 NRL appearances – 14 of which were from the bench last season – his desire is to play the full 80-minutes in 2020.
It’s a feat young Brailey has achieved once before in his NRL career, against Canberra in round 14 last year.
Yet Brailey also conceded that if he does require a rest during matches this season, either Cameron King or Connor Tracey could be used at hooker.
"I want to be playing 80 minutes,'' Brailey said. "I will begin the season with 50 minutes to see how I go and then as the season progresses, I'll push towards 80.
"I definitely think I'm fit enough to play the full 80 – and that's what I'm aiming to do.
"Coming through the grades, I've always played full minutes, my fitness hasn't been the thing I've struggled with – it's more putting on weight. I enjoy pushing myself to the full 80-minutes.
"The great thing is for us at the Sharks is that Cam has been switching in there and so has Connor and Billy (Magoulias), so as a team we have plenty of options.''
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Interestingly – with Brailey rested from the club’s pre-season trial against Canterbury in PNG this weekend – King has been selected to start the match at hooker, working in tandem with Tracey, with Magoulias aiming to be used as a ball-playing forward after being chosen for the trial at lock.
SUPERCOACH ANALYSIS
Blayke Brailey is already the most popular player in SuperCoach and he’ll stay there following news he could play 80 minutes. He’s a must-have, so now the biggest decision at hooker is how to fill the final position. Do you go safe on a gun like Damien Cook or Cameron Smith? Or chase cash with Apisai Koroisau, who is also set to play 80 minutes at the Panthers and is coming off a brilliant Nines?
— Tom Sangster
CHECK OUT MORE EXPERT KFC SUPERCOACH NRL ANALYSIS
Originally published as Cronulla youngster Blayke Brailey ready to play full 80 minutes