Jayden Brailey


Jayden Brailey is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League.

Background

Brailey was born in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia.
He played his junior football for the Aquinas Colts and attended Aquinas College, Menai. In 2014, Brailey played for the Australian Schoolboys. In 2015 and 2016, Brailey played for the Sharks NYC team. On 4 September 2016, Brailey was awarded as the 2016 Holden Cup Player of the Year.

Playing career

2017

After the retirement of Michael Ennis after the Sharks historical 2016 NRL Grand Final win against the Melbourne Storm, Brailey after an excellent 2016 in the Holden Cup had beaten newly recruited potential candidates for the vacant Hooker spot Daniel Mortimer and Manaia Cherrington in the top 17. In 2017 he made his debut for the Sharks in the World Club Challenge match against the Wigan Warriors. On 2 March 2017, Brailey made his first appearance in the NRL for Cronulla against the Brisbane Broncos. In Round 16 against Manly, Brailey suffered a broken jaw after attempting to tackle Manly player Dylan Walker. Brailey was ruled out for two months and returned for Cronulla in their Round 24 match against North Queensland.

2018

Brailey made 26 appearances for Cronulla in 2018 as the club fell one game short of another grand final appearance losing to Melbourne in the preliminary final.

2019

In July, Brailey signed a 3-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2020, after being granted a release from the final year of his Cronulla contract.
Brailey made a total of 24 appearances for Cronulla in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished in 7th spot on the table and qualified for the finals. Brailey's final game for Cronulla came in the elimination final against Manly which Cronulla lost 28-16 at Brookvale Oval.

2020

In March, Brailey was ruled out for the remainder of the 2020 NRL season after rupturing his ACL against the Wests Tigers in round 2 of the competition.