Official Blayke Brailey

andrew's_sharks · Feb 22, 2023

snowman said:
and blayke brailey is turning 25 and living on potential from 7 years ago

thanks for backing me up

It is a team sport. It also depends on the ret of your squad. Cook is 31 and he didn't even make the 2014 team. Api on the other hand is 30 and was there starting hooker.

Brailely can still potentially be as good as cook. He is not too old and actually for the same age is already a better player than he was.

andrew's_sharks · Feb 22, 2023

andrew's_sharks said:
It is a team sport. It also depends on the ret of your squad. Cook is 31 and he didn't even make the 2014 team. Api on the other hand is 30 and was there starting hooker.

Brailely can still potentially be as good as cook. He is not too old and actually for the same age is already a better player than he was.

Grand Final team. He played 7 games that year.

BurgoShark · Feb 22, 2023

andrew's_sharks said:
Grand Final team. He played 7 games that year.

Yeah. Api came in because Luke was out.

andrew's_sharks · Feb 22, 2023

BurgoShark said:
Yeah. Api came in because Luke was out.

Yep. And we have cook one of the best hookers now. Had nowhere near the experience Brailely has. Yes it is up to Brailey to realise his potential. But he does have it if he can get a harder edge on him.

BurgoShark · Feb 22, 2023

Geez Fitz must be a good coach. We have powderpuff forwards, a garbage 9, broken down 6 who can’t play big games, a fullback who can’t tackle, one centre who is a brain explosion waiting to happen and one who should be playing second row, and a fullback playing halfback.

Still finished second though. The locks and wingers must be carrying this team.

Wiz · Feb 22, 2023

BurgoShark said:
Geez Fitz must be a good coach. We have powderpuff forwards, a garbage 9, broken down 6 who can’t play big games, a fullback who can’t tackle, one centre who is a brain explosion waiting to happen and one who should be playing second row, and a fullback playing halfback.

Still finished second though. The locks and wingers must be carrying this team.

that’s funny because that’s exactly what we looked like when it was crunch time and we were playing in the finals - spot on analysis actually

Except for the centres part though

bort · Feb 22, 2023

BurgoShark said:
Geez Fitz must be a good coach. We have powderpuff forwards, a garbage 9, broken down 6 who can’t play big games, a fullback who can’t tackle, one centre who is a brain explosion waiting to happen and one who should be playing second row, and a fullback playing halfback.

Still finished second though. The locks and wingers must be carrying this team.

Let one of the wingers go

andrew's_sharks · Feb 22, 2023

BurgoShark said:
Geez Fitz must be a good coach. We have powderpuff forwards, a garbage 9, broken down 6 who can’t play big games, a fullback who can’t tackle, one centre who is a brain explosion waiting to happen and one who should be playing second row, and a fullback playing halfback.

Still finished second though. The locks and wingers must be carrying this team.

It is all about the locks. We also have one good winger. Katoa should be replaced.

bort · Feb 22, 2023

Brailey is decent. Definitely not progressing as fast as I had hoped. Certainly holds his own as a mid level NRL hooker though.

I’m not sure what you others want to happen - are we paying more to poach a better hooker (where does the money come from)? Or should we splash to bring over a youngster with good signs so we have a worse hooker with more upside to hopefully become at least a mid level NRL hooker one day?

Hopefully Blayke takes his game to another level but you can’t have an NRL top 3 player on every jersey. And only every spine jersey if you break the bank on it.

I personally don’t feel like Blayke is stopping us winning a Premiership

The Punisher · Feb 22, 2023

snowman said:
and blayke brailey is turning 25 and living on potential from 7 years ago

thanks for backing me up

Think we kept the wrong Brailey brother

snowman · Feb 22, 2023

The Punisher said:
Think we kept the wrong Brailey brother

nah, jayden is just as bad + injuries + no insta followers

blayke is just living off potential from when he was 18, if he can find it again, that would be handy

bort · Feb 22, 2023

The Punisher said:
Think we kept the wrong Brailey brother

I don't, Jayden is solid but I'm still happier with Blayke.

The question for the future though is Blayke, Taj or Healey or Wilson...

Hopefully can keep all of Wilson, Taj and Healey on the books long enough to get a very good look at them (including at least one playing some NRL) to make sure we get it right. Healey looked good in NRL trial hitout couple weeks back - high ceiling there I think, but you can't guarantee anyone hits it.

Could potentially keep two if Taj did end up being more of a ball playing 13 as he got older

Sevshark · Feb 22, 2023

bort said:
Brailey is decent. Definitely not progressing as fast as I had hoped. Certainly holds his own as a mid level NRL hooker though.

I’m not sure what you others want to happen - are we paying more to poach a better hooker (where does the money come from)? Or should we splash to bring over a youngster with good signs so we have a worse hooker with more upside to hopefully become at least a mid level NRL hooker one day?

Hopefully Blayke takes his game to another level but you can’t have an NRL top 3 player on every jersey. And only every spine jersey if you break the bank on it.

I personally don’t feel like Blayke is stopping us winning a Premiership

I just want to see an improvement in his decision making, telegraphed crash plays and ineffective dummy half kicks have become his go to plays.

By the end of this year he should have 100+ games in first grade but personally it doesn't feel like the game has slowed down for him if that makes sense.

BurgoShark · Feb 22, 2023

bort said:
I don't, Jayden is solid but I'm still happier with Blayke.

The question for the future though is Blayke, Taj or Healey...

Hopefully can keep both Taj and Healey on the books long enough to get a very good look at them (including at least one playing some NRL) to make sure we get it right. Healey looked good in NRL trial hitout couple weeks back - high ceiling there I think, but you can't guarantee anyone hits it.

Could potentially keep both if Taj did end up being more of a ball playing 13 as he got older

+ Wilson

Not sure on that Taj as a lock thing. I think that was just some hype from when he was 14 after a growth spurt. He might be a little taller than the other two were at that age, but he's not bigger, and has really only played hooker the last 3 years.

Sevshark said:
I just want to see an improvement in his decision making, telegraphed crash plays and ineffective dummy half kicks have become his go to plays.

They would have scored off a crash play on the weekend if McInnes didn't drop it.

The "Ennis kick" close to the line is clearly something Fitz wants in the playbook. It's not Brailey's fault they are doing it. He just needs to pick his moments and execute more consistently. They have definitely seen results from it, just not as often as people would like.

bort · Feb 22, 2023

Sevshark said:
I just want to see an improvement in his decision making, telegraphed crash plays and ineffective dummy half kicks have become his go to plays.

It doesn't matter how telegraphed a crash play is if you put a prop one on one with a fullback. I think there is some evidence the decision making is sound.

We have two props who can absolutely crush a fullback one on one, to me the trick isn't how telegraphed it is it's just reading the circumstance and getting it done quick enough. A quick obvious prop into a fullback is better chance of a try than a sneaky one into a prop I reckon.
Props that played at least 16 games Hunt sits 7th for average tries and BHU 11th.
Blayke had the third most try assists, 12 vs Api 13 and Grant 17.

I wouldn't say I have the impression we over use crash plays and they will never be infinitely successful so I'd say we are getting them relatively correct, based on my recollections and the numbers. Maybe Burg will do a graph.
They can also be used to try and pull defenders tighter which may pay off later in the set or even later in the game.

HaroldBishop · Feb 22, 2023

bort said:
Brailey is decent. Definitely not progressing as fast as I had hoped. Certainly holds his own as a mid level NRL hooker though.

I’m not sure what you others want to happen - are we paying more to poach a better hooker (where does the money come from)? Or should we splash to bring over a youngster with good signs so we have a worse hooker with more upside to hopefully become at least a mid level NRL hooker one day?

Hopefully Blayke takes his game to another level but you can’t have an NRL top 3 player on every jersey. And only every spine jersey if you break the bank on it.

I personally don’t feel like Blayke is stopping us winning a Premiership

I reckon people hear hype about someone in the juniors, who they've never seen play apart from maybe a highlights reel, and set their expectations way to high.

Sevshark · Feb 22, 2023

bort said:
Could potentially keep both if Taj did end up being more of a ball playing 13 as he got older

The previous commentary I've heard on Taj is he was supposed to be the most talented of the bunch, is that still the consensus?

Assume he's larger than Blayke if people think he's going to turn out a lock?

bort · Feb 22, 2023

BurgoShark said:
+ Wilson

Not sure on that Taj as a lock thing. I think that was just some hype from when he was 14 after a growth spurt. He might be a little taller than the other two were at that age, but he's not bigger, and has really only played hooker the last 3 years.

Yeah nearly included Wilson but just haven't seen/heard enough about him so just went the 'main' three.

The lock thing is 100% based on Blayke saying he is "bigger" at same age than the other two. it's certainly not locked in.

Sevshark said:
The previous commentary I've heard on Taj is he was supposed to be the most talented of the bunch, is that still the consensus?

Assume he's larger than Blayke if people think he's going to turn out a lock?

I'm not sure how Taj rates for talent vs the other boys at same age. Someone who follows juniors closer might know if he is currently "expected" to be better or not

Sevshark · Feb 22, 2023

BurgoShark said:
They would have scored off a crash play on the weekend if McInnes didn't drop it.

The "Ennis kick" close to the line is clearly something Fitz wants in the playbook. It's not Brailey's fault they are doing it. He just needs to pick his moments and execute more consistently. They have definitely seen results from it, just not as often as people would like.

But that's exactly what I'm saying mate, he doesn't pick his moments.

Also wasn't only referring to the "Ennis Kick," the 40/20 attempts get spoken about alot but for mine I want to see him start kicking early and long more, especially against the bigger packs.

BurgoShark · Feb 22, 2023

bort said:
It doesn't matter how telegraphed a crash play is if you put a prop one on one with a fullback. I think there is some evidence the decision making is sound.

We have two props who can absolutely crush a fullback one on one, to me the trick isn't how telegraphed it is it's just reading the circumstance and getting it done quick enough. A quick obvious prop into a fullback is better chance of a try than a sneaky one into a prop I reckon.
Props that played at least 16 games Hunt sits 7th for average tries and BHU 11th.
Blayke had the third most try assists, 12 vs Api 13 and Grant 17.

I wouldn't say I have the impression we over use crash plays and they will never be infinitely successful so I'd say we are getting them relatively correct, based on my recollections and the numbers. Maybe Burg will do a graph.
They can also be used to try and pull defenders tighter which may pay off later in the set or even later in the game.

Yep. Hooker's job is to recognise 1-on-1 situation. If the defender is good enough to make the tackle, good on him.

No graph. I don't think the Sharks do it more than other teams though. Maybe they do "crash one guy off the hooker" a little more whereas other teams do "send two props at the posts and have the hooker pick his runner". Sharks tend to do that one of Nicho more than Blayke.

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