Official Blayke Brailey

[Wiz]

Apart from making a shedload of tackles, giving very snappy service, being really durable, not costing a bomb, being young with tonnes of upside, having a handy 40/20 in him, not making many errors and being a solid guy and quality clubman, what 'as 'e ever done for us?!

Love it, he needs to bring more and he’s got the potential to get there

That’s what’s required to be top tier and that’s what we need

No need to be upset about it

 

[Gards]

His defense was fantastic yes, his work with the ball not so much - a clearing kick up field and a dummy and beating a player some rare highlights. Kicking out on the full from the kickoff was poor

Lack of runs from dummy half wouldn't matter so much if he was giving us more in other areas of attack or his service but it ties into what makes him look kinda predictable and meh at times. Dogs hooker sloppy at times but overall looked more threatening showing more than just some passes.

Good thing we have some very capable players in our halves and backline cause it feels a bit like we are on borrowed time and while other players are stepping up Blayke is still just playing the same, heck maybe the coach is satisfied with that and it fits what he is planning.

Blayke is far from a bad 9 but on most days he is also far from exceptional. Frustrating thing is he has shown he has it in him to play at a high level but just don't see it on show enough.

 

[bort]

His defense was fantastic yes, his work with the ball not so much - a clearing kick up field and a dummy and beating a player some rare highlights. Kicking out on the full from the kickoff was poor

Lack of runs from dummy half wouldn't matter so much if he was giving us more in other areas of attack or his service but it ties into what makes him look kinda predictable and meh at times. Dogs hooker sloppy at times but overall looked more threatening showing more than just some passes.

Good thing we have some very capable players in our halves and backline cause it feels a bit like we are on borrowed time and while other players are stepping up Blayke is still just playing the same, heck maybe the coach is satisfied with that and it fits what he is planning.

Blayke is far from a bad 9 but on most days he is also far from exceptional. Frustrating thing is he has shown he has it in him to play at a high level but just don't see it on show enough.

That's great but we beat them comprehensively so I'd rather have the boring hooker and the win than the threatening loser.
(We are in agreement, I just wanted to write 'threatening loser')

 

[Deleted member 2543]

That's great but we beat them comprehensively so I'd rather have the boring hooker and the win than the threatening loser.
(We are in agreement, I just wanted to write 'threatening loser')

Could also argue that "not being sloppy" is an important part of the job.

 

[bort]

Could also argue that "not being sloppy" is an important part of the job.

I'd argue not having 26 errors is part of the job too, but he did that last year and is still apparently better than Blayke (7 errors) by a fair bit.

 

[Sir Chadley]

Silly take, plenty of coaches who don’t eve play a game of NRL make it very far

Huh?

 

[Wiz]

I'd argue not having 26 errors is part of the job too, but he did that last year and is still apparently better than Blayke (7 errors) by a fair bit.

Another silly take

Nicho Hynes with a sky high 27 errors says hello

 

[Wiz]

Huh?

It’s not that hard to understand

 

[Sir Chadley]

It’s not that hard to understand

It is when you write it in Greek and also being totally oblivious to what I was saying.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Could also argue that "not being sloppy" is an important part of the job.

Kurt disagrees

 

[Proud Shark]

Another silly take

Nicho Hynes with a sky high 27 errors says hello

It's no sillier a take than jumping on his lack of dummy half runs as a sole critique (not saying that was you). Discipline stats are just as significant, sometimes more so than attacking stats.

 

[Gards]

Defensively he’s great. But that’s about it.

That kick off was ****ing embarrassing. How anyone kicks the ball out on the full is beyond me.

Yea I get why they do it to have the opposition start working it out from a corner (they can just pass it back in field) on the zero or first tackle and/or to maybe force a mistake from the ball catcher letting the ball go into touch but the benefit is so small compared to the risk of it going out

maybe a gust of wind got it, but more likely he just butchered it as he was sacked from kick off duty immediately

**** me it was a trial game. Chill

Yes it was a trial game, a trial game between 2 essentially full strength sides having a proper crack at winning the game. A game in which many sharks players out shined Blayke. Some of our players looked fitter, more confident, more switched on ect. but Blayke looked same old.

Doesn't matter that it was a trial, what we saw from Blayke is what we are going to see from him most weeks during the regular season and that's the problem

I'm starting to question how much improvement is actually left in Blayke vs. how much this is just the player he is and is going to be into the future bar some significant input from coaches on wanting to change how he plays

I'm not sure on Blayke myself but it seems everyone is expecting him to do way more in attack like perhaps Damien Cook does. But did Cam Smith ever make many dashes from dummy half. My memory tells me no.

Cam Smith didn't need to run often but played that style far better than Blayke (or anyone) ever could with with more guile and poise.

When Smith did run, it was nearly always the right decision and time to do so - he was like another half back for the Storm with the way he led and directed the team around. Smith could engage the defense while seemingly moving in slow motion such the threat and skill set he had.

I relise footy fans know these things about Cam Smith but I just don't think you can make a comparison looking at one stat like runs and say hey Cam Smith didn't run so Blayke is on the right track...

It's not just about Blayke making more runs as he an improve in other areas too but I think while he is young, fit and fairly speed off the mark it's a strength he should play to more often while he can and it will make other parts of his game less predictable. His crash balls and shitty grubbers get tiresome. Maybe try to get over the line from dummy half like Nu Brown and alot of hookers love doing.

Turn him into Cam Smith wannabe 2.0 later in his career.

Also, apparently there's an old half decent hooker that has returned to the Sharks called Michael Ennis or something like that , who does rate him and can no doubt improve his game even further too .

I would temper my expectations on what improvements Ennis will bring to Blaykes game - the Brailey bro's have worked under Ennis at the Sharks before IIRC before Ennis went to Raiders/Covid hit. I think where the bigger/faster benefit of having Ennis around will be what the young lower grade hookers can pickup off him as they havn't tasted FG yet.

Don't get me wrong I love having Ennis back in the fold, he's a Shark and belongs here and I really do hope he can help Blayke even a bit. But plenty of players get mentored by former players without alot changing seemingly with their abilities on performances come game day. Think Andrew Johns mentoring alot of average halves over the years and those halves remain average or even go backwards.

I don't think Brailey needs any niggle, would seem unatural for him and his discipline is already shocking at times in the ruck. He might be pretty but I think he is pretty tough, look at how he tackles big blokes for 80 mins every week but is quite durable.

I get Ennis and many others rate the kid, that's fine but the fans are allowed to hold their own opinions and can more freely express their critiques opposed to someone in media or coaching.

That's great but we beat them comprehensively so I'd rather have the boring hooker and the win than the threatening loser.
(We are in agreement, I just wanted to write 'threatening loser')

We beat them yes but that was more down to other Sharks players than Blayke. Sure Blayke contributed to the overall effort of the team (especially in defense) and it is a team game but he wasn't exactly a deciding factor. We arn't going to play teams as pox as the Doggies every week either.

Against the best teams we will need a bit more from our 9 with the ball that's all alot of us are getting at. Most of us don't think he is trash or without his upside. He is a good dummy half runner so why not take advantage of that a bit more / look at ways to engage the defense more consistently and give them more to think about?

He is the best option we have at present but we should remain open minded on how we use him from a play style and interchange point of view and should by no means just accept he is this future rep young gun immortal until he actually proves it cause it stands it looks more like stagnation than advancement.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Can chatGPT take a long post and put it in bullet points?

 

[Capital_Shark]

Can chatGPT take a long post and put it in bullet points?

lesschatFFS

 

[Sparkles]

Can chatGPT take a long post and put it in bullet points?

• Kick off strategy: it has limited benefits compared to the risks of the ball going out of bounds.
• Blayke: he was not impressive during the trial game, and some fans doubt his ability to improve in the future.
• Cam Smith comparison: the comparison is not fair because Smith was a better player and more strategic in his style.
• Michael Ennis: he has returned to the Sharks, but fans should temper their expectations on his ability to improve Blayke's game.
• Winning game: Blayke did not contribute to the win over the Doggies, and the team will need more from him against stronger opponents.
• Blayke's potential: he has upside, but fans should remain open-minded about how to use him and should not overhype him until he proves himself.

 

[andrew's_sharks]

Lets just wait and see how he goes this year. If he doesn't get injured I am sure he will perform well. I am sure some on here will have a go at him no matter how good he is. But lets just see. He had a fairly good season last year and is still one of the better hookers in the comp.

 

[snowman]

Lets just wait and see how he goes this year. If he doesn't get injured I am sure he will perform well. I am sure some on here will have a go at him no matter how good he is. But lets just see. He had a fairly good season last year and is still one of the better hookers in the comp.

no he isnt. he really isnt

api, grant, cook - in any order

then there is a steep, steep drop to mahoney

then a drop off to robson

then you have a steep drop to the also rans like JMK, Brailey and Brailey

our brailey is just as average as his brother

add that he turns 25 this year, he isnt a baby and he isnt living on potential now

 

[andrew's_sharks]

no he isnt. he really isnt

api, grant, cook - in any order

then there is a steep, steep drop to mahoney

then a drop off to robson

then you have a steep drop to the also rans like JMK, Brailey and Brailey

our brailey is just as average as his brother

add that he turns 25 this year, he isnt a baby and he isnt living on potential now

No doubt that API, Grant and Cook are the top 3. Cook wasn't very good until he was 27-28 years old. Brailely is still in the top half of hookers and has room to improve. Do I want to see more from him. Of course!! But he is still better than half the hookers in the comp and there back up options.

 

[Deleted member 2543]

No doubt that API, Grant and Cook are the top 3. Cook wasn't very good until he was 27-28 years old. Brailely is still in the top half of hookers and has room to improve. Do I want to see more from him. Of course!! But he is still better than half the hookers in the comp and there back up options.

No excuse.

In 1908 Jim Davis from Souths was only 21 and they won the comp.

 

[Sparkles]

No excuse.

In 1908 Jim Davis from Souths was only 21 and they won the comp.

Didn't he also write the Garfield comics? Talented guy.