Jayden Brailey (born 9 April 1996) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a hooker for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL). He previously played for the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

in the NRL.

Background

Brailey was born in

Hurstville, New South Wales Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges River Council. The ...

, Australia. He is of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

descent. He played his junior football for the Aquinas Colts and attended Aquinas College, Menai. In 2014, Brailey played for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

. 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 Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer. A New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales State of Origin series, State of Origin representative ...

after the Sharks' historical

2016 NRL Grand Final The 2016 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league match between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to determine the premiers of the National Rugby League for the 2016 season. The match was held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Sunday ...

win against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

, Brailey earned the job of hooker ahead of new recruits,

Daniel Mortimer Daniel Mortimer (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a or for the Leigh Centurions in the Championship. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels, Gold Coast Titans, Sydney Roos ...

and

Manaia Cherrington Manaia Cherrington (born 2 August 1994) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Wests Magpies in the New South Wales Cup. He plays at and previously played for the New Zealand Warriors, Wests Tigers and the Cro ...

. He made his debut for the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

in the

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

match against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. On 2 March, Brailey made his first appearance in the NRL against the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. In Round 16 against Manly, Brailey suffered a broken jaw after attempting to tackle Manly player

Dylan Walker Dylan Walker (born 27 September 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League, and has played for Australia and the New Zealand Māori at international ...

. He was ruled out for two months and returned for in round 24.

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 three-year contract with the

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 The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

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 Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

2020

In March, Brailey was ruled out for the remainder of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

after rupturing his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in round 2 of the season.

2021

For round 1 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Brailey was announced as a Knights co-captain alongside Daniel Saifiti. Brailey played 23 games for Newcastle in the

including the club's elimination finals loss against

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

2022

Brailey played eight matches for Newcastle in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as the club finished 14th on the table.

2023

On 10 April, Brailey was ruled out for the remainder of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

with a ruptured ACL and torn meniscus injury.

2024

Brailey played 23 games for Newcastle in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as the club finished 8th and qualified for the finals. They were eliminated in the first week of the finals by North Queensland.

2025

On 26 March, the Raiders announced that Brailey had signed a two year deal to join the club in 2026.

Statistics

*denotes season competing

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileCronulla Sharks profile

NRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brailey, Jayden 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of English descent Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Newcastle Knights players Newcastle Knights captains Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney 21st-century Australian sportsmen