Jayden Brailey

Jayden Brailey (born 9 April 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Jayden Brailey

Personal information
Born	(1996-04-09) 9 April 1996 (age 28) Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Hooker
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017–19 Cronulla Sharks 69 9 0 0 36 2020– Newcastle Knights 61 5 0 0 20 Total 130 14 0 0 56
Source: [1][2] As of 14 September 2024

He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL.

Background

Brailey was born in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia. He is of English descent.^[3]

He played his junior football for the Aquinas Colts and attended Aquinas College, Menai.^[4] In 2014, Brailey played for the Australian Schoolboys.^[5] 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.^[6]

Playing career

2017

After the retirement of Michael Ennis after the Sharks' historical 2016 NRL Grand Final win against the Melbourne Storm, Brailey earned the job of hooker ahead of new recruits, Daniel Mortimer and Manaia Cherrington.^[7] He made his debut for the Sharks in the World Club Challenge match against the Wigan Warriors. On 2 March, Brailey made his first appearance in the NRL against the Brisbane Broncos. In Round 16 against Manly, Brailey suffered a broken jaw after attempting to tackle Manly player Dylan Walker. He was ruled out for two months and returned for in round 24.^[8][9]

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.^[10][11]

2019

In July, Brailey signed a three-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2020, after being granted a release from the final year of his Cronulla contract.^[12]

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.^[13]

2020

In March, Brailey was ruled out for the remainder of the 2020 NRL season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against the Wests Tigers in round 2 of the season.^[14]

2021

For round 1 of the 2021 NRL season, Brailey was announced as a Knights co-captain alongside Daniel Saifiti.^[15] Brailey played 23 games for Newcastle in the 2021 NRL season including the club's elimination finals loss against Parramatta.^[16]

2022

Brailey played eight matches for Newcastle in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished 14th on the table.^[17][18]

2023

On 10 April, Brailey was ruled out for the remainder of the 2023 NRL season with a ruptured ACL and torn meniscus injury.^[19]

2024

Brailey played 23 games for Newcastle in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 8th and qualified for the finals. They were eliminated in the first week of the finals by North Queensland.^[20]

Statistics

Year	Team	Played	Tries	Pts
2017	Cronulla-Sutherland	19	4	16
2018		26	3	12
2019		24	2	8
	Total	69	9	36
2020	Newcastle Knights	2
2021		23	3	12
2022		8	1	4
2023		5
2024		23	1	4
2025
	Total	61	5	20
	Totals	130	14	56

Stats correct as of round 11 2023.^[21]

References

1. "Jayden Brailey - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 9 April 1996. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
2. "Players". LoveRugbyLeague. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
3. "Where we're from: Our cultural heritage". 15 March 2023 – via www.newcastleknights.com.au.
4. "Legend's touching moment for Sharks debutant". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 2 March 2017.
5. "Panther ready to prowl in Europe". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 14 August 2014.
6. Andrew Parkinson30 Sep 2016, 7 a.m. (30 September 2016). "Future bright for Cronulla as young Shark Brailey wins Dally M award | St George & Sutherland Shire Leader". Theleader.com.au. Retrieved 19 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
7. Rugby League (3 March 2017). "Cronulla Sharks hooker Jayden Brailey emerges from grand final crowd to Michael Ennis' hot seat". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
8. "The Repeat Set: One rule for Gus Gould and Wayne Bennett, another for everyone else". www.sportingnews.com. 25 May 2018.
9. "Round 24 Team of the Week". National Rugby League. 21 August 2017.
10. "Cronulla Sharks elite academy paying big dividends just four years in". National Rugby League. 19 September 2018.
11. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
12. "Jayden Brailey to join Knights in 2020". Newcastle Knights. 31 July 2019.
13. "Under-strength Sea Eagles send Sharks packing". NRL. 14 September 2019.
14. "Brailey played on against Tigers despite tearing ACL". www.nrl.com. 24 March 2020.
15. "Saifiti & Brailey earn Rd1 co-captaincy roles". Newcastle Knights. 2 March 2021.
16. "Parramatta Eels defeat Newcastle Knights 28-20 in NRL elimination final". ABC News. 12 September 2021.
17. "NRL 2022: Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com. 6 September 2022.
18. "Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com. 6 September 2022.
19. "Huge blow to Knights' finals hopes as skipper ruled out for season". wwos.nine.com.au. 11 April 2023.
20. "Brutal reality Newcastle must accept before solving confidence-killing 'riddle'". www.nine.com.au.
21. https://www.nrl.com/players/nrl-premiership/knights/jayden-brailey/ ^{[bare URL]}

External links

• Newcastle Knights profile
• Cronulla Sharks profile Archived 14 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• NRL profile^{[permanent dead link‍]}