'He is going to be my Why for rest of season': Brailey's vow for injured brother

Blayke Brailey dedicated his match-winning try against Sydney Roosters to injured brother Jayden, and revealed after Cronulla’s gritty 22-12 triumph how players had trained on their own during a three-day break in a bid to get their season back on track.

Jayden Brailey will undergo surgery on Tuesday after a second ACL rupture last weekend and Blayke said he thought of him as he dug deep to help the Sharks overcome the Roosters at PointsBet Stadium on Friday night.

“It is really tough, and I know my parents really struggled hearing the news because he has had a few rough years, with back-to-back ACLs and he has done his Achilles and his jaw,” Brailey said.

“It has made me really appreciate my role and my position in the team. When I was out there struggling I was thinking of him and how much he would love to be out there, just hurting as well. It sort of made that pain a bit easier.

He is definitely going to be my ‘Why’ for the rest of the season.

Brailey’s 69th minute try broke a 12-12 deadlock and the 24-year-old hooker put Briton Nikora over seven minutes later to seal Cronulla’s first home win, while also topping the tackle count (45) and running 83 metres out of dummy half.

With a bye last weekend, Brailey said players had been stewing for 12 days after their 32-30 loss to the Warriors in Round 5 and trained, despite being given three days off by coach Craig Fitzgibbon and the Sharks coaching staff.

“Going into a bye after a loss is never fun so I don’t want to experience that again,” Brailey said. “That Warriors game was pretty disappointing, and I know it didn’t sit well with most of the boys.

“It was pretty much like I just wanted to get straight back into training. We had a few days off after that game and a few of us caught up for coffee, breakfast or at recovery. We were still frustrated and licking our wounds.

“We pulled each other aside and did extras as a group; just little things where we can get more connected and build more trust in the side.

"We didn’t want to let our season slip and have bad habits creep in. Hopefully we have kick-started our season.”

When the team returned to training, they underwent gruelling and physical sessions described by players as being “like pre-season”.

The Sharks had conceded 24 points or more in four of their five previous matches this season so defence was a major focus at training and they held the Roosters to just two tries.

“The Thursday and Friday that we did train was pretty intense,” Brailey said. "It was just full on contact.

“Our defence has been a bit of an issue, so we had to fix a few things there, and there was a lot of running, a lot of tackling and a lot of re-adjustment to our team and our systems. Thankfully, all of that running and tackling was worth it.

“We felt more connected as a team, and I thought that was because of those sessions we had. Everyone was focused and committed to getting our season back on track.

“We hadn’t won at home this year, so we just wanted to come out and prove to the fans that our season wasn’t over. We wanted to come back to Shark Park and make a statement.

"I was glad to score that try, I was pretty happy with that. It was a tough game and a real grind, so I felt really good out there and felt that week off really refreshed me.”