How English pride almost triggered Brailey's rep switch
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Sharks skipper Blayke Brailey has revealed he considered representing England earlier in his career prior to last year's Kangaroos call up.
The hooker's mother is English and he had the chance to catch up with her family in Liverpool during the recent Ashes series.
What Multicultural Round means to us
While he has always dreamed of playing for the Kangaroos, Brailey revealed his pride in his mum's heritage led him to contemplate pledging his allegiance to England.
"My mum is English, she grew up in Liverpool and my brothers and I used to talk about switching and playing for them," Brailey said.
"When we played knee footy growing up, I would be Australia and he would be England, then we would chop and change. I'm not going to rule it out.
"A proud part of me is English and to be able to represent my mum and her side one day would be amazing. For the meantime, I've got my eyes on the green and gold and being back in that Kangaroos touring squad."
Match: Sharks v Dolphins
Round 3 -
home Team
Sharks
7th Position
away Team
Dolphins
9th Position
Venue: Ocean Protect Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Brailey will represent his English heritage when he leads the Sharks out in Saturday's Multicultural Round clash with the Dolphins.
While he considered playing for the nation in the past, the primary goal has always been to play for the Kangaroos.
Brailey came close to playing against the English during last year's Ashes series and was a member of the Australian touring squad.
It was the 27-year-old's first senior representative call up and came on the back of a breakout season in the NRL.
The tour gave the hooker a chance to learn from eventual Golden Boot winner Harry Grant as he led Australia to a clean sweep.
Grant stands tall once again
While disappointed not to make his Test debut, Brailey said the experience provided added motivated to play his way back into the Australian squad for this year's World Cup.
"Being on home soil, you want to be part of that," Brailey said. You want to be part of the biggest games every year.
"To play for Australia has been a dream of mine for so long and to be on that tour was a good taste of that. I want more of it now, it lit the fire in the belly to get back there."
This year's World Cup will see a host of Cronulla players go head to head, with Briton Nikora a key figure for the Kiwis, KL Iro leading the Cook Islands and Sione Katoa one of multiple Tongans at the club.
The winger has built up a following on social media with his Tongan Fisherman handle, but he is all business on the field for both his club and country.
Sione Katoa Try
Katoa was disappointed with how last year's Pacific Championships campaign played out and said the experience will serve as motivation for the World Cup.
"Going back to Tonga last year was one of the best experiences I've had," Katoa said. "Seeing the people, how they live and how they reacted was special.
"When the time comes, hopefully I can put that Tongan jersey back on because we were disappointed with last year's performances."
