NRL Analysis: Storm v Sharks Preliminary Finals Preview

Harry Grant is the best hooker in rugby league and can take over a game from dummy half like no other. However, Blayke Brailey has closed the gap this season.

Once a relatively no-frills, service-focused hooker, the 27-year-old has grown into a dangerous attacking threat. One that can lead the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to the 2025 NRL Grand Final.

Career-Best Brailey The Key For Cronulla

The battle between Harry Grant and Blayke Brailey will go a long way to determining the result.

Not only are they two influential players in attack for both teams, but they’re only as good as the platform laid in front of them. The impact Grant and Brailey have throughout the match will provide us with the clearest indication of which team is on top.

It can be difficult to tell, sometimes. The Raiders looked as though they dominated the Sharks throughout the early parts of the game last week, but you could see Craig Fitzgibbon’s side growing in confidence each time they turned the Green Machine away. Brailey began to play a more significant role as a result.

Brailey was considered a tackle bot not long ago, but has developed into a genuine attacking threat.

He’s averaging 50 running metres per game this season - a new career-high. The 27-year-old cracked 100 running metres in a game only once throughout his first 150 NRL appearances. He cleared it three times between Rounds 15 and 20.

Brailey’s 14 try assists, and counting, is another career-high. The markers and A defenders can no longer cheat their way to the Sharks half. Instead, they need to be honest around the ruck and account for what Brailey can do with the ball before releasing and turning their attention to Nicho Hynes and Braydon Trindall.

Brailey had his fingerprints all over the Sharks’ first try back in Round 11 despite it not making up one of his 14 try assists this season.

He spies the standing tackle, late retreat and two markers inside ten. As he jumps out from behind the ruck, the Storm have three players under the posts.

Brailey is able to skip across and use a runner off his hip to pass the ball past all three of them to create the numbers advantage for his outside backs out wide.

He did similar later in the game, too.

Again, he spots the opportunity with one marker this time. By getting across A, B and C, who are all tight around the ruck, Brailey can find Hynes, who uses a lead inside three to create a three-on-two out wide.

Brailey isn’t credited with any try involvement or assist here. As far as counting stats go, he might be given two or three running metres given that’s all he moves forward past the advantage line.

His influence on the try on the edge is clear, though.

The two hookers are among the most dangerous attacking threats in the NRL right now. We know Grant is elite all the way up the field and remains the premier dummy half in rugby league. Still, Brailey can make his mark on this one. If he does, the Sharks are in with a good chance of causing an upset.

Other Storm v Sharks Notes

Sharks Attack The Right? We covered the Sharks scoring the majority of their tries down the left edge last week, but a handful of moments in games suggest to me that they might look right in this one.

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