BY DAN

NewsCorp papers are reporting that the Canberra Raiders are going to sign hooker Jayden Brailey from Newcastle. The deal is rumoured to be from 2026 onwards and will likely spell the end of the Canberra careers of several other options at the position. (Update: now reported as done and confirmed by the club).

Brailey is a good, traditional hooker. His service is always quality, and he has the ability to manipulate and create around the ruck. Issues with a healthy body have been his biggest challenge. Being on good coin at the Knights has meant that they’ve been trying to get rid of him for some time. That deal is up after this season, which suggests the Knights are keen to take the cap relief, and the Raiders are likely paying less than the rumoured 600k Brailey is currently on.

As an older player I suspect his job is to be a bit of veteran support to Owen Pattie and Shaun Packer. I do not think he will be in the way. He’ll be 29 next year, and while he’s proven himself a valuable first grader, at this point he doesn’t have the upside of Pattie (and maybe Packer). But he can provide insurance for the vagaries of development, and allow the Raiders to not slack in creativity around the ruck in the minutes that Pattie is on the bench.

In a vacuum it’s a good outcome but it does have flow on effects. For starters it means that the career of Danny Levi in Canberra is almost certainly over. He’s been on the outer for the best part of 12 months now, allowed to hunt elsewhere for a job. I think we can safely assume he’s not coming back anymore.

The more interesting question is what this means for Tommy Starling. It’s hard to tell if this ends Starling’s career with Canberra. There’s is space for both of them in the Canberra’s 2026 top 30, but it would mean putting an opportunity obstacle in Shaun Packer’s way. That may be fine. I’ve not seen enough of Packer to have a strong view of whether he’s a sure thing for first grade. But keeping Starling alongside Brailey and Pattie would mean the pathway to first grade for Packer would be tough. A one-year deal isn’t going to keep Tommy at the club. So a choice would need to effectively be made as to who of Packer or Starling you want more. Future focus and all that.

More likely is that Starling is leaving too. This decision may be a response to that already happening, and us just not knowing about it. Rumours swirled in the off-season that Starling had signed with the Rabbitohs. Perhaps the Raiders have made this move because they know that to be true. Alternatively they may be picking Brailey over Starling. That would presumably be because they are keen to have hookers with more creative capacities than Starling has.

I’m not anti this position, but it’s a risk. It’s barely been a moment but Starling has shown himself a good foil for Pattie. He’s a brute in defence, a great runner of the ball, and an emerging leader of the playing group. His style is not the same as Pattie, and he struggles to do many of the things that the young star does well. But he’s a good foil, and over the long term would be perfectly utilised as a bench 14 able to come on and tear up a tiring ruck.

And let’s be frank, we’ve come the whole way with Tommy. He’s been there for the best part of six years now. We wanted him to be the next big thing, then we were frustrated when he never got beyond ‘very good footy player’ (as opposed to a good hooker). Now we have potential quality rakes coming out the wazoo, a good footy player is exactly what we’ll miss.

There’s more to play out here. We’ll have to see where all the pieces land still. This is a good get for Canberra but the ripple effect will continue.

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