The 2021 link between the NRL's ironman and the Dally M favourite
For every Blayke Brailey, who on Saturday celebrates his almost-uninterrupted passage to 150 NRL games, there are 100 stories of pain and heartache to remind Cronulla's hooker never to take his dream run for granted.
Brailey's elder brother Jayden has a few such tales to tell, after tearing two ACLs and rupturing an Achilles tendon during his six seasons with Newcastle.
So too does a former teammate who will return to Shark Park on Saturday after emerging, somewhat belatedly, as one of the hottest prospects in the NRL, Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf.
Brailey and Metcalf were born less than six months apart, but a cruel run of injuries has left the latter 111 games in arrears, restricting him to 38 top-grade appearances since he debuted for Cronulla, alongside Brailey, in 2021.
Brailey is the current ironman of the NRL, having strung together 115 consecutive appearances. The closest current player to him is Canberra centre Matt Timoko with 95.
Meanwhile, a knee reconstruction, a broken leg and recurring hamstring issues, which prompted him to seek treatment from American reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles, all conspired to keep Metcalf sidelined for long stretches.
But as the 26-year-old showed when he set sail from dummy-half against South Sydney last week and raced 80 metres to score, he's now physically capable of realising the potential that he first showcased in 2017 with a hat-trick of tries for NSW under-18s against Queensland.
The Coffs Harbour product was leading the Dally M polling when it went behind closed doors and has steered the third-placed Warriors to nine wins from 12 games in 2025.
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