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Live sport on SN this weekendWhich hooker should take Brailey’s spot for NSW?
Nicholas Quinlan • May 30th, 2026 9:30 pm
With Blayke Brailey breaking his right arm, a spot in Laurie Daley’s 20-man NSW squad for Game II has opened up.
As a result, Chad Townsend and Denan Kemp have discussed which hooker should take his place.
Having made his Origin debut on Wednesday, the Cronulla No.9 would suit up for his club two days later in their 28-22 win over the Manly Sea Eagles.
But the 27-year-old came off in the 53rd minute, with it later being confirmed he has a fracture in his right arm, which will require surgery.
With the vacancy for the Blues, there have been plenty of hookers thrown up for the role, such as Wests Tigers’ Api Koroisau and the Warriors’ Wayde Egan.
Townsend believes that Koroisau will likely be Brailey’s replacement, but the 2016 Premiership player has also thrown up a left-field choice as a potential replacement.
“My initial thought is Api Koroisau,” Townsend told SEN’s Saturday League Kick-Off.
“Obviously, he sat out the last three games with (a) suspension.
“Another one to throw in there, Wayde Egan.
“And then a bit of a smoky, I think Tom Starling just with the way Blayke Brailey plays, I'm thinking (Reece) Robson starts.
“Now Robson is an option to go on and play the 80 minutes. But if you wanna bring an X-Factor, a runner of the football (and) someone who can break the game open between the scrum lines, I'll throw Tom Starling's name in the ring.”
While Kemp, on the other hand, thinks the Blues should hand Egan his debut in the sky blue jersey.
“For me, it's Wayde Egan,” he said.
“If you want a crafty No. 9 and an ability to hold the ruck up, because when it comes to set plays, Wayde Egan might be the best No. 9 in holding the ruck up.
“Because what he does is he steps out, and he squares his body straight up, he does that no-look pass where basically his shoulder like this (straight on) and the pass is all the way back out there (on his right).
“The reason why that's so good is if you're heading out this way, defenders know what's happening, they can slide off you.
“When you look at the Blues attack, they were quite poor at their set plays, and maybe Egan can unlock them a little bit more (alongside being) crafty with Teddy (James Tedesco) as well around the rucks.”
The Blues will look to regain the shield in Game II at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
That will take place on June 17 with kick-off at 8:05pm AEST.
SEN will have live coverage of the match with THREE different calls in Blues and Maroons Radio alongside our neutral SEN League call across our radio network and on the SEN app.
