Blayke Brailey has watched on as Storm counterpart Harry Grant won the past two Dally M Hooker of the Year awards, but the Sharks star is in the box seat to claim the prize this season with Melbourne’s skipper ineligible due to suspension.

It would be a fitting reward for Brailey, who has been one of the most consistent players in the NRL for the past few years and is finally getting the recognition he deserves.

The Sharks hooker has again recorded more than 1000 tackles this season and has had a career-high 16 try assists, with Cronulla invariably winning when he runs the ball.

Brailey turns 27 on Tuesday and is at the peak of his powers going into a showdown with the Queensland and Australia dummy-half who can’t win the Dally M positional award following a two-match ban for a shoulder charge.

“At the start of the year, I wrote down some goals for the season,” Brailey said, with the Sharks hooker a chance of finishing ahead of Grant regardless of the ban.

“That was definitely one of them and I’m not going to shy away from that.

“I think the awards are a week or so away but I don’t know where I’m sitting or what people’s thoughts on me are, but it’ll be a nice acknowledgment (if I do win it).

“If I could break it up and give it to all of my middles, then I probably would.”

Brailey has been in awe of Grant for a few seasons now and watched on as the Storm superstar scored three tries to beat the Sharks in week one of the 2024 finals.

“The whole team played well that day,” he said, hoping for a different result in Friday’s grand final qualifier.

“Their middles got them on the front foot and that allowed him to run and scheme. Close to the line he’s such a threat, so he can run the ball, kick the ball and do whatever he wants (if we give him time).

“We’ll be on high alert as we are every week. I know a lot of teams try to shut him down but he’s a good player so you can’t shut him down for too long.

“He’s obviously been the leading hooker for a lot of seasons now, so I’ve watched him from afar with his running game and what he does in attack.

“It’s pretty cool that he’s a captain as well, so I do sit at home and watch what he does because he’s been outstanding again this year and it’ll be a good battle again between us.”

Brailey is a lifelong Sharks supporter who was at the 2016 grand final when Michael Ennis played a key role in helping the club win its maiden premiership.

He took down the greatest of all time that night in Cameron Smith, with Brailey hoping to use lessons learnt from Ennis to get one over the current No.1 dummy-half.

“He did a lot of work with me as I was coming through,” Brailey said, with Ennis the last Shark to win Hooker of the Year a decade ago.

“I was in and around training in 2016 when they won, and he stuck around after that season to help me with my mindset.

“He’s an inspiration for me. To see the run he went on that year and how well he performed is something I looked up to and based my game on. Hopefully, I can recreate that.”

Originally published as ‘I’m not going to shy away from that’: Blayke Brailey looks to get one over Harry Grant in finals and then at rugby league’s night of nights