Player Watch Brayden Cook - Contract Extension to End of 2026

[George Kramer]

He's the opposite of a number of our players

Gets a handful of impactful touches

Yep, for a 20 game he has more poise than a number of our senior players who get a lot of the ball. Compare him to Laird for example.

He played 8 games in 2022 and only 1 in 2023, which actually was a 16 possession game against a top 4 side at the G. It’s unbelievable to think he was dropped after that not to be seen again. If you ever wanted to see an example of shocking development look no further. I wonder where he’d be now if we developed him properly last year?

We’ve wasted so many games on mediocre plodders who have been given numerous opportunities and left a tall classy player wallow in the SANFL, unbelievable when you think of it.

 

[Southerntakeover]

My response was to the pathetic bleating by the usual suspects that Cook should have been getting games over the last three years.

So, because you feel the need to defend the club you started a hate campaign against one of our young player?

Weird thing to admit in public.

 

[NSolis]

Cook is going a fair bit better. Should be an easy contract extension at this point which is the main thing to get out of this year - seeing if he could show enough to stay on the list. Think he's clearly done that. Has always had the skills so hopefully can keep building the rest of his game.

The next couple of weeks without Rankine will be interesting as I think we are screaming for reliable forward options to allow Rankine to be a mid most of the time. Between Cook, Pedlar, Rachele, Schoenberg and Murphy there's something like three or four positions providing a couple of forward options and some midfield/wing support without many CBAs. Most of them in the team for now but Rankine coming back will cause a selection squeeze.

 

[skam85]

I’m late on this, but I’m guessing Cook is to Ciao Giacomo as Rachele is to WaynesWorld19?

Both are equally clueless and ignorant, but Ciao loves himself way more than Wayne's cat loves him.

 

[skam85]

Abit of an enigma. Seems to be in the game but then you looks at his stats and he has had 9 possessions.

His intensity and aggression at the contest and player has improved. Must pesist with until the end of the year.

What has impressed me the most is his developing ability of getting into the right places.

(look away Sanders) but Josh Jenkins made a very prolific goal scoring career out of that.

 

[skam85]

Heres a tip for you though, not everyone who disagrees with you is cartel, it’s not that big

Jack scouring through every post he doesnt agree with trying to work out who is the Cartel kingpin

 

[Mr_Moogle]

I wonder what kind of player he'd be right now if Nicks hadn't stuffed up his development. He's probably thinking of dropping him right now.

 

[Scorpus]

I wonder what kind of player he'd be right now if Nicks hadn't stuffed up his development. He's probably thinking of dropping him right now.

I'm sure some people will be saying that leaving him in the SANFL "developed him"

Based on what I've seen I reckon he's developed more after 3 games in the AFL than in his 47 SANFL games

 

[skam85]

This stuff is just another pathetic re-hash of some numpties suggesting Fogarty needs to average 15 touches a game to be considered an AFL footballer.

 

[WeeBlake]

What has impressed me the most is his developing ability of getting into the right places.

(look away Sanders) but Josh Jenkins made a very prolific goal scoring career out of that.

Jenkins was unfairly maligned on here based on what ppl wished he would be

 

[skam85]

Jenkins was unfairly maligned on here based on what ppl wished he would be

I think I'll be cancelled for this now but it was the classic - he looked like Tarzan and played like Jane

 

[Samcro24]

Jack scouring through every post he doesnt agree with trying to work out who is the Cartel kingpin

Wait till he finds out “who” it is.

 

[WeeBlake]

I think I'll be cancelled for this now but it was the classic - he looked like Tarzan and played like Jane

Exactly, but Jane kicked a lot of goals

 

[NSolis]

This stuff is just another pathetic re-hash of some numpties suggesting Fogarty needs to average 15 touches a game to be considered an AFL footballer.

I never get this sort of stuff. Obviously Cook needs to get more of the ball than he has in a lot of his games. If he's going to be a dedicated forward averaging 10ish disposals a game might be enough to be a high impact player if he's also hitting the scoreboard regularly. Playing wing as he has a lot of the time this year he obviously needs to find it more than that and not fade out of games for long periods.

What's the problem with saying this? Nobody is saying he has no ability and should be delisted or that he should be dropped for McHenry. But he's certainly been at risk of being dropped multiple times this year after very quiet ones, and could end up there again.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I'm sure some people will be saying that leaving him in the SANFL "developed him"

Based on what I've seen I reckon he's developed more after 3 games in the AFL than in his 47 SANFL games

Imo, he will be one of those players that plays better at AFL than SANFL level.

The reverse Rowie.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I think I'll be cancelled for this now but it was the classic - he looked like Tarzan and played like Jane

Yet has a better record than the likes of Dixon. Prefer goals over the tough act.

 

[Ciao Giacomo]

He’s a tall half forward who’s a good kick.

Maybe the plan was/is for Cook to play that Lynch role but probably would’ve been a good idea to keep him around to teach Cook to play there, given he was the best in the comp at it and wanted to go into development/coaching.

Half forward can be Alaska in terms of possessions, hard to assess his role without watching live - is he playing a defensive role on offensive half backs or is he looking to be that connector and just not getting used?

Cook is mostly playing as a deep forward, forward pocket in the olden days. He has the occasional spurt at half forward or on the wing (the last quarter against Collingwood). You would expect him to kick more goals than the (high) half forwards but get fewer possessions.

It is not unusual for deeper forwards to go a quarter without touching the ball however what is unusual is Brayden’s disposals in the first quarter compared to the remainder of the match.

His disposal tally is not unlike McAdam but his tackles, goals, goal assists and contested marks are significantly lower. He has found space to kick some Joe the Gooses this year (not a bad thing) but we need him to apply more pressure when he doesn’t have the ball and take more contested marks (he has taken 3 contested marks in his 20 matches but pleasingly all three have come this year).

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I'm sure some people will be saying that leaving him in the SANFL "developed him"

Based on what I've seen I reckon he's developed more after 3 games in the AFL than in his 47 SANFL games

So your logic is ...because Cook is playing well now (albeit a 99 pt win) ......he would have been a good player 47 games ago ....WOW !

That's some misunderstanding of how footy development works .....every Club has players following the same development path ....they also have players that have had games put into them & then been overtaken by the developing player

 

[ABAB]

I wonder what kind of player he'd be right now if Nicks hadn't stuffed up his development. He's probably thinking of dropping him right now.

Well, he didn't dropped Cook when he was playing shit in some of the games just like Nicks didn't dropped Milera when he was playing shit early last year and then regain his form so credit there I guess.

 

[Scorpus]

So your logic is ...because Cook is playing well now (albeit a 99 pt win) ......he would have been a good player 47 games ago ....WOW !

That's some misunderstanding of how footy development works .....every Club has players following the same development path ....they also have players that have had games put into them & then been overtaken by the developing player

Bit of a leap to go from "this player has developed more in a small number of AFL games than a large number of SANFL games" to what you said

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I never get this sort of stuff. Obviously Cook needs to get more of the ball than he has in a lot of his games. If he's going to be a dedicated forward averaging 10ish disposals a game might be enough to be a high impact player if he's also hitting the scoreboard regularly. Playing wing as he has a lot of the time this year he obviously needs to find it more than that and not fade out of games for long periods.

What's the problem with saying this? Nobody is saying he has no ability and should be delisted or that he should be dropped for McHenry. But he's certainly been at risk of being dropped multiple times this year after very quiet ones, and could end up there again.

Apparently not, according to Scorpus .....Cook was ready two years ago, his quiet games were purely because of poor coaching, not the lad himself, or his application to training & hard work

Being serious though, Cook has shown us development in area's he needed to work on .....we still need to see how he adapts to a high pressure game against the better sides .....but every supporter should be buoyed by his development

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Bit of a leap to go from "this player has developed more in a small number of AFL games than a large number of SANFL games" to "he would have been good 47 games ago"

You made the statement ....

 

[bigman]

Cook has the skills to be a regular member of our team. His kicking skills are something that our team needs and he can establish a niche in our team if he can improve his consistency within and between games. I have great faith in his field kicking and kicking for goals which i cannot say for a number of our forwards who are much more hit and miss. He must improve his fitness as he has the ability to run into dangerous parts of the ground and score goals running towards our big sticks. At times though he looks cooked after a number of efforts. It will be up to him whether he can continue to stay in the seniors. He could easily have kicked 3-4 goals on the weekend. If he can be competitive each week and kick his 2-3 goals most weeks he has a place in the side.

 

[Scorpus]

You made the statement ....

I mean I just flat out didn't say he would have been good 47 games ago:

Based on what I've seen I reckon he's developed more after 3 games in the AFL than in his 47 SANFL games

 

[WaynesWorld19]

I mean I just flat out didn't say he would have been good 47 games ago:

Your point being ....players don't develop in the SANFL ....they have to play in the AFL to develop

And that is simply a lame POV .....even the most cynical Crows supporter (who don't watch matches thru the bottom of a beer glass), can see we've fast tracked players over the years .....Michalanney the latest ....Danger IIRC hardly played SANFL

Others take 2-3, sometimes 4-5 years .....and is as match about mentally maturing as physically

You apply a one fits all scenario to player development

And you know what ....in 2 years time, no-one remembers how long it took Nankervis, Curtin, or Cook, to become permanent members of the team

Do you remember the dialogue on this board, about how bad Hinge was .....needed to be delisted was the subject of many a post