Looking for a player

[Mole]

G'day all. I was wondering if any of you Canberra fans, or even fans of other sides based in Canberra, would be able to help me with some information regarding a youngster who may or may not have been contracted to the Raiders as a junior a few years back. He played locally and I have been told that he was on some sort of junior contract at some stage.

I used to work in the junior levels of the game in Canberra myself many, many years ago, and up until a few years ago I lived in a lovely house that backed on to one of the ovals in Canberra's southern suburbs. I used to love nothing more than wandering down the back fence on the odd weekend with my breakfast and watching the new crop of young stars go around. One morning my son, who was an A grade coach at the time and as such kept an eye on the lower levels of the game, phoned me up over breakfast and told me that there were two young uns playing on the oval that morning that I had to watch. They were both halves, and both opposing each other, and he told me that they would both be first graders within a few years. One of the kids was a young Todd Carney, and I think we all know all about him. It's the other player that interests me today.

Unfortunately, when age starts to catch up with you the memory is the first thing to go a bit fuzzy, and so I do apologise for the sketchy detail. The player I am interested in was a young, generously talented, blond five-eighth who's first name escapes me entirely. But his surname was Bailey, of that I'm sure. In all my years in the game I have never seen a child of that age with such control of the football. His kicking game was superior even at that stage to some of the NRL halves that we seem to have in our game at the moment. It was as if he had the ball on a string and it did whatever he wished of it. His passing was crisp and precise, and his running game was deadly. He was a true five-eighth. So, over the ensuing seasons, I made my best effort to watch him mature as a player, and was very impressed. Unfortunately, when my wife passed a couple of years ago I was forced to move to a smaller property on the north side, near the University, and was unable to follow his progress. My son is now coaching in Brisbane and is unable to help me with the information I'm looking for, although it was he who told me that young Mr Bailey may have been contracted to the Raiders the year my wife passed, 2005.

My question is, does anyone know of this player and have any information on what happened to him? I know he is not contracted currently at any NRL club, which is a surprise to me. Any and all information you can provide will be greatly appreciated

 

[Lime_Green]

Well he never made first grade, as there's no player with a name of Bailey that makes the Raiders list of all time players on the club's website.

You might want to try asking over at the Greenhouse, few more old timers about there with knowledge of the juniors that have passed through.

 

[Bazal]

That's right, he never played first grade because, if it's the bloke I'm thinking of, he was never actually contracted. Came very close, but it fell through.

There were two brothers in the same age group, both of whom I know well...one was playing up a group. Adam and Nick Bailey. Both played various amounts of time in the halves, but Nick was a five-eighth or centre whereas Adam was a fullback or winger who could make a solid go of the halves. Based on that I'd assume you mean Nick. He's still running around as a second string five-eighth/halfback in one of the grade sides I believe. You're almost right on the contract as well. He had offers from the Raiders, Dragons and another side....he was about a day away from sealing an offer to play for the Raiders in their flegg side when he ruined his ankle and they withdrew the offer. He suffered major ligament damage and as he was making his comeback towards the end of the next season he did his knee in a work incident. So after knee and ankle injuries he was just never the same player, which was a terrible shame because I had heard people rate him a better player than Carney (at that time of course). He still has the kicking game though...

He's at uni now, studying science, and like I said before he's running around somewhere in grade footy...Anyways I hope I have the right player, and I hope that helps

 

[Lime_Green]

That's right, he never played first grade because, if it's the bloke I'm thinking of, he was never actually contracted. Came very close, but it fell through.

There were two brothers in the same age group, both of whom I know well...one was playing up a group. Adam and Nick Bailey. Both played various amounts of time in the halves, but Nick was a five-eighth or centre whereas Adam was a fullback or winger who could make a solid go of the halves. Based on that I'd assume you mean Nick. He's still running around as a second string five-eighth/halfback in one of the grade sides I believe. You're almost right on the contract as well. He had offers from the Raiders, Dragons and another side....he was about a day away from sealing an offer to play for the Raiders in their flegg side when he ruined his ankle and they withdrew the offer. He suffered major ligament damage and as he was making his comeback towards the end of the next season he did his knee in a work incident. So after knee and ankle injuries he was just never the same player, which was a terrible shame because I had heard people rate him a better player than Carney (at that time of course). He still has the kicking game though...

He's at uni now, studying science, and like I said before he's running around somewhere in grade footy...Anyways I hope I have the right player, and I hope that helps

That's rather sad. But then I guess for every Carney there's ten stories like that.

 

[Bazal]

That's rather sad. But then I guess for every Carney there's ten stories like that.

It's the nature of the game, injuries happen...it's unfortunate but there's not much that can be done about it, I guess.