Gus says he’s ‘the next Cody Walker’. Is Trindall also the NRL’s best value playmaker?

September 18, 2026 — 3:30pmIn the final minutes of a run-of-the-mill Sunday afternoon game at Shark Park in early June, Phil Gould, in commentary, saw something in a late try from Braydon Trindall that piqued his interest.“Braydon Trindall will be the next Cody Walker,” Gould opined after the Sharks five-eighth dummied his way over for a 77th-minute try in Cronulla’s comfortable 34-12 win over the Dragons.It’s tricky: Sharks star Braydon Trindall.Oscar Colman“His best football is way in front of him. Cody Walker didn’t debut until he was 26. Trindall is going to be a really dominant player when he gets to the back end of his 20s, and into his early 30s when most of the playmakers are excelling these days.“I won’t be around, but mark my words, he’s going to be a dominant playmaker in this competition for a long time. He’s only just getting started.”Consider the words marked. But also consider Trindall – back from a dislocated shoulder, grimacing through every moment of contact and all 80 minutes against the Cowboys last week – a dominant playmaker.Ahead of Saturday’s sudden-death showdown with the Roosters, consider the prodigious No.6 Cronulla’s most influential figure.Tricks of the trade with Braydon Trindall.Edwina PicklesAcross the remaining finals teams, the offensive linchpins and most important players are obvious. Nathan Cleary at Penrith. Newcastle, Kalyn Ponga. For the Roosters, while Sam Walker is injured, it’s James Tedesco. Isaiya Katoa is the Dolphins’ main man. The Warriors are a fascinating outlier because you could argue captain and spiritual leader James Fisher-Harris is their key, or even underrated attacking figures Wayde Egan and Erin Clark.But Trindall’s recent absence at the Sharks has only rammed home the unavoidable.The 27-year-old is the single most indispensable player in their attack, and on a salary of about $700,000 a year, does so at excellent value.Of those key playmakers, the likes of Cleary, Ponga, Walker and Tedesco all earn $1 million and above, while at Cronulla, Nicho Hynes and Addin Fonua-Blake pull in seven-figure pay packets, too.Trindall leads the NRL with 31 try-assists this season despite his injury lay-off. But in his return against North Queensland, the rest of rugby league met the “Tricky” Cronulla teammates know all too well.“Oh, I never once doubted that he was playing,” co-captain Blayke Brailey said with a laugh.“For all his brilliance and that cheeky, happy-go-lucky side of him that everyone sees, there’s a mongrel competitor in him. He wasn’t letting that shoulder stop him.“You should see him play cards. He’s not so happy-go-lucky then, I promise you.”The two sides of Trindall collided beautifully when he chanced an early second-half goal line dropout for himself against the Cowboys.Dodgy shoulder be damned, Trindall dived straight onto it in the hope of regathering an audacious short kick no one knew about, coming up with a rueful grin instead of the Steeden afterwards.Back-rower Teig Wilton has made his NRL career running off Trindall’s sublime short balls on Cronulla’s left edge. Against North Queensland, he made 42 tackles to ensure Trindall only needed to shoulder up for 10, because that’s what good back-rowers do.But just as Wilton will gleefully run over the top of opposition halves at Trindall’s direction, he also points out the marked defensive improvement in his playmaker’s game.“Tricky’s always had the flashy stuff in his game – the name says it all right?” Wilton said.“But I think what’s most pleasing is the effort plays and big defensive efforts. What he’s done off the ball this year is just as impressive to me. Things where he’s chasing back and doing the stuff that might not come as naturally to him. That’s what I really like to see.”Wilton then points to Trindall’s running down of Dolphins flyer Jamayne Isaako in round 19. Cronulla led 48-0 and Trindall had other teammates looming in cover defence, too. In previous years, he might not have been so bothered. In 2026, he is.As Gould points out, Trindall still has years ahead of him in this game. Like Walker was during his first few years in the NRL, he remains a somewhat shy, bashful interview, too.Reporters are met with a handshake and a grin, but rarely two words when one will do.Something in the water: Sharks playmaker Braydon Trindall.Oscar ColmanAnd when the media joined Cronulla’s recovery session at Oak Park rock pool this week, Trindall obliged and hammed it up for the Herald’s photographer, because again, that’s what good playmakers do.“I think he’s pretty quiet in front of the cameras and I wouldn’t say he loves that side of footy,” Brailey said.“But he’s a great reader of the game and a loud voice for us. He’s definitely not shy about where he wants the team going with him and Nicho controlling our team. I think people can see that. There’s a great leader in him that’s coming out more and more as he matures.“And when you hear him talk footy, he really knows his stuff, knows his game plans, and it’s no real surprise I guess how important he’s become to our team and club.”Dan Walsh is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners