Glenn McFarlane: Angus Brayshaw leaves a legacy bigger than any premiership
The final moment of Angus Brayshaw’s AFL career involved a collision with Brayden Maynard. Now that the Demon’s career has ended prematurely, that incident will go down in infamy.
Melbourne
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When a teenage Angus Brayshaw won a Rising Star nomination out of the 2015 Queen’s Birthday loss to Collingwood, Melbourne great Garry Lyon forecast him as a future “200-gamer and a leader of the Demons”.
Almost a decade on, the effects of several concussions – including one suffered in his final game against the Magpies last September – has meant he never quite reached the AFL’s 200-club.
But the 28-year-old will undoubtedly be remembered as one of Melbourne’s key leaders in its most successful period of the modern era, a heart and soul player who gave his absolute all for as long as he could.
Brayshaw’s 167th, and last, AFL game ended prematurely – just as his career has – after being concussed when his former Hampton Rovers teammate Brayden Maynard crashed into the Demon when attempting to smother.
The incident set off a wave of controversy and debate, as well as a ‘duty of care’ smothering rule change for season 2024, which sadly Brayshaw now won’t be a part of.
Extensive neurological testing and expert consultation has detected “microscopic” changes in his brain which had developed since the concussion last year, fast-tracking his decision to tell teammates on Thursday that he had no choice but to retire.
Brayshaw said he was “devastated” by the outcome; Maynard will be the same, given their childhood connection and mutual respect for one another.
The incident is now a part of footy history, similar to the collision in the 1955 grand final when Collingwood’s Des Healy and Melbourne’s Frank Adams crashed into each other as the Demon was coming onto the field. Healy never played again.
But what happened in that split second moment last September, and the spectre of concussion that shadowed Brayshaw for most of his AFL career, should never overshadow the impact he made on the game that he loves and the club he remained loyal to.
Brayshaw experienced more than most in his AFL career, some dizzying highs – a premiership and a shock third in the Brownlow Medal – mixed in with some isolating lows.
He was drafted as pick No.3 in the 2014 national draft. In the same draft the Demons took Christian Petracca at No.2, after St Kilda chose Paddy McCartin at No.1.
Petracca and Brayshaw helped lead the Demons revival on the field; Brayshaw and McCartin bonded off it though their shared concussion battles.
Brayshaw played 21 games in his 2015 debut season, but suffered a series of head knocks in the next two seasons that took him to the brink of early retirement.
There was the accidental kick from teammate Alex Neal-Bullen that landed in the back of his head in a VFL game in 2016, then a second concussion a few weeks later before he worked his way back into the AFL team later in the season.
More concussions came the following year, which left him considering his future.
Brayshaw detailed the extent of his issues at that time in an interview with this reporter in 2018, revealing he had spent almost two weeks in a darkened room battling the after-effects.
He said at the time: “It (concussion) is not something you want to mess around with … It is hard to explain to people who haven’t had concussions before. They are terrible things …
“For the first couple of weeks I can just remember that I could not leave the house. I was in a dark room, doing nothing. It is a very isolating experience.”
There were frank discussions internally about the right course of action, as revealed in legal documents lodged in October 2020 in a wrongful dismissal claim made by Melbourne’s then doctor Zeeshan Arain.
Those documents included a claim from Dr Arain that he was on the end of a tirade from Demons coach Simon Goodwin over the approach to Brayshaw.
He claimed that Goodwin had questioned why Brayshaw was unable to train and yet still go to Chadstone with mates.
Through it all, Brayshaw coveted a return to the game.
He conjured up an extraordinary comeback season in 2018 and almost embarrassed the AFL on their gala nights of nights.
Brayshaw played 22 games for the Demons, and finished third in the Brownlow Medal behind Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell and Collingwood’s Steele Sidebottom, despite not being invited to the count.
He cheekily posted a photo of himself kissing a fake medal after the count, saying: “Thanks @AFL for mailing me my third-place Brownlow. Big night for me – dressed by Cotton On.”
But the medal the courageous, team-lifting Demon really craved came three years later as he played a massive role in Melbourne’s drought-breaking 2021 premiership – the club’s first in 57 years.
He had 25 disposals and kicked a goal in the victory over the Bulldogs.
It was a heartwarming storyline, especially for those who knew how close he came to never making it back on the field.
The following year, despite massive interest from Fremantle and Essendon, his loyalty won out. He signed a long-term deal with Melbourne through until the end of 202. The last five seasons of that deal will remain sadly unfinished.
As painful as it is for Brayshaw right now, it might be a relief for those closest to him, particularly his close-knit family who have ridden the footy rollercoaster with him every step of the way.
His fiance, Danielle, is the daughter of St Kilda great Danny Frawley, who died in 2019, but was found to have had the crippling neurological disorder CTE, due to the effects of repeated concussions.
His mother, Debra, spoke candidly several years ago about how she had used hypnotherapy as a way to relieve the anxiety of watching her son play.
While he won’t play again, this need not be the end for Angus Brayshaw in a footy sense.
Melbourne is already planning a future for him in their football program – if he wants one.
And as he said on Thursday, he hopes his own experiences can shine a light on the footy’s most onerous challenge – the effects of concussion on the long-term welfare of its players.
“Concussion is a massive issue facing our game,” Brayshaw said.
“I hope from this, a terrible result for me personally, can come some positive outcomes for the future of player safety.”
If that happens, it might prove every bit as important as his 167 games in red and blue.
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