No. 2 draft pick Andrew Brayshaw leads Fremantle to stirring win over St Kilda
Andrew Brayshaw was the man who inspired Fremantle’s stirring comeback over St Kilda, providing an exciting glimpse of the Dockers’ future. How good can the No. 2 draft pick be?
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St Kilda boom recruit Dan Butler says the bus ride back to the club’s Noosa hub from the Gold Coast felt like it went for “about six hours” after the Saints blew a fast start against Fremantle.
Before the game on Fox Footy, Saints coach Brett Ratten said his side had focused more on making a strong start to the game this week, with 80 per cent of sides who win the first quarter going on to win the match.
The Saints certainly did that at Metricon against the Dockers with a seven goal to one opening exchange – but only managed four more majors after that.
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The Saints did rally at the end of the match, but it was too late as Fremantle came away with a six-point win and made the two-and-a-half-hour bus ride back to Noosa feel like an eternity for St Kilda players.
“It felt like about six hours that bus ride home, it was obviously disappointing and the boys were pretty flat,” Butler told News Corp.
“It was pretty similar to when we played North Melbourne in Round 1, so it is something we will have to look back at, review and rectify.
“We spoke about it at quarter-time that we were doing what we needed to do and we needed to keep going … I’m not too sure about what happened after quarter-time, but we went into our shells a little bit.”
One of the hottest small forwards in the AFL this year since his move to the Saints from Richmond, Butler was completely shutdown after quarter-time by James Aish and Stephen Hill.
In the Saints’ rampant opening quarter Butler had three disposals, a goal, two score involvements, one mark and 25 Champion Data ranking points.
For the next three he had three disposals, one score involvement and 15 ranking points, but Butler said this was down to him rather than the Dockers.
“I just had an off-day, I felt good in the first quarter but after that it was hard to get my hands on the ball,” he said.
The Saints will next play the Crows in Adelaide on Monday week, departing their Noosa hub after a nine-day break.
The Crows are winless, but Butler said like the 2020 season itself, it would be a challenge.
“We kind of spoke about it before the bus ride, we have a three-hour bus ride to Metricon (from Noosa) and next week we fly into Adelaide – it is the new norm,” he said.
“We just have to get used to that and take it for what it is because, obviously, it is a different season.”
HOW THE MATCH UNFOLDED
PEAKING INTO FREO’S FUTURE
The most notable thing about Fremantle’s comeback was the lack of reliance on Nat Fyfe.
With Darcy’s absence forcing Rory Lobb into the ruck, Justin Longmuir decided to use his two-time Brownlow medallist at full forward.
Fyfe did not enter the centre square, even when the game was on the line in the final term.
It was brave coaching.
The result? Fremantle’s young brigade stood up and turned the tide with desperation and skill.
While Michael Walters (26 disposals) was best on ground, Andrew Brayshaw, James Aish, Adam Cerra, and Darcy Tucker were also highly influential.
Then there was Schultz’s matchwinning goal.
Caleb Serong also had flashes, including a clutch goal in the third term.
The Dockers’ future suddenly looks bright.
ANDY BRAYSHAW IS COMING
Coming off the best game of his young career last week against Adelaide, Andrew Brayshaw backed it up with another gem.
The former No. 2 draft pick had a relatively quiet first half, touching the ball just seven times, but he came to life after that.
Brayshaw finished with 20 disposals, six marks and three clearances and had a cool head when everything else was going on around him 100 miles an hour.
His rundown tackle of Seb Ross in the third quarter was inspirational and his intercept mark of a Zak Jones inboard pass deep in the fourth quarter helped to repel the Saints’ late comeback.
With Adam Cerra (16 touches) also strong for a second straight week, the two top-five picks from the 2017 draft are starting to deliver on their potential.
SAINTS ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL
This will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Saints.
They looked like world beaters in the first quarter, playing the most attractive football in the competition.
But what happened after that was a mystery.
They kicked seven first quarter goals with the mosquito fleet of small forwards running riot, but the pressure completely dropped off during the rest of the match.
Aside from a late flurry, where they kicked three quick goals to draw level with just over two minutes remaining, Brett Ratten’s men never really looked in it.
That is four premiership points they could rue at the end of the season.
SCOREBOARD
FREMANTLE 1.2 6.4 9.7 12.7 (79)
def
ST KILDA 7.2 8.5 8.5 11.7 (73)
GOALS
Fremantle: Taberner 2, Fyfe 2, Schultz 2, Darcy, Lobb, Bewley, Tucker, Serong, Banfield
St Kilda: Membrey 3, Jones 2, Billings, Kent, Butler, Lonie, King, Gresham
BEST
St Kilda: Gresham, Steele, Clark, Wilkie, Billings
Fremantle: Walters, Brayshaw, Aish, Lobb, Taberner, Fyfe
INJURIES:
St Kilda: Nil
Fremantle: Young (ankle); Darcy (concussion)
REPORTS
St Kilda: Ben Long for high contact on Sean Darcy in the second quarter.
VOTES
3. Michael Walters (Fremantle)
2. Andrew Brayshaw (Fremantle)
1. Jack Steele (St Kilda)
SAINTS’ BEST AND WORST ON DISPLAY
Saints coach Brett Ratten says the loss should be a wake-up call to his team.
It’s not the first time in 2020 they’ve squandered a huge lead either, following a two-point loss to North Melbourne in the opening round after leading by 31 early in the second half.
Ratten was nonplussed following the Dockers loss, saying his team lost complete control around the ball.
“It really went pear-shaped,” he said.
“We showed our best and our worst in one day, in two different quarters (first and second), and the momentum was back with Fremantle and it was game on.”
St Kilda now has a 3-3 record and plenty to learn, Ratten said.
“We had a big enough break to control that game from quarter-time, but they kept winning the ball,” he said.
“Even at the end, the game’s equal and there’s two minutes thirty-odd (remaining), I thought we tried to attack everything … we just need to be patient a bit.
“That’s our game at times, we’re going a bit too quick at times when we can just cool our jets and control the footy and play with a bit more composure.”
Only five Saints gathered more than 15 disposals, and Ratten inferred some might be in trouble ahead of their Round 7 game against Adelaide on Monday week.
“We just had too many blokes we carried today.
“Our wins have been built on everybody contributing and today I thought we had a few blokes that contributed, and others didn’t really have much influence on the game.
“We’ve brought a full squad up here.
“We’ll play players that are in-form. If you’re not in-form and your form’s tapering, you might be in a bit of trouble.”
One player Ratten might not have to make a decision on is Ben Long, who was reported for a second quarter bump on Fremantle’s Sean Darcy that took the ruckman out for the rest of the game.
The Dockers’ ruckman left the field holding his face and did not return after the bump appeared to catch him high.
“I’ll let the tribunal decide … that’s up to them,” Ratten said.
“If he has to deal with that, we’ll deal with it.”
FYFE MOVE A MASTERSTROKE
Leaving Nat Fyfe in the goalsquare with the game on the line was either going to make Justin Longmuir look like a genius or a fool.
Thankfully for the six-game Fremantle coach, it was the former.
With injuries to its tall stocks, Fyfe played as a pure full forward for the entire second half, finishing with two goals from 18 disposals.
However, following a late Saints fightback that levelled the scores with less than three minutes remaining, it was odds-on the dual Brownlow Medal winner would return to the centre square with the four points up for grabs.
But Longmuir resisted and held his nerve.
With best on ground Michael Walters, veteran David Mundy and youngster Andy Brayshaw in the middle, Fremantle got the ball forward and Lachie Schultz kicked the match-winning goal.
“We’ve got a lot of mids on our list, so we were comfortable with Fyfey forward,” Longmuir said.
“It was tactical. We lost (Sean) Darcy and we were short down there. Fyfe drags a good defender, he never loses a contest and he’s able to hit the scoreboard.
“We’re able to cover him in the midfield.”
Longmuir said it’s not a tactic he’d use often – “clearly, he’s still our best midfielder” – but one he was happy to experiment with.
Walters and Brayshaw in particular were able to arrest St Kilda’s momentum after quarter-time, with Fyfe’s initial impact coming on-ball.
“It’s a pretty basic game. If you don’t get it done around the contest, there’s no point discussing any other part of the game,” Longmuir said.
After losing its first three games in the Queensland hub, Fremantle boarded its plane back to Perth on Saturday night full of confidence following wins against Adelaide and St Kilda in the past week.
Originally published as No. 2 draft pick Andrew Brayshaw leads Fremantle to stirring win over St Kilda