AFL Draft intel: James Brayshaw’s son Freddie makes his mark, former Swan Sam Naismith bolts into mid-season frame
The son of AFL commentator and media personality James Brayshaw is making strides at junior level, with his coach saying he has improved ‘out of sight.’
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As Andrew and Angus Brayshaw continue to impress in the AFL, their younger cousin – the son of AFL commentator and media personality James – is beginning to make his mark at junior level.
Freddie Brayshaw was a standout performer for the Sandringham Dragons at the under-16 Coates Talent League carnival this week, with his competitiveness going to another level since he first joined the program.
Dragons under-16s coach Ben Meredith said Brayshaw has improved “out of sight”, with the wingman among the best in their first match against a strong Oakleigh Chargers outfit on Tuesday, and winning plenty of the footy in their second clash with the Northern Knights on Friday.
The young guns competing at the carnival are vying for spots in the Victorian squads for the upcoming under-16 national development championships in June-July, with Brayshaw’s performances putting him in the mix for Vic Metro.
“Freddie played wing, he started in the program as a midfielder like every other boy who comes into these programs,” Meredith said.
“He has worked extremely hard on his fitness and certainly has got the competitive attributes that are needed to go into our under-18s program.”
“Like many of the boys they’ve got improvements to go around the fundamentals of the game but he is certainly one who shows those attributes that he can take his footy to the next phase of his footy journey.”
Brayshaw comes from strong sporting pedigree with his father James representing Western Australia and South Australia in 75 first class and 35 list A matches across his state career, while his uncle Mark played 32 games for North Melbourne.
Mark’s three sons Andrew (Fremantle), Angus (Melbourne) and Hamish (West Coast, delisted) were all drafted to AFL clubs.
Brayshaw’s grandfather, Ian, was a talented dual-sportsman with 101 first class caps for Western Australia and clinching a premiership with Claremont in the WAFL.
The Dragons also have several potential father-son prospects in their under-16s squad, including two players tied to the Blues: Harvey Allan, the son of former Carlton and Essendon ruckman Matthew, and Charlie Beaumont, the son of Blues and Hawks defender Simon.
Harvey Allan and Charlie Beaumont only meet the father-son threshold for Carlton as their fathers both played 100-games for the Blues during their careers.
Archie Grant, the son of 301-game North Melbourne goalkicker Shannon, is also part of the Dragons squad and plays in a similar vein to his father.
RUCK EMERGES AS TOP MID-SEASON PROSPECT
Young ruckman Clay Tucker has emerged as one of the top mid-season draft prospects after a hot start to the season for Eastern Ranges in the Coates Talent League
The 204cm product – who has impressed clubs with his ruck craft, marking around the ground and tidy skills – stood out with two goals, 11 disposals and 20 hit-outs in wet conditions in front of a host of AFL recruiters on Good Friday.
Tucker attracted interest as a rookie selection last year but was left on the board, with the developing ruck seeing significant improvements after training with Box Hill Hawks over the summer.
He will be one of the headline acts of the Young Guns games – featuring the top over-age talents ahead of the mid-season draft – that will take place next month.
Over-age prospect Ziggy Toledo Glasman, who received a state combine invite last year, put forward his credentials with 6.2 for Dandenon Stingrays last week.
Meanwhile Will Elliott, the son of Test cricketer Matthew, will make his return for the Oakleigh Chargers this week after the 203cm tall was sidelined with a knee issue in his draft year.
FORMER SWAN ENTERS MID-SEASON FRAME
Luckless ruckman Sam Naismith is in contention to earn a mid-season draft lifeline less than a year after he was delisted by Sydney.
The injury-riddled big man was restricted to just two senior games in five seasons after three anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions, but the 30-year has dominated in the VFL for Port Melbourne this year after “working his butt off”.
Putting his injury woes behind him, Naismith leads the competition for hit-outs (45 per game), hit-outs to advantage (13 per game) and is averaging 105 Champion Data ranking points across the first three matches.
It is understood four clubs have shown interest in the former Swan, who is viewed as a ready-made ruck replacement at 206cm and 108kg.
Collingwood and Richmond are among the clubs whose ruck stocks have been decimated, with 195cm forward Dan McStay leading the Magpies’ ruck division. Naismith recorded 66 hit-outs in round two up against Pies pre-season signing Oscar Steene.
The Tigers may be forced to turn to four-game tall Samson Ryan to lead them at stoppages in the short-term with Toby Nankervis and Ivan Soldo both sidelined.
Borough coach Adam Skrobalak believes Naismith is capable of having an instant impact at AFL level.
“He had a very good back-end of the year last year with his training loads and he didn’t play, but he was actually doing full training. He has come down here and just worked his butt off and shown he is definitely up to it, not just at stoppage but around the ground,” Skrobalak said.
“He’s been fantastic for us so far, he has really led the way as a leader and someone who has been through some adversity so he has got some stories to tell.”
“Definitely, obviously 206cm very physical, tackles very, very hard … Any AFL club that sees his ability not only to win hit-outs and clearance but to follow up and help your smalls, I think he can slot in no problem at all.”
TOP PROSPECT FIRING EARLY
A top AFL draft prospect and running machine has made a blistering start to the Coates Talent League season with the Murray Bushrangers.
Darcy Wilson, who is part of the AFL Academy squad, produced another big performance against the GWS Academy side last weekend as he logged 23 disposals, eight marks, nine score involvements and kicked three goals for a total of 151 ranking points.
Wilson has been playing as a forward who pushes hard up the field and has also spent time through the midfield.
He finished ninth in the Yo-Yo test at the Coates Talent League pre-season testing day last month with a score of 21.08.
“Running, endurance and speed are some of my strengths,” Wilson said.
“I like to take on the game and like to think I have pretty good footy IQ so they would be other strengths.
“I’m a bit of an inside-outside mid who can use my running ability and then go down forward and hopefully kick a few goals.”
Wilson, who is attending the Alex Rance Academy in Wangaratta, supports North Melbourne where his great uncle Mick Nolan played.
However, he looks up to a Port Adelaide young gun.
“I try and take bits and pieces from everyone but Connor Rozee is one that comes to mind,” Wilson said.
“He plays similar to me. I like the way he plays so I try and take bits from his game.”
CADDIE BACK KICKING GOALS
Exciting key forward Nate Caddy is back kicking goals in the Coates Talent League, just weeks after breaking his leg during a pre-season training mishap.
Caddy missed the first round of the year for the Northern Knights with a broken fibula, but returned to kick two goals against Murray Bushrangers in Round 2 and went on to boot three goals against the Eastern Ranges in Round 3.
The 192cm high-flying forward is the nephew of Richmond premiership player Josh Caddy, while his father Saul Caddy has also been a well-known local footballer in the northern suburbs.
Caddy, who describes himself as an “impact player”, said he is someone who follows players more than having an AFL team.
“Charlie Curnow, Aaron Naughton, Jeremy Cameron – those types of player I love watching,” Caddy said.
The 17-year-old trained with Carlton over pre-season as part of the AFL Academy program, where he got to work alongside one of those stars.
“It was good to see Charlie Curnow and learn heaps of stuff off him,” Caddy said.
“The amount of knowledge I took off him and how much better I felt like I got just from that week was ridiculous. It’s hard to say you weren’t starstruck by all the players but it was good to see what could be a future in the coming years hopefully.”
Top 50: Draft rankings, exclusive SuperCoach scores
– Chris Cavanagh
Some top underage football talent posted some monster games in the Coates Talent League over the Easter weekend.
Calder Cannons midfielder-forward Mahmoud Taha was a standout as he logged 179 KFC SuperCoach ranking points against the Western Jets on Friday.
Taha’s day out included 32 disposals, 17 contested possessions, 12 clearances, seven score involvements, six tackles and two goals.
Taha was included as part of the initial Vic Metro squad this year.
Likely No. 1 draft pick Harley Reid continued his hot start to the season for the Bendigo Pioneers with a 178 ranking points game against Tasmania Devils on Saturday.
Reid recorded 25 disposals, 20 contested possessions, seven clearances, six marks, 11 score involvements and two goals.
Another likely top-five pick – Nick Watson – also had a good day out for Eastern Ranges in its win over the Northern Knights on Friday.
The small forward racked up 34 disposals, 12 score involvements and kicked 2.3 for the day.
COATES LEAGUE ROUND 3 TOP SCORES
MURRAY BUSHRANGERS 13.10 (88) d GWS GIANTS ACADEMY 3.9 (27)
151 points – Darcy Wilson (Murray Bushrangers)
144 points – Oscar Ryan (Murray Bushrangers)
135 points – Taine Moraschi (GWS Academy)
118 points – Jackson Savage (GWS Academy)
115 points – Jacob Jones (GWS Academy)
GWV REBELS 9.8 (62) d GEELONG FALCONS 7.13 (55)
162 points – George Stevens (GWV Rebels)
154 points – Angus Hastie (Geelong Falcons)
131 points – Tom Anastasopoulos (Geelong Falcons)
127 points – Joe Pike (Geelong Falcons)
125 points – Lachlan Charlson (GWV Rebels)
NORTHERN KNIGHTS 8.8 (56) def. by EASTERN RANGES 13.14 (92)
166 points – Nick Watson (Eastern Ranges)
144 points – Cody Anderson (Eastern Ranges)
118 point – Aleksandr D’Arro (Northern Knights)
117 points – Cam Nyko (Eastern Ranges)
114 points – Tyson Sruk (Eastern Ranges)
GIPPSLAND POWER 10.10 (70) def. by DANDENONG STINGRAYS 14.13 (97)
152 points – Ziggy Toledo Glasman (Dandenong Stringrays)
149 points – Sebastian Amoroso (Gippsland Power)
139 points – Cooper Simpson (Dandenong Stingrays)
132 points – Lane Ward (Gippsland Power)
117 points – Kade De La Rue (Dandenong Stingrays)
CALDER CANNONS 13.17 (95) d WESTERN JETS 11.6 (72)
179 points – Mahmoud Taha (Calder Cannons)
136 points – Jake Smith (Western Jets)
122 points – Nash King (Calder Cannons)
103 points – Darcy Weeks (Western Jets)
102 points – Dante Iacovone (Calder Cannons)
SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS 11.9 (75) d OAKLEIGH CHARGERS 4.13 (37)
152 points – Ryley Sanders (Sandringham Dragons)
143 points – William Brown (Sandringham Dragons)
132 points – Levi Ashcroft (Sandringham Dragons)
122 points – Will Lorenz (Oakleigh Chargers)
117 points – Finn O’Sullivan (Oakleigh Chargers)
BENDIGO PIONEERS 14.13 (97) d TASMANIA DEVILS 8.11 (59)
178 points – Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers)
139 points – Colby McKercher (Tasmania Devils)
127 points – Archer Day-Wicks (Bendigo Pioneers)
127 points – Tom Beaumont (Tasmania Devils)
120 points – James Leake (Tasmania Devils)
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