Will Brayshaw, brother of Angus, ­Andrew and Hamish has more at stake than football

WHILE his three brothers — Angus, ­Andrew and Hamish — fight for the footy, Will Brayshaw will represent the defence force in Afghanistan next month in a much more serious conflict.

Brayshaw brothers Andrew, Hamish and Angus in their club colours. Picture: David Smith

OPERATIONAL security means Will Brayshaw will ship out to Afghanistan some time in July.

The lack of clarity on his ­departure date doesn’t ease the racing minds or ­jangling nerves of parents Mark and Debra Brayshaw.

Will Brayshaw can’t wait, a recent three-week orientation trip whetting his appetite for the eight-month deployment.

Yet for his parents waiting at home, the normal stresses and complications of watching three sons play AFL football will pale into insignificance.

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Mark and Debra haven’t found a term to describe how they feel about Angus (Melbourne), ­Andrew (Fremantle) and Hamish (West Coast) plying their trades in the AFL because pride is an expression they reserve for Will, an army lieutenant about to put his life on the line for his country.

Their life has been a whirlwind this year, sprinting from one match to another, thrilled at Angus’s progress after repeated concussions and watching Hamish recover from a knee injury.

Those setbacks are first-world problems.

Will faces deployment in a third-world country and its issues.

“Will leaves some time in July, they don’t tell you exactly when. He tells his mother and me his job is primarily security, but it’s a war zone, so I am sure it’s going to be tough for us,” Mark Brayshaw said.

“He can’t wait to go and he tells me all the troops are ­itching to get over there. But when he comes back it will be a huge relief.”

Concussion no longer seems an issue for Angus Brayshaw. Picture: Michael Klein

While his brothers dominated in junior footy ranks, Will went to a Year 11 careers day at Haileybury College and saw a military ­presentation.

He was accepted into the Australian Defence Force Academy and has just finished 12 months at officer training base Duntroon.

“He is pretty confident (about his safety). He is not in the SAS, he is not on the front line as such and consequently Debra is a bit more relaxed about it,’’ Mark Brayshaw said.

“But she will be very, very relieved when he comes back. There are varying degrees of involvement on the front line and he tells me this deployment is primarily in a security role so I don't know what lies ahead for him but he’s given me the impression it’s not as life-threatening as other roles. We have taken a lot of comfort out of that.

“Pride is the perfect word for how we feel about him.

“Debra and I haven’t come up with what we feel about the other boys.

“They have had unbelievable good fortune to be drafted and have great jobs, but it’s not quite the same as what we are feeling with William who is going into a war zone. It’s not the opposite of pride. They can get hurt, but it’s not what William and his mates are doing.”

Williams Brayshaw (second from left) with brothers Andrew and Hamish and parents Debra and Mark.

In a code of such fervour and passion, it is sometimes easy to forget it is only a game.

Mark Brayshaw has had plenty on his plate recently, helping orchestrate the Freeze MND ice slide in his role as coaches ­association chief executive. When Chris Fagan ripped his hamstring at Neale Daniher’s Freeze MND, he replied: “It’s nothing to whinge about if you think of what Neale is going through”.

Andrew Brayshaw was the No.2 pick in the draft and has barely missed a beat, slotting into an exciting Fremantle midfield.

A series of concussions at one staged threatened the career of Demon Angus Brayshaw.

So Debra Bray-shaw found a left-field way of coping with watching her boys.

“Even when they were teenagers she found it very hard to watch the footy and felt they were going to get hurt a lot,” Mark Brayshaw said.

“The boys all went to Hailey­bury and the school used to have a hypnotist.

“In the end she went to see him because she found it impossible to enjoy going to the footy and now she is cool and calm and collected. She is a different woman at the footy.”

None of it really matters, though. Will’s journey to one of the world’s most dangerous places has put those troubles in context.

“He is as excited as possible. There is not one part of him that can’t wait to get over there. It’s his career and he loves it,” Mark Brayshaw said.

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