AFL: Inside the mind and career of Brayden Maynard

Brayden Maynard has been by far the most talked about footballer in the last week. See what he made of it all and how he could’ve been a Crow, or a Demon.

Brayden Maynard of the Magpies in action.

Brayden Maynard is a self-confessed over-thinker.

When the Collingwood vice-captain was asked recently on the Jock and Journo podcast about how he often mulled things over in his head, he explained: “You try not to overthink things, but I’m an over-thinker.”

In this instance he was talking about what happened when he was elevated to the Magpies’ captaincy late this season in the absence of Darcy Moore.

But it would likely have recurred across the past week as he encountered what was the most challenging week of his professional life while at the same time wrestling with the concern for his former Sandringham Dragons teammate and friend Angus Brayshaw.

He knew he had accidentally hurt Brayshaw in the attempted smother-turned-collision in last week’s qualifying final - the Demon was knocked out for two minutes - in an incident that divided the football world.

And that fact troubled him even more than the wave of criticism that came in his direction.

Brayden Maynard has been very much in the spotlight recently. Picture: Getty Images

But he maintained immediately after the incident, at the marathon tribunal hearing that cleared him five days later, and again on Friday that he had never meant to cause harm to Brayshaw.

Maynard’s decision to go to Brayshaw’s house the following day to check on his welfare was yet another point of contention.

Some Melbourne players didn’t like it, given Brayshaw was in concussion protocols, but however impulsive it might have been, Maynard said it was his way of trying to check in on the Demon’s welfare, given the serious concussion issues he had had in the past.

“I don’t know why or how some of the stories have come out, but when I saw some of them, I thought ‘what the hell is this?’” Maynard, 26, said.

“I wanted to check on his wellbeing and welfare and I wanted to check on Danielle (Frawley, Brayshaw’s girlfriend) … my love and support and genuine care is for Angus and his family.”

He isn’t seeking support. He says that belongs with Brayshaw.

As polarising as Maynard has been for some this week and in part across his 184 games - the Magpie fans and his teammates adore him; the opposition fans not so much - he just wants to get on with the business of playing again.

And he desperately wants that for Brayshaw as well next year.

Maynard could’ve been a Crow. Picture: Getty Images

ALMOST PICK 5

Collingwood had a difficult choice in choosing who to take as pick 5 in the 2014 draft, one of the prized selections Brisbane gave up for Dayne Beams.

The Magpies knew they would secure father-son selection Darcy Moore at the back end of the top 10 draft selections.

Moore’s Oakleigh teammate Jordan De Goey was the logical option for pick 5. But for a time leading up to the draft, the Magpies recruiters could barely split De Goey from an impulsive but highly competitive defender from Sandringham Dragons, who some recruiters likened to Luke Hodge.

His name: Brayden Maynard.

Those close to the situation recalled this week that, for a time, Collingwood was torn between De Goey and Maynard for pick five.

Clearly other clubs didn’t see it the same way.

For when the Magpies’ astute recruiting boss Derek Hine called De Goey’s name at five - and Moore at nine - they had intel that the left-foot half back from the Dragons would slip through to pick 30.

Maynard would have been an Adelaide father-son hope if his father, Peter - who played eight games for Melbourne - had managed four more games for Glenelg in the SANFL.

Not even a late plea from the Crows to the AFL before the 2014 draft could see them waive that four-game shortfall.

“The Crows were quietly confident they were going to get him in that draft, I know they rated him very highly,” one-time Collingwood assistant coach Brenton Sanderson said.

Adelaide used pick 14 on Jake Lever and assumed they would get Maynard at pick 35.

“They were fuming,” Sanderson said of the Crows when Hine chose him five picks earlier.

Scott Pendlebury sent Maynard straight early in his career. Picture: Getty Images

ROCKETS THAT REVVED HIM

Maynard joked a few weeks ago that some clubs who overlooked him might have been “a bit iffy about me with my social side”.

Even in his first few years at Collingwood, he didn’t get the balance right in terms of being a professional footballer and a person with an active social life.

A few things jolted him back to a better equilibrium.

The Magpies coaching staff, including then development coach Dale Tapping, pointed out in stark terms what he needed to do to become the player he wanted to be.

So, too, did the Collingwood leadership group.

As Sanderson recalled: “He had some challenges to overcome early in his career but once he got through that and had the confidence he belonged, he started to realise his potential.”

As Maynard recalled recently: “I definitely didn’t have my priorities right … my work to life balances weren’t great. I didn’t understand what was expected of being an AFL player.”

An “eyeballing” from then skipper Scott Pendlebury and the leadership group held up the mirror to Maynard. He took the advice on board and hasn’t looked back since.

Maynard never takes a backwards step. Picture: Getty Images

COMPETITIVE BEAST

The message written inside Maynard’s Collingwood jumper reads ‘Competitive Beast”.

Even in his pre-draft 2014 video on the league’s website, Maynard explained: “I love being aggressive … I love the physical side of things.”

Collingwood’s 1990 premiership hero Mick McGuane admires Maynard, but says he has taken time to find the balance between being aggressive and giving silly free kicks away.

“I was up there for that (preliminary final) against Sydney last year and I thought he overstepped the line on a couple of occasions,” McGuane said.

“You have got to get that line between over-aggression and controlled aggression and I thought he gave away a few silly free kicks which he has done over his career.

“We know he plays on the edge … if he can control that emotional attachment in a more mature way going forward, he will be better served.

“He has got better with that (this year).”

Maynard reminds McGuane of three of his 1990 premiership teammates.

“What goes through my mind when I have watched him play is that he does the things that Gavin Brown used to do in terms of assaulting the footy,” McGuane said,

“He does those inspirational body acts that Darren Millane did, like when he bumped (Essendon’s) Michael Werner out at Waverley (in 1990).

“Then you talk about what Craig Kelly meant to us … you knew that whenever the ball was in his area he would give body and soul to the contest.”

The Pies No. 4 is a popular teammate. Picture: Getty Images

‘GLUE GUY’

Sanderson says Maynard is Collingwood’s ‘glue guy’- the expression coined in US basketball for a player who helps to ‘glue’ a team into a cohesive unit.

“Those glue guys almost embody the soul and spirit of the team, the way they play and the way they carry themselves on and off the field,“ Sanderson said. “He is one of those classic white line fever guys who goes so hard on the field, but he is a gentle, generous individual off the field.

“He reminds me of Garry Hocking. Buddha played on the absolute edge.”

Teammate Josh Daicos said this week: “He brings so much energy to the group. His impact is enormous on game day.”

“He’s obviously really competitive on the field and you can see how competitive he is and how physical he can be at times.

“But off the field he’s a big teddy bear. He’s so caring to all of us boys and he’s the first to reach out.“

Daicos said there was genuine relief when Maynard was cleared.

“We know that Brayden’s a really fair player and we were quite happy with the decision knowing his intentions (were) always pure,” Daicos said.

“It was tough but our thoughts are with Angus. We hope he has a really speedy recovery.”

Maynard was the furthest thing from a Melbourne player in the qualifying final, but the Dees were keen to bring him across a couple of years ago. Picture: Michael Klein.

ALMOST A DEMON?

The irony of what happened this week is that Mayard grew up a Demons fan.

His father Peter played eight games in red and blue in 1980 and ‘81 and has been general manager of the Casey Demons for the past six seasons; and his brother Corey played two games for Melbourne.

During the middle of a difficult 2021 season for the Magpies, Brownlow Medallist Brad Hardie even declared Maynard “will be playing for Melbourne next year (in 2022).”

It was never that clear-cut - and Maynard always wanted to stay a Magpie - but the interest from the Demons was real before he ended up signing a contract extension with Collingwood until the end of 2025.

The unease between Melbourne’s players and Maynard had seeds sown last season.

He gang-tackled Ed Langdon in round 13 last year in an effort to make a statement over Langdon’s “all duck no dinner” claim about Collingwood.

Then he laid a bone-rattling tackle on Alex Neal-Bullen later that season.

Brayden Maynard tustles with Jack Viney as Andrew Brayshaw gets stretchered away. Picture: Getty Images

WILL THE INCIDENT CHANGE HIM?

Maynard says he has never been a comfortable public speaker.

But after making a heart-felt, if slightly inebriated speech at the 2019 Copeland Trophy dinner - when finishing fifth - he resolved to get better.

He went to work on his presentation skills and polished his media approach.

He wasn’t a part of the Magpies’ four-man leadership group last year, but he made it clear that he wanted a part of it.

He was rewarded in 2023 by being included in the new-look Collingwood leadership group this season.

Darcy Moore was installed as captain and Maynard was elevated alongside Taylor Adams and Jeremy Howe as co-vice captains.

It was assumed Adams or Howe might take over the captaincy when Moore suffered a late season hamstring injury, but the players - and coaching staff - rewarded Maynard with the role, which he thrived on.

He takes an interest in all aspects of the Collingwood club and one day harbours an ambition to move into recruiting.

McGuane sensed a growing maturity in Maynard when he had a chance meeting with him earlier this year.

“I walked away from the conversation thinking this bloke knows the direction in which the club is going,” McGuane said.

McGuane is convinced what happened with Brayshaw won’t change the way Maynard approaches the contest into the future.

“You want him to be aggressive,“ he said.

“What he did was within the rules of the game, as the tribunal showed, and I think the right call was made.

“That obviously leads to empathy and compassion for Angus Brayshaw, but that aside if the opportunity presents (in the preliminary final) to jump and smother, and he has to make a conscious decision to do it, I’m sure he will.”

As much as he still feels for Brayshaw, Maynard was emphatic when asked on Friday if it would change the way he played: “Absolutely not.”

You sense there will be no overthinking of that.

Originally published as AFL: Inside the mind and career of Brayden Maynard