Andrew Brayshaw is enjoying every opportunity he gets to scratch his competitive itch after making his second Fremantle appearance of the pre-season.
A week after playing in the inaugural AFLX tournament, Brayshaw pulled on the Freo jumper for the second time against Adelaide at Strathalbyn Oval on Sunday and impressed straight away in a midfield role.
While Freo didn’t get over the line in the Crow’s 10-point JLT Community Series win, the young midfielder’s excellent first quarter showed a glimpse of what Freo’s fans can hope to expect from the no.2 draft pick.
The 18-year-old collected 14 disposals and six contested possessions, leading the contested count for the game at quarter time with four.
For Brayshaw, it was all about making the most of the opportunity to compete against other AFL opponents.
“It was a great experience, just good to be out there with all the boys,” Brayshaw said.
“We’ve been playing against each other for a while so it’s good to finally verse someone who isn’t your teammate. We cracked in really hard.”
Fremantle led at the first change but trailed by 29-points at half time, but turned it around after senior coach Ross Lyon's half time address, taking the lead in the final term before the Crows raced home.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted but we had talk from Ross at half time and I thought we responded really well,” Brayshaw said.
“It was pretty much the fundamentals we had to get right if we were going to win the game, so we were fumbling first half and our second half, I really thought we were much more clean and just cracked in harder in general.
“I think that’s what turned it for us.”
A key contributor to that second half comeback was through 19-year-old rookie Bailey Banfield.
A best and fairest winner at WAFL league level for Claremont, Banfield looked the part with two second-half goals and 11 possessions.
Brayshaw and Banfield were two of four first-year players in the line-up, including Stefan Giro and ruckman Lloyd Meek.
“‘Banners’ (Banfield) kicked two goals, he was really aggressive and Giro was really quick and showed a bit of his pace,” Brayshaw said.
“Meek showed his strength and stepped up when Sandi (Aaron Sandilands) went off on the bench.
“I think the four of us would be pretty happy with how we went, even though we didn’t get the win I think it was a good experience for all of us.”
Brayshaw’s composed performance may put him in the conversation for round one and he remains happy to take any experience he can get.
“I think it kind of, being able to pull on the jumper last week, it kind of took away a lot of the nerves,” Brayshaw said.
“It gave me a bit of familiarity and allowed me to just play the game how I wanted to.”
