Andrew Brayshaw's friendship with Adam Cerra will be put on hold for three hours on Saturday night when the two midfielders go head to head for the first time when Freo take on Carlton in the Len Hall Tribute Game.
The clash will be Fremantle's biggest test so far this season - both teams are 4-1 with the winner set to solidify their place in the top four.
While Brayshaw hopes to catch up with Cerra this weekend off the field, he won't treat the fellow 2017 draftee any differently come game time.
“I’m good mates with ‘Cez’, I’m really excited to play against him after playing the last four years alongside him,” Brayshaw said.
“It will be really good fun but we’re just treating him as another opposition once he crosses the line. It doesn’t matter if you’re friends with someone, they’re just another opponent. He’s got a lot of strengths that we’ll have to be ready for this weekend.
"It should be a really good hitout. Both teams are in really good form and there’s exciting talent on both sides.
“It's a Saturday night in front of our home crowd, the Len Hall Game, it’s going to be really fun.”
According to the AFL’s coaches, Brayshaw has been the best player in the league after five rounds this season, but the midfielder says he wouldn’t be raking in the coaches’ votes if it wasn’t for his own team’s form.
Brayshaw sits on 29 votes as the only player to poll in every game this year, three ahead of second-placed Christian Petracca, four ahead of Patrick Cripps and five ahead of fourth-placed Bailey Smith.
The 22-year-old said any individual recognition comes down to whether Freo can keep their run going.
“I think I’ve been getting votes because we’ve been playing really good footy as a team,” Brayshaw said.
“We have a lot of guys playing their role and that enables me to work really hard inside.
“If we weren’t 4-1, I wouldn’t be up there with the likes of Petracca and Bailey Smith. Definitely the form that we’re in is helping that along.”
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Fremantle’s task against the Blues became even harder during the week with the news that defenders Hayden Young and Heath Chapman entered the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols.
“They’ve both had really good starts to the year, it’s really unfortunate we’re going to be missing them this week because they have provided so much off that half back line,” Brayshaw said.
“They’re exciting and start us up with our ball movement. Whoever gets picked will slot into that role nicely. It’s a next man up mentality.”
The backline will already have their hands full up against the likes of Charlie Curnow (14 goals) and Harry McKay (12 goals) but Brayshaw said it’s not just up to the backs to stop the Blues’ forwards.
“They’ve got a really good forward line. Their two tall targets (Curnow and McKay) have been kicking lots of goals,” Brayshaw said.
“As a midfield, we’re going to do everything we can to stop their entries. They’ve got a really strong midfield who are a really good stoppage team but we think we are as well.
“It’s going to be two teams who are in really good form and I think we’re up for the challenge.”
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