There were few to zero critics of Andrew Brayshaw’s breakout season in the AFL where he finished equal third in the Doig Medal as a 20-year-old.
But the talented midfielder wants to add another dimension in his fourth year in the AFL after feeling he was too risk-averse in 2020.
Brayshaw said his personal goal to improve matched senior coach Justin Longmuir's overall goal for the emerging group.
“I really want to take the game on,” Brayshaw told 6PR.
“I feel like I was really clean last year and almost a little bit safe at times so I really want to try and be more aggressive, come through the corridor a bit more and just take the game on, have some fun with it and build on another season.
“I think when we can bring it through the middle, it opens up our options up forward. We’ve got some great kicks off half back and some really strong midfielders that can drive their legs up through the middle.
“It’s the quickest route to goal and I think we look really dangerous when we take that route so it’s definitely something that Justin’s been focusing on.”
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Brayshaw was one of Fremantle’s best in a scratch match against West Coast on Saturday at Lathlain Park.
While captain Nat Fyfe was the best on ground before coming off at half time, Brayshaw’s efforts in the midfield helped Freo stay on top for the majority of the game.
Brayshaw said he was pleased to see Freo’s young midfielde deliver alongside untried ruckman Lloyd Meek.
While ruck Sean Darcy is expected to be fit and ready for round one, Meek put his case forward for a debut should Darcy not get up.
“Lloyd Meek was really aggressive and that was one of the best hitouts I’ve seen him play. A lot of real positives to take out of it, I think,” Brayshaw said.
“Lloyd’s worked really hard on his craft and he’s one of the hardest workers at the club. To see him get his chances today and really step up and deliver is a credit to how hard he works.
“He can grab it, drive, absorb one or two (hits and tackles) and feed it out as well when he needs to. He looked really dangerous today and is definitely one of the positives to come out from the day.”
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