Andrew Brayshaw has been backed to get even better by fellow young gun midfielder Adam Cerra after Brayshaw copped a hard tag from opponents in back-to-back weeks.
The 21-year-old had 15 disposals and five tackles in a relatively quiet day on the stat sheet in Fremantle’s 15-point win against Hawthorn after opening the season with 29 disposals in round one and 32 disposals in round two.
Nine of Brayshaw's 15 touches came in the final quarter as he played a crucial role in helping Freo hold off a surging Hawthorn.
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Despite the challenges faced by the tag, Cerra said Brayshaw took the attention as a compliment to his abilities as a midfielder.
“He’s obviously going to start getting a lot of attention because of the great player that he is,” Cerra said.
“I think he’s dealing with that as well and finding ways to still impact the game.
“He's learning a bit from Nat (Fyfe), he’s giving him some tips from his experiences and I think the team’s response (in protecting Brayshaw) has improved.
“It’s an honour to him. I think he’s relishing the challenge and we’re going to help him as well. It’s going to make him an even better player.”
Senior coach Justin Longmuir said he wasn’t concerned that Brayshaw’s disposal count had dropped in the past fortnight.
“Sometimes the best thing is to get your hands dirty and play your role. Our game is not based around how many possessions individuals get, our style of play is based around a system that he can still execute when he is getting tagged,” Longmuir said.
“We will look at ways to educate him on those things. We will look at ways we can put him in different spots if that needs to happen.
“He should be wearing it as a badge of honour and it’s a by-product of him being in really good form. He’s got to embrace it.”
