Fremantle midfielder Andy Brayshaw goes from ‘little fella’ to contender to be Dockers’ second Brownlow man

Mark Brayshaw has a couple of good descriptions for his son Andrew. “Determined little fella” refers to the fact he survived being the fourth of four brothers who were born so close together that at one point there were four of them under five. Three, Andrew, Angus and Hamish, are footballers, and the other, Will, is a soldier. It was, Brayshaw Sr says: “a pretty robust and boisterous, hurly burly environment” and Andrew was the “little tacker”. The other description: “Sponge” refers to Brayshaw’s thirst for and ability to soak up knowledge and this second description is what gives Sunday’s Brownlow Medal count a nice, quirky twist. In the first 12 months of his football career at Fremantle, the source of that knowledge was one of Brayshaw’s main rivals for the Brownlow medal – the medal’s 2020 winner Lachie Neale. Brayshaw lived with Neale for most of the first 12 months he was at Fremantle. And some of the time he wasn’t with Neale was spent living with dual Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe. Brayshaw will probably never get to be a triple Brownlow Medal winner – only four players in the history of football have. But he did have a triple Brownlow Medal football education. Fyfe won in 2015 and 2019. Neale won in 2020. “The environment he found himself in in his first couple of years was absolutely world-class and it has sustained,” Brayshaw Sr said. “The people at Fremantle off the field and in their footy department are best of breed.” “He was bloody lucky. He lived with Lachie Neale for the first 12 months after he got there. Nathan Fyfe put him up for six weeks pre-Christmas.” “Ross Lyon was a brilliant coach. You couldn’t have asked for better role models in terms of housemate, captain and coach. It was very disciplined, strict and structured and it suited him superbly,” he said. Brayshaw and Neale remain close to this day. Neale’s departure from Fremantle at the end of 2018 to join Brisbane rocked the Dockers youngster. “He was like a sponge when he got to Fremantle. Everything Ross said to him was yes, thank you sir, may I have another. And he was able to play. They weren’t a great side so he got his chance early.” “Lachie was fantastic, a brilliant help to him and they are very tight mates those two.” “Lachie was fastidious in his training, in his diet. All of the one-percenters. Andrew didn’t need to be told twice.” “It (Neale leaving) knocked him around. They retained their friendship but I remember thinking it was a rude awakening in the business of AFL footy. Lachie had been very generous in the way he had helped Andrew find his feet. It was a jolt.” Fortunately, if Brayshaw’s upbringing taught him anything it was the ability to be resilient. He had to hold his own with and against his big brothers. “He is the fourth of four boys. We had four sons under five years of age and he was the little tacker. He is the product of a pretty robust and boisterous, hurly-burly environment . he got through that and that is the first thing,” Brayshaw Sr said. On top of the coping mechanisms there developed a fierce desire to learn and be better. He was, in his father’s words, “a pretty rigid and disciplined student at school.” “It (being the fourth of four brothers) gave rise to the second thing which is he is fiercely determined. Both at school academically but also sport. He loved little athletics and later high school aths and the way he plays his footy is consistent with being the fourth born of four boys who is a very determined little fella.” Brayshaw Sr still pinches himself that Andrew’s peers voted him the competition’s MVP this year. Even four years into a career after being taken second in the 2017 draft, even knowing about his sons third for knowledge and improvement, the speed of the rise surprises him a little. “The fact he was so well regarded by his peers. It was like, oh wow, bloody hell. A huge honour,” he said. “He has still got plenty to improve on by the way. It wouldn’t hurt to kick the odd set shot every now and again. It’s not illegal.” The Brayshaw family will have two sons at this year’s count. Brother Angus, who has had another stellar year at Melbourne, has been invited again and knows about the drama of a medal count after finishing third in 2018. Angus rattled home that year to poll eight votes in the last few games. Brayshaw Sr believes that it might take a finish like that to clinch the award for Andrew this year and he is not sure he will get it. With taggers and other defensive mechanisms in place to curb Brayshaw, he quietened ever so slightly in the run into the finals. The old man might be right. Brayshaw finished the season with 21, 22 and 25 disposal games, although the last of them came with two goals against Greater Western Sydney in round 23. And the Brownlow runs over 23 rounds. Over the full season Brayshaw’s numbers (704 disposals, 12 goals and 149 tackles) stack up all right against Neale’s 729 disposals, 11 goals and 110 tackles. Neale is a clearance beast and has emerged as the favourite for this count. But Brayshaw now has a claim, at just 22, in being the best two way running midfielder in the entire AFL. You never know and whatever the result it certainly won’t be the be all and end all for the Brayshaw family. It still might be something though if we get into the latter stages of the count and Brayshaw and Neale are neck-and-neck. And as close as they are, Neale might wonder for just a second whether he taught the “determined little fella” too much.