Hamish Brayshaw, the brother of Melbourne’s Angus, believes it is an “injustice” that Brayden Maynard has dodged suspension at the AFL Tribunal.
Collingwood defender Maynard collided with Brayshaw early in last Thursday night’s Qualifying Final clash, leaving the Demons midfielder heavily concussed and requiring a stretcher to leave the MCG field.
After a marathon hearing on Tuesday night, the Magpies co vice-captain has been cleared of rough conduct and will play in his side’s Preliminary Final next week.
Prior to the verdict, the brother of Brayshaw was asked on SEN’s Sportsday if he would be disappointed if Maynard was found not guilty and if the AFL did not appeal the decision thereafter.
“I probably would be,” he began.
“I think if it went not guilty and no one appealed it from there it would be, I think, a little bit of an injustice.
“Just because if it went the other way I’m sure that Collingwood would be appealing it.
“I’m not over the ins and outs of the Tribunal but if you leave the ground to make contact with the face and you knock someone out, that’s been the way it’s been.
“I understand it’s different with the pressure of a final and all the rest of it. There’s been a lot of people saying it’s going to set a precedent and it’s divided a lot of people.
“For me, at the end of the day, the outcome of that doesn’t bother me as much as the outcome of his (Angus’) health.”
On the Shelter FootyCast on Monday, Brayshaw suggested that Collingwood would be looked after at the Tribunal.
“It will set a precedent for what is going to happen for a long time in football I think, whether he gets off or whether he doesn’t,” Brayshaw said.
“I think if this happened in Round 3, sweet no worries mate you’ve got weeks, the scrutiny comes under the fact that I think the AFL are desperate for Collingwood to win a premiership.
“They want the supporters to go nuts, they’ve got 106,000 members, they want to do everything they can, in my opinion, for that to happen.
“The world wants to see that happen, or the Collingwood fans do anyway and they have a very loud voice so a lot of that is driven by the Collingwood fans and I think a few people at the AFL who want to see Collingwood win.”
But Brayshaw, who played one AFL game with West Coast in 2020, was keen to clarify his conspiracy theory comments towards the Magpies.
“The context was I had just got off the phone with him (Angus) in the morning and he wasn’t in a good spot,” the 2023 Sandover Medallist explained.
“So the blood might have been boiling a little bit when I was saying it.
“For a club like Collingwood who has got a lot of power and a lot of money and a lot of support behind them, I’m not saying they could overturn it just because they’re Collingwood, but…
“It’s not saying it’s Collingwood get away with everything because they’re Collingwood – West Coast could say the same thing as we’ve got 100,000 members as well – but that was a little bit of emotion and blood boiling.”
Angus Brayshaw will not be available for Melbourne’s Semi Final clash with Carlton this Friday night due to the AFL’s concussion protocols. He was back at training running laps on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Maynard will grace the MCG turf next weekend when the Pies take on either Port Adelaide or GWS in their prelim.