Darcy Moore's revelation about Brayden Maynard amid nasty Angus Brayshaw development
The Collingwood and Melbourne captains have spoken out about the situation.
Darcy Moore has revealed Brayden Maynard's remorse that Angus Brayshaw has been forced into retirement from the AFL after their sickening incident in the finals series last year. Brayshaw announced last week that he was hanging up the boots on the advice of medical professionals after a scan found changes to the Melbourne Demons player's brain.
Brayshaw suffered a number of concussions early in his career and took a break from the game in 2017, but hadn't experienced any troubles in the six years that followed. But he was heavily concussed after a controversial collision with Maynard in the first week of the AFL finals in 2023.
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Maynard's jumping attempt to smother the ball resulted in his shoulder making heavy contact with Brayshaw's head on the way down, but he was free to play after being cleared by the tribunal. The Collingwood player has been targeted by fans in the wake of Brayshaw's retirement, with many laying the blame at his feet.
Discussing the situation on Monday, Collingwood captain Moore revealed how Maynard is feeling about the whole thing. "Brayden is similar to me ... you don't want to see a fellow player end their career like that," Moore said. "Brayden expressed his regret and remorse at the time and he's pretty genuine about that."
Moore described the news about Brayshaw as heartbreaking, saying: "First thing's first, I really hope that his welfare and wellbeing ongoing are in a good place, that he doesn't experience symptoms and he lives a long and happy life.
"It's such a shame to see his career cut short like that. The issue of concussion is not going anyway any time soon. There are no obvious answers coming in the short-term. The best we can hope for as players is that the league is genuine about making the game as safe as it possibly can be ... I'm pretty confident that's the case."
Max Gawn 'devastated' over Angus Brayshaw's retirement
Concussion was the main talking point on Monday as the 18 club captains had their annual pre-season media call. Demons skipper Gawn lifted the lid on the pain he is feeling for Brayshaw.
"As a die-hard Melbourne supporter, I am quite devastated about the fact that we're not going through with Angus Brayshaw this year," Gawn said. "As a friend, I'm also very, very devastated in terms of what's happened.
"A tiny bit of a sense of relief, in terms of the concussion battles he's had, now (they're) no longer. But ... he's just signed a five-year contract, he's a premiership teammate, he's a very, very, very good friend, it's just been cut short a little bit earlier than I thought it would be."
Gawn said Brayshaw would leave a yawning gap at the club, and revealed he's had previous conversations with his teammate about the possibility he'd need to retire. "That's a big loss for us, both on and off the field," Gawn said.
"He's well. We've had a lot of conversations ... we've since had a nice bottle of Grange to talk about the premiership year and the 10 years of times we've had. I certainly know (as a close friend), Gus was well looked after, from first concussion to last concussion. I'm sure Gus would stand here today and say he's had incredible support from the AFL."
The league must now decide what happens to the remaining $3 million on Brayshaw's contract. According to reports, the Demons have asked the AFL for dispensation but will pay Brayshaw the money he is owed.
with AAP
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