Angus Brayshaw has moved to defence this year and unlocked his best game since his breakout campaign of 2018, lifting all his basic stats except tackles with an extra seven disposals and four marks per game. His scoring floor is decent and he is capable of going very large as he did in the St Kilda game, which makes his mean averages look a little better than his median averages. Adding BAC designation in those competitions where that is done will make him very valuable in the second half of the year, where he is a strong contender to become a top six fantasy defender.
Angus Brayshaw has moved to defence this year and unlocked his best game since his breakout campaign of 2018, lifting all his basic stats except tackles with an extra seven disposals and four marks per game. His scoring floor is decent and he is capable of going very large as he did in the St Kilda game, which makes his mean averages look a little better than his median averages. Adding BAC designation in those competitions where that is done will make him very valuable in the second half of the year, where he is a strong contender to become a top six fantasy defender.
Angus Brayshaw has completed a move to the half back line this off season, and while his brother Andrew made most of the headlines across the Nullarbor for his Brayshaw breakout in 2021 the older version has been somewhat of a disappointment since his own best campaign several years ago. Some half back flankers concentrate on workrate and volume while others' one wood is their quality by foot. Brayshaw looms as one of the latter, making him more of a Supercoach play. He is an outside chance to be a top six fantasy back by year's end.
Angus Brayshaw is one of the sob stories of fantasy football in recent years, journeying into the footy wilderness after a top three finish in the Brownlow only a few short years ago. His CBAs have dried up to nil and he has reverted to his old sheepdogging ways when starting on a flank or wing, also spending a lot of time on the pine getting splinters. Like Melbourne as a team, he showed so much and then so little after the 2018 preliminary final belting at the hands of West Coast. Good luck as a fantasy coach finding the moment that everything clicks again for him, if it comes.
Stud Angus loses ball
Following a third place finish in the 2018 Brownlow, Angus Brayshaw was one of many Demons unable to replicate his form, declining in disposal, mark, goal and tackle output. Rated top 15 across the competition for metres gained a season prior, the Demon finished last season outside the top 70. He suffered an elbow injury in late January which forced him on the sidelines for at least a month. Following concussion concerns in 2016-17, Brayshaw has played 94% of matches over the past two seasons, though you would have been excused for wondering where he was at times last campaign as he sheepdogged it on the flanks. A poor season following a dominant one for the dysfunctional Dees, the question becomes this: cause or effect? If available in middle rounds, take the calculated risk.
Angus Brayshaw is the most interesting player on the Melbourne list, sometimes seeming like he is also their best in a team littered with elites and All-Australians. He spent most of this year in a plus-one role mopping up behind the ball, using his excellent decision-making skills plus his talent by foot to set up countless Demon attacks. Over the last month his role has moved up the ground, settling two weeks ago in a target forward post where he booted four and then two goals. His fantasy output looks to be classically variable like a key forward in this new slot.
Angus Brayshaw is one of a number of players who have been asked to change roles this season in reaction to the advent of the 6-6-6 rule which discourages usage of loose men behind the footy. Like Joel Selwood and Jack Watts, he starts most often on a wing but then plays a sweeping role, drifting back to help out his defenders at half back and then sometimes getting involved on the rebound. This position is less lucrative than his previous engine room role, although he saluted last week with three goals and a big fantasy ton. Is that a flash in the pan?
Finest of fine Angus
Angus Brayshaw was one of the biggest success stories of the league last season, shrugging off a history of concussions to suit up for all but three senior games. His post-bye average jumped by 22 points to join the elite of the competition above the 115 mark, and his journey from outside receiver to complete midfielder showed in a lift in contested rate by 11 points to 41%, plus adding three clearances a game. He was on a modified program early in preseason due to a niggling back complaint. Brayshaw was one of the main reasons that Melbourne threatened the top four for so long last season, easily topping the metres gained stat at the club as he provided essential link play. There is no reason why he couldn't learn to rove to Brayden Preuss if the club decides to do something funky with Max Gawn, and there are no other looming roadblocks... apart from a recurrence of those concussions. If you can see past that unhappy scenario, he's a first round prospect.
Angus Brayshaw has shaken off early-career problems with repeat concussions to finally show us at the age of 22 what he can do at his peak fitness and form, and it is fairly impressive. Seven fantasy tons out of his last nine games underline his quality on the outside and delivering inside 50, and several of those came in losses so he seems immune to team variations in form which is pleasing in a Melbourne side that has traditionally run hot and cold. He looms as an interesting POD pick up in salary cap leagues as the Demons run to finals.
Angus in the sandwich
It was another year mostly ruined by concussion problems, but Angus Brayshaw showed late glimpses that he might have found a niche in the Demon team off half back, a move made in the VFL which resulted in three senior games of 80+ fantasy scores at better than a point per minute. 70% of his possessions are uncontested but his efficiency rarely reaches that mark. Concussion is difficult to quantify as a risk for fantasy players, which makes evaluation of Brayshaw contingent on whether you believe he's going to be able to better ride the bumps as he gets older and bigger. Coaches expect more quality from HBFs with ball in hand, so there's no guarantee that late role will stick. He's worth a late pick and no more with those red flags.
