Brayden Maynard has defended his collision with Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw, calling it a “footy act” as the Collingwood star nervously awaits the MRO verdict ahead of his side’s preliminary final appearance in a fortnight’s time.
Maynard early in the first quarter of Thursday night’s Qualifying Final win over the Demons launched at Brayshaw in an attempt to smother. While landing, Maynard made contact with the Demons midfielder’s head, prompting an all-in brawl as Brayshaw was stretchered off the ground in dramatic scenes at the MCG.
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Brayshaw was instantly subbed out of the contest for Bailey Laurie in a brutal setback to the Demons – both on the night and moving forward – with the on-baller set to be sidelined for at least 12 days under the league’s concussion protocols, ruling him out of next week’s semi-final against either Carlton or Sydney.
Speaking to Channel 7 post-match, Maynard, who was placed on report by the umpire, played down the potential for him to cop a suspension.
“I don’t want to say too much, but it’s a footy act,” he began.
“I came forward, I jumped to smother the ball and unfortunately I just got him on the way down.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but it’s all love, I absolutely love that guy to bits. It’s shattering what happened.”
Maynard continued: “It is stressful, but you’ve sort of got to move on. It’s a bloody intense game, it requires a lot mentally and physically.
“That’s why we’re built for this, it’s finals.”
Maynard now faces the possibility of missing his side’s preliminary final and even his season being over, pending on how the MRO assesses the act – with injured superstar Nick Daicos waiting in the wings to return.
Maynard after the incident on Thursday night was booed loudly by Melbourne fans whenever he got the ball – which was opposed by cheers from Collingwood supporters – with the MRO verdict now looming as a big talking point over the next week.
The consensus from the footy world was that Maynard shouldn’t face suspension given he made a genuine attempt to spoil, however the MRO has consistently graded on outcome, leaving the Pies defender in peril.
Richmond great Matthew Richardson noted how it was a tricky incident to assess given Maynard “jumped in the air and tried to spoil the ball”.
“It’s really hard for him to stop … he can’t, it’s a real tough one,” Richardson said on Channel 7 immediately afterwards.
“What else can he do? He’s heard the boos and probably realised Brayshaw is hurt and we’re thinking about him, but it’s hard to know what else he can do there.”
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Geelong skipper Patrick Dangerfield strongly concurred with Richardson, arguing Maynard shouldn’t have any case to answer for.
“Maynard plays on the edge, but in my view, there is nothing in this. You have a duty of care to yourself to protect yourself as you come to land,” Dangerfield told Channel 7.
“Unfortunately in this game, there’s contact that occurs.
“He’s in the air for half a second … I know so much of what we’ve done around the rules have been what the outcome is, but I see this differently because he’s up for so long.”
Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph thinks there’s “no middle ground” for how the incident could be assessed by the MRO, declaring it’s either a lengthy suspension or nothing at all.
“It’s assessed either as a severe impact rough conduct charge – and that would be three-plus weeks and Brayden Maynard’s season would be over – or it’s assessed as a football accident. I think it’s more likely to be the latter,” Ralph told Fox Footy at half-time.
“He is entitled to protect himself on the way down after jumping to smother. He’s entitled to jump in the air, he turns his shoulder.
“But I think (MRO) Michael Christian would say: ‘What else is he supposed to do? Is he trying to knock out Brayshaw or is he trying to protect himself there?’
“It’s so lineball, but from an AFL perspective, the damage to Brayshaw will not be considered until it’s seen to be a reportable act.”
Fox Footy pundits also suggested Maynard didn’t have any other options than to attack the contest as he did, with dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna saying he shouldn’t have anything to worry about from the MRO.
Kangaroos legend David King told Fox Footy: “I’m not sure what more Maynard can do. He’s going at the ball, he’s trying to smother and then he just braces for contact.
“He doesn’t try and use the elbow at all, he doesn’t use a forearm. I just think this is a football action and unfortunately he’s caught him (Brayshaw) in the wrong spot and he’s out for the day.”
Four-time premiership winning Hawk Jason Dunstall added: “It’s a genuine attempted smother. Once he’s in the air, he can’t disappear, he can’t change position and it didn’t look like a massive hit per se.
“But unfortunately it look it’s going to result in Brayshaw not taking any further part. We hope he’s OK, but can you punish a player for jumping up in the air trying to spoil given what happened at the back-end of it?”
It wasn’t the only incident set to be looked at by the MRO, with Jacob van Royen in the first quarter collecting Dan McStay, who went down into the rooms for a Head Injury Assessment (HIA).
McStay returned to the game in the second term though to potentially help van Royen’s case.
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