GAWN CLOUD

Brayshaw boost, but not all good news for Dees

ANGUS Brayshaw made a successful return from his fourth concussion in 12 months, but Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn must overcome an ankle injury to face North Melbourne in Hobart on Saturday.

Gawn withdrew from scheduled media appearances yesterday, though coach Simon Goodwin said he was likely to prove his fitness as the Demons plotted to end their 16-game losing streak against the Kangaroos.

Brayshaw, 21, played at half-back and won 23 disposals for Casey on Saturday night while wearing a helmet. The tough midfielder collected 11 of those in a busy third quarter as Casey overcame Essendon in frosty conditions.

“[Brayshaw] spent several weeks working really closely with the docs and the high-performance staff and the coaches to really get him back out playing and playing some good footy,” Goodwin said on Melbourne radio station 3AW yesterday.

“It was a really good step in the right direction for Angus, he performed strongly and you can only see him getting better over the next two or three weeks.” Brayshaw had not played at any level in 10 weeks. He was told to take an indefinite break after suffering head knocks in two VFL games.

The repeat blows in consecutive matches mirrored last season.

Gawn played out the win against Port Adelaide and is likely to face North as the Demons eye off a possible top-four finish.

AFL fans are calling for action against on-field aggression, supporting tougher penalties for punching offences after a season punctuated by several ugly incidents.

In a response to News Corp’s annual fans survey, 83 per cent of supporters backed tougher penalties for serious indiscretions.

The results come in the wake of several ugly on-field incidents this season.

Melbourne’s Tomas Bugg was banned for six matches after he concussed Sydney opponent Callum Mills with a punch to the jaw. This came after Carlton’s Jed Lamb was knocked out by Richmond’s Bachar Houli.

AFL diversity manager Ali Fahour also received a life ban at local level for punching an opponent during a melee in the Northern Football League, later resigning from his league position in the fallout.

But the AFL said the status quo would remain until the end of the season, when the league conducted a postseason review with the laws of the game committee and the match review panel.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has said the league would consider ramping up penalties for serious offences if it was needed.

“If there’s a view that, say, six weeks is not enough deterrent, we’ll look to escalate it,” McLachlan said. “I certainly feel the strong statements over the last couple of weeks will help us have less issues.”

Boxer Danny Green, who has fronted campaigns against coward punches, said on-field acts of aggression needed to be wiped from the game.

“Without doubt the atrocious and gutless incidents where players are literally assaulted from behind or without seeing it need to be eradicated,’’ Green said.

While most fans backed tougher penalties for punching offences, supporters were largely divided on the concept of a red card send-off system as used in soccer as a penalty. Red cards were supported by 48 per cent of fans, while 51 did not want a send-off system.