Demon keen to take on Cat trio
ANGUS Brayshaw says Melbourne will be doing itself a disservice if it goes into its elimination final “intimidated” by Geelong’s stacked and starstudded midfield.
Playing their first final in 12 seasons the Demons face Cats triumvirate Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett for a spot in the second week of finals, a semi-final showdown against the loser of tomorrow’s game between Richmond and Hawthorn.
“They’re certainly terrific players, but we’re confident we can win,” Brayshaw said. “I think if we go in intimidated by those three then we’re doing ourselves a disservice.
“This is exactly what we’ve been aiming for all year, coming in and improving, hopefully to perform on a stage like this, so really excited to back ourselves in and have a real crack because these guys have been the benchmark for a long, long time and we’re excited to see where we stack up next to them.”
The Demons boast a solid but losing record against the Cats, having gone down twice this season by three points and two points respectively.
Brayshaw also dismissed the notion the club’s lack of finals experience might come back to haunt the Demons.
Melbourne is likely to have 18 players tasting finals action for the first time, with fourtime Hawthorn premiership star Jordan Lewis (19 games), Nathan Jones (two), Jake Melksham (one) and Michael Hibberd (one) the only ones with previous September appearances.
“No, no, I don’t [think it will hurt us],” Brayshaw told SEN Breakfast. “We’re competitive with anyone so we don’t really look at that experience thing too much and say that’s going to cost us in a final.”
After battling repeat concussions the past three seasons, Brayshaw has finally got a clean run at it and enjoyed a breakout year in the emerging Melbourne midfield.
“I got my opportunity to play in the midfield exclusively in about Round 7 against St Kilda and I haven’t really looked back from there,” Brayshaw said.