Crossley flies Maroon flag Suns’ AFL debutant proud of his heritage
In reality, Lions have found new cult figure
BRAYDEN Crossley wore his Suns jumper with pride in his debut against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday but in his heart he was also wearing a Maroon’s strip and a Palm Beach-Currumbin high school uniform.
An AFL debut is a dream come true for every player who finally reaches the big time but for Crossley it was extra special that his inclusion for the Suns broke a record of nine Queensland juniors in the side.
There were also six academy graduates and, as Crossley takes great pride in pointing out, four kids from his high school.
If Crossley, Jesse Joyce, Brad Scheer or Max Spencer go on to have great AFL careers the school oval should be named after them — if they had one.
It is a credit to the PBC High School sports program that a school without an oval has become a production line of AFL footballers, producing more players than the entire state of Tasmania in recent years.
Crossley, whose dad Troy is a Southport Sharks hall of famer, is proud of his Maroon roots.
“That is pretty special to myself,’’ he said.
“Going back maybe to 2011, ‘12 and ‘13 there was only maybe two or three Queenslanders drafted through that stretch and dad was always saying to me if you’re getting drafted as a Queenslander you are going up against it pretty much.
“So being able to play with nine Queenslanders and six academy kids and on top of that four PBC kids it is something that is really special to me and I will cherish forever.’’
Crossley said he had goose bumps, as he ran through the banner in front of about 20 family in Ballarat.
“As a kid that’s what you dream about, you watch it live or on TV and say to yourself that’s what I want to do but I never really thought it would happen,’’ he said.
“Once I got told I was playing I still couldn’t quite believe it but once I ran out there that’s when it kicked in, it was a bit overwhelming at first but I overcame that pretty quickly.”
Coach Stuart Dew singled out Crossley for praise in the post-match press conference.
“I thought Crossley gave us real energy, hopefully our supporters and members can see an academy product come in and really impact the game and enjoy the way he goes about his footy,’’ he said.
Crossley said the advice from teammates was to approach the game in the same aggressive manner he had always played the game.
“They said I was in the side for a reason so I should stick to my own game and that made me feel comfortable,’’ he said.
“My own game is to play with a lot of energy and compete all the time, and occasionally I bowl a few blokes over when I’m going for the footy, that’s just how I was brought up playing.’’