AFL SHOT WORTH WRESTLING FOR
WRESTLING matches in his family’s Gold Coast home have put ruckman Brayden Crossley on the cusp of reaching his AFL dream.
Crossley’s father Troy, a renowned Australian rules figure on the Coast, knew his son would be an undersized ruckman and set about a creative and fun way to teach him the toughness that would take him to the top.
“Being a bit tougher has been drilled into me from a young age,” Crossley said.
“Dad knew I was going to be an undersized ruckman so he started wrestling with me and my brother (Ashton) in the kitchen to get me prepared.
“When we were 12 and 13 we would go into the kitchen and he would wrestle us. He stopped it about two or three
years ago because we started throwing him around.”
Troy was a formidable opponent. The former centre half-back played in the SANFL then become a hallof-famer at Southport, winning multiples at the Sharks before winning flags as a coach for Burleigh Bombers.
One of those premierships as a player came in 1999 and Brayden found himself with a medal around his shoulders
at four weeks old after Troy took him on stage post-game.
The wrestling tactic for the now 18-year-old looks to have paid off with Crossley invited to attend the AFL draft combine in Melbourne starting today.
It comes in a breakthrough year for the Gold Coast Suns academy member and All-Australian under-18 who played in the All Stars curtain-raiser to the AFL grand final at the MCG on Saturday.
Crossley may not have the 205cm-plus height modern AFL ruckman have but at 199cm he possesses a stronger 102kg frame that has coaches comparing him to GWS big man Shane Mumford and Richmond’s Toby Nankervis.
The success of Mumford and Nankervis has Crossley confident he can find a similar role if he reaches the AFL.
“When you are an undersized ruckman you need to have more than one string to your bow and be able to go forward and kick goals,” Crossley said.
“You can’t be a one dimensional player in the ruck.”
Crossley is one of 85 players to be put through their paces at the combine, a forerunner to the AFL draft in Sydney on November 24.