Melbourne and Collingwood senior coaches Simon Goodwin and Craig McRae have each voiced their thoughts on Pie Brayden Maynard's polarising act that resulted in the concussion of Demon Angus Brayshaw during Thursday's qualifying final.
During the opening minutes of the first quarter at the MCG, Brayshaw was collected by Maynard after he'd disposed of the ball; the Magpies defender, who leapt into the air in an attempt to smother the Demon's kick, crashed into Brayshaw on his way down, making incidental high contact to his face.
Angus Brayshaw was stretchered off following this incident with Brayden Maynard.#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/flpBmdXtHf
— AFL (@AFL) September 7, 2023
While many, including Maynard himself post-game, have claimed the landmark moment was a 'footy act', the incident resulted in Brayshaw's immediate removal from the contest upon determination he was concussed.
Further, Maynard appears to turn his body upon bracing for impact with Brayshaw, leading with his shoulder, which may not bode positively for the physical Pie as Collingwood now awaits the Match Review Officer's verdict.
Following Thursday night's seven-point defeat to the Pies, Dees coach Goodwin offered his candid thoughts on the act as he addressed the media.
"That'll be sorted out during the week but we've got a pretty shattered player in there," Goodwin began.
"Yeah, look, you can only go by the facts, he jumped off the ground and knocked a guy out, so I guess time will tell (if and what the punishment is).
"He (Brayshaw) is upset, yeah. He's obviously had a history [of] concussion a long time ago, so he's obviously dealing with some emotion there, but he wants to play finals footy.
"He's going to be missing for a few weeks, [so] that's disappointing."
As Brayshaw enters the AFL's concussion protocols, the dependable defender will automatically miss next weekend's do-or-die semi-final clash.
Collingwood mentor McRae then shared his thoughts after viewing a single angle of the incident.
"I've caught it on the phone, one view of it, one angle, it looks like he's in the air," McRae started.
"Actually, I'll go back a step. I hope Angus is okay, that's my first thought. I hope he's okay. I've met him a couple of times socially and he's a ripping guy, so hopefully it's not too bad for him, because he's had multiple concussions, so my thoughts go out to him, I hope he's okay.
"And then the act itself, it didn't look like it had much malice, but I'll leave it up to others to decide if that's worthy of a suspension or not, I don't know."
The MRO will reveal any findings from Thursday night's thriller on Friday evening, prior to Carlton and Sydney's bout at the MCG.
Goodwin went on to discuss his side's slow start and missed opportunities, declaring the Demons 'dominated' the contest after quarter-time.
"We dominated the game post-quarter-time for a big part of it and we were wearing them down, but our start was poor," Goodwin said.
"I thought we were pretty average in the contest early, and Collingwood made us pay. They hit the scoreboard and then from that moment on, we were chasing the scoreboard the whole game.
"We played the game the right way for three quarters. Yeah, we didn't execute in front of goal [and] we didn't get as much reward out of our entries, but it's the right way to play.
"I was very proud of our group. They played like winners for the last three quarters and we didn't get the result, so we've got to come back and do it again (next weekend)."
Melbourne will play the winner of Friday's Blues-Swans blockbuster at the MCG next weekend, while Collingwood will play host to a preliminary final in two weeks' time.
