WAFL 2024: East Perth captain Hamish Brayshaw says composure in thrilling final moments key to nail-biting win

East Perth co-captain Hamish Brayshaw has heaped praise on his team for remaining composed in the thrilling final moments in their three-point win over East Fremantle. There were many standouts for the emerging premiership contenders at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, with key forward Thomas Graham outplaying East Fremantle captain Matthew Jupp, kicking a season-high four goals, after shining for the Reserves in the opening month. “I mean Juppy’s (Matthew Jupp) a fantastic player and we all know it. But Tommy’s a young forward who’s coming up and he was excited,” Brayshaw said. “He said to one of the boys before that he was excited to play on him and good players love to play on the best defenders, so he was really excited for that challenge. “And he’s a young player, but he’s a star. So Juppy had his moments and was able to impact. But Tommy was able to hit the scoreboard, really in the last quarter, create those one-on-ones that didn’t get out marked and was able to bring the ball to ground. “For us that was gold.” The Royals weathered an inside 50 differential of minus 14 (56-42), including one of the most lopsided differentials in a quarter this season, (20-2) in the second. Heading into the match, the league’s second best-defensive team only conceded 36.4 Inside 50s. Despite the bombardment of Sharks entries, the compact and dependable Royals backline held their nerve, with creative half-backs Stanley Wright and Kye Willcocks impacting as the contest wore on, and the main pillars Corey Watts and Harrison Macreadie pivotal in the fourth. “Our backs had a massive challenge on them today. They’ve been really good (East Fremantle) at putting a score on the board and our defence I think our whole back six and seven were excellent today,” Brayshaw said. “Corey Watts (in) the last quarter dominated and Harrison Macreadie was excellent all day. And then the whole of our small players were able to stop that and there was a weight of Inside 50s coming through. But their ability to sort of stick in and continue to fight throughout that contest was incredible. “And it’s not often you win a game of footy when you’re 16 Inside 50s down. So it was a mighty fine effort from the boys.” Midway through the third, after disposing of his kick near the interchange bench, last year’s Sandover Medallist seemed to pull up a little short. However, Brayshaw quashed down any fears of a soft-tissue injury. “I’ve had a bit of a sore sciatic nerve throughout the week and the calf was sort of giving me a bit of trouble today. So it wasn’t anything too much. But I might have pulled up short because I miss-kicked it. “But I just worked my way through the game, was able to get through and thankfully uninjured.”