Brady Hough debuts for West Coast as Connor Blakely, Jye Amiss feature in pre-season clash at Peel Thunder

Once a country footy young gun, now an AFL player — Harvey’s Brady Hough has finally made his West Coast Eagles debut. And the youngster, who shot up the draft board to land at the Eagles, made a bright start to life at the top level, more than holding his own down back in a round one loss to the Gold Coast Suns. Despite the club’s torrid run of injury and illness hitting key midfield personnel, Hough played across half-back, racking up 10 disposals — seven of which were kicks — two marks, three tackles and a clearance. The Eagles led by a goal at three-quarter time, but were run-down by a fast finishing Gold Coast team, losing 16.11 (107) to 12.8 (80). Ahead of the 19-year-old’s highly-anticipated debut, a number of Hough’s family, friends and former coaches spoke of his rapid rise from Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault to Peel Thunder and onto the Eagles. Hough’s mother, Fiona, told the Harvey-Waroona Reporter hearing her son would debut for the club was an “emotional” moment, while former HBL league coach John Baggetta compared him to Collingwood ace Scott Pendlebury. “He was doing stuff out there better than blokes who had been around for 10 years, he had the great awareness of what was around him and where the ball should go to and his poise was unbelievable,” he said. Hough is likely to retain his spot for Saturday’s clash with North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium. Meanwhile, Fremantle Dockers Connor Blakely, Ethan Hughes and prized South West draft pick Jye Amiss all featured for Peel Thunder in a pre-season clash with West Perth while their side won a one-point thriller in Adelaide. Blakely was one of the best players afield in the warm-up match, kicking two goals playing as an inside midfielder with occasional bursts on the wing. Amiss bounced back from a quiet first half to convert a courageous pack mark shortly after half-time, showing glimpses of his enormous potential before coming off late with a bit of a limp after landing awkwardly in a marking contest, holding his right knee briefly. Fellow Busselton product James Tunstill is likely to wait a little longer for his debut at the Brisbane Lions after their opening round win over Port Adelaide at the GABBA.