East Perth co-captain Hamish Brayshaw says being rested the week leading into finals did wonders for the players, following his side’s 13-point win against Claremont on Saturday afternoon. 

He, along with fellow co-captain Christian Ameduri, Angus Scott, Harrison Macreadie and Stan Wright, were all left out of the Royals’ squad during their Round 20 defeat to Claremont. 

One week later, all players went on to feature heavily and be an instrumental part of the opening match of WAFL finals, and took the fight to an imposing Claremont line-up of Bailey Rogers, Callan England and Jye Bolton. 

Speaking to SportFM, Brayshaw says the break was a luxury that players benefited from heading into week one of finals.

“Having a week off, allowing myself to actually recover and freshen up did me wonders. It did a lot of boys good,” he said.

“We’d been carrying some stuff. Footy’s tough, and you can get through some injuries and niggles, but an extra seven days to freshen up and get yourself right does wonders for your body. 

“A lot of those guys came back and played really well on the weekend and took us a long way. It was really nice, the luxury that you don’t often have.”

Brayshaw had a starring role, finishing on a match-high 31 disposals, five tackles and a goal, while co-captain, Christian Ameduri, also contributed well with 24 disposals, seven tackles and two goals. 

They managed to overcome the eight-match streak of losses at Claremont Oval without the help of Liam Tedesco and Tom North, who were ruled out with injury concerns. 

Brayshaw says he expects them to be ready to go this weekend. 

“They pulled up really sore from the Claremont game in Round 20. Northy (Tom North) had calf that felt tight and felt like it might go, and Teddy had the same with his hamstring,” he said. 

“They’re at a point, I think Northy certainly is, with his body that he’s played a lot of football and knows what these limits are, and it was the same (with Tedesco). 

“If it had been a grand final, you can jab, strap and get through the game, but with a second chance and an opportunity to play another three weeks of football, it wasn’t worth the risk. 

“I’d be very confident in them getting up and going for this week, and it was touch and go the week before. I’d imagine they’ll be straight back in the side this week.” 

This weekend, East Perth face South Fremantle at Community Bank Oval, with the first spot in this year’s decider and the luxury of another weekend off on the line. 

The Bulldogs have won all but one game this year and are heavy favourites to go all the way; however, Brayshaw believes their best is good enough to beat them. 

“We know that we can match it with them when our best is at its best,” he said. 

“They’re clearly the barometer for the competition. They don’t go through a whole year losing one game without being that benchmark,” he said. 

“A couple of weeks ago, we found out we weren’t there yet, and we had work to do. We’ve gone away, done plenty on our game and got ourselves in this position where we feel confident we can match it when we’re playing our best football. 

“They’ve got weapons across the ground. We’ve got to go in fully confident our best is good enough, which we do and riding a little bit of momentum over the last couple of weeks is certainly going to help.”

IMAGE: Jack Foley Photography