WAFL 2024: Hamish Brayshaw hopes the best is yet to come for East Perth despite ‘bitter’ grand final loss

A devastated Hamish Brayshaw believes the pain of grand final defeat can spur East Perth onto greater heights, much as it did for his father. The Royals fell to a 33-point defeat in Sunday’s WAFL grand final despite the best efforts of their co-captain, who finished with 23-disposals, four clearances and a goal on return from a foot injury. Having closed the gap to within two goals in the final quarter only to fall away, Brayshaw said the loss was tough to swallow. “It’s flat. There’s no worse room to be in than a losing grand final room. The margin doesn’t reflect how close we were,” he told The West Australian. “We rolled the dice and you either win the game or lose by five (goals), and unfortunately it was the latter. “I couldn’t be more proud of the boys and the effort we put it in to get this game and be close enough to win it, it’s a credit to how we go about, but it’s tough and a bitter pill to swallow.” Brayshaw admits the Royals just couldn’t get it right often enough under pressure. “We knew the midfield battle would be a big battle, and to their credit their pressure was great all day. I thought ours was really good too, but they were just able to capitalise on those moments,” he said. As the Royals’ premiership drought extends for another season Brayshaw believes the playing group will only grow stronger from the disappointment. “I think finals experience is invaluable and for our group this is the first time we’ve been in a grand final in 10-years, so that’s gonna be huge for us to learn from that,” he said. “But I think we’re going to reflect on this and sometimes you’ve got to lose won to win one. My old man (Mark) lost one in ‘88 and won in ‘89 (with Claremont). “It’s a s--t place to be at the moment but the fact we’re able to stay together and learn from that I’m confident we’ll be able to learn from this and be a lot better in 12 months time. “We’ve got a young list, we’re still growing and I think we’ve got a lot of good footy ahead of us. I couldn’t be prouder of this group.”