AFL draft 2021: Peel Thunder’s Brady Hough reflects on rapid rise from country footballer to draft fancy

Brady Hough’s AFL dreams became that little bit more real when a trio of West Coast recruiters came knocking - literally - at his family’s Harvey home last week. It’s the same country property as his love for the sport started, kicking the with alongside his older brothers Mitch, now 23, and Jay, 22. The versatile Peel Thunder talent has been a revelation in his debut season of WAFL colts, earning State 19s selection, a draft combine invite and a league debut in the final home-and-away round. MORE AFL: The 18-year-old is rated a strong chance to go to complete a South West-to-AFL journey in a little over a year. Making the move to the Thunder after playing an entire season of SWFL seniors for Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault, Hough admits everything has “all happened really quickly”. “Coming up, I just wanted to take my game to the next level,” Hough said. “I did believe in myself obviously coming up but never really thought all of this would happen, it’s all happened really quickly. “I’m just grateful for everything that’s happened and I’ll just keep sticking to it and see where it takes me.” Hough, who averaged 22 possessions, five marks and booted 10 goals in 11 colts appearances, has done regular Zoom calls with AFL clubs and even had the Eagles visit his family’s Harvey property. A self-confessed “massive” West Coast supporter, Hough had some understandable early nerves but didn’t take long to feel comfortable. “It’s been pretty consistent to be honest,” Hough said of the AFL interest. “I had a few early on and they’re still coming. It might be picking up a bit towards the end of the season but I’ve had a bit of interest throughout the year. “I had the Eagles come to my house last Tuesday but the other teams the rest have been from over east. “At first I thought I’d be a bit nervous but overall I liked it a lot better than the Zoom calls because I could just open up more and express myself a lot more I think, being face to face.” Hough broke through for his senior debut in the Thunder’s final game of 2021 and was given the coaches’ award for a sparkling performance on the wing and across half-forward. He amassed 22 disposals, nine marks, five inside 50s go to with a brilliant running goal in a narrow loss to Subiaco in Mandurah, alongside six Dockers-listed players with Fremantle football boss Peter Bell watching on in the stands. It capped off a big year in the WAFL, his first since Futures. “I played for the South West team in the Futures comp and Peel got me up for a couple of games there as well,” Hough recalled. “They were trying to get me up all of last year but I made the choice to stay at home, focus on school and play football down in the South West. “School is important, you need to have something outside of football.” Outgoing HBL coach John Baggetta has been a fan of Hough’s for a long time, giving him an early senior berth last year which he took with both hands. “In the first year, they were all young having just come out of the colts,” Baggetta said. “We identified Brady Hough very early. At the back end of ’19, he played a couple of colts games and you could just see his ability. “He also had a solid pre-season in 2020, which put his hand up to say that he wanted to play league football. From there, week-in, week-out, I could see something in a player which I had not seen for a very long time.” The versatile 189cm talent, who can play midfield, half-forward and half-back, hailed Baggetta’s influence for having the faith to play him early in the seniors and convince him to have a crack with the Thunder. “He’s been a massive for me,” Hough said. “Last season he backed me in all year, he put me in and kept me in all year so he obviously believed in me. “He pushed to take the next step in my footy career and that’s part of the reason I came up.” Off the field, Hough works at Harvey Fresh juice factory and studies physical education teaching at Edith Cowan University.