South West AFL Watch: Harvey’s Brady Hough a last-gasp withdrawal from Western Derby

From a bizarre late withdrawal to a stand-out performance, there were plenty of talking points among the South West stars that featured in Saturday’s Western Derby. After fighting the flu and training away from teammates in the days leading up to the Western Derby, Harvey’s Brady Hough was initially named to run out for the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. However, West Coast was forced into a last-minute change that delayed the first centre bounce by two minutes with the 20-year-old withdrawn from the selected side and replaced by tall forward Jack Williams. It was later made clear that the defender was at risk of breaching the permitted limits for an asthma medication, with the club doctor advising coach Adam Simpson to withdraw Hough from the side. “(Hough) has ventolin and he took too many puffs on game day and I think there’s a level you can go to before it becomes too many. He was unaware of how many you can take,” Simpson said after the 20.14 (134) to 4.9 (33) loss. “I think he merely mentioned it, or the docs just quizzed him on it a little bit in the warm-up out on the ground, and to the docs’ credit they worked out that if he plays he might be over. “I’m speaking a little bit out of school because I don’t know the complete detail, but he had more than six today. “So, it’s almost like he’d be fine to play tomorrow, but on game day there’s rules and he was unaware so we just couldn’t take a risk. “Running the risk of playing when he potentially could be over, there’s pretty big ramifications.” On the other side of the field, Busselton’s Jye Amiss continued to showcase his talents in another stand-out performance for Fremantle. Amiss booted four goals, in what became the Dockers’ biggest Western Derby win, to kick 38 goals for the season so far, even shaking off being dumped in the goal square in a dangerous tackle by Tom Cole. Along with the four-goal haul, the 20-year-old key forward finished with 12 disposals, four marks, a tackle, three behinds, eight score involvements, 11 pressure acts and an inside 50. Former Manjimup Tigers junior Marlion Pickett put in a modest effort during Richmond’s 14.9 (93) to 8.9 (57) loss to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. Sighted throughout the half forward line and midfield, Pickett racked up 11 disposals, four marks, two intercept possessions, three score involvements, seven pressure acts, a clearance, a hit-out and an inside 50.