AFL 2023: West Coast Eagles defender Brady Hough excited to help his friend and new teammate Clay Hall

You can take a footballer out of Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault, but you cannot take Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault out of the footballer. This is the case for West Coast Eagles defender Brady Hough, who has never forgotten his days as a Lion at Brunswick Oval, learning under SWFL super coach John Baggetta. The 20-year-old received a nice surprise late last month, when his friend Clay Hall — who hails from Binningup — was selected by the Eagles with pick 38 in the national draft. Having gone through the draft process a few years ago, Hough is well-versed on what is required to succeed and is keen to help his mate shine on the biggest stage of all. “It’s been awesome to have another HBL guy there — it’s pretty special,” Hough said. “Clay and I have been pretty close mates for a while now. “Looking back at the HBL days when we played together there, it’s pretty awesome to see how far we’ve come. It’s great to have him and hopefully I get to play a few games with him soon.” Hough is likely to spend time with his family in Harvey over the festive season but tipped both he and Hall would likely train together prior to the resumption of official commitments in January. “I’ll head home over the Christmas break,” he said. “Clay may do the same, so we might get a few sessions in together while we are both at home. It’d be awesome to train together while we are both down south. “It’s going to be great to get back and see my family again, before cracking back into it again. The preseason has been great — the boys are looking really fit at the moment.”