Hayden Ballantyne discusses the Gaff-Brayshaw incident, Eagles rivalry and his new life in racing

That day marks the resumption of the West Coast-Fremantle rivalry at Optus Stadium and it will once again prove an all-consuming affair for the people of Perth.

In a passionate, two-team town, the rivalry is fierce.

“100% it's real,” says Hayden Ballantyne, a veteran of many memorable derbies. “Anyone that says it isn’t is full of shit. It’s a real rivalry.”

Ballantyne was involved in two immortal derby moments.

The first was in 2011. In a tightly fought contest with the Eagles up by 2 points, West Coast’s Matt Rosa spoiled the ball out of bounds right around the 50 metre arc at Fremantle’s end of the ground. To West Coast’s dismay, umpire Dean Margetts paid deliberate out of bounds shortly before the siren sounded to end the game.

Up stepped Ballantyne, after wrestling the opportunity away from a teammate for the shot of a lifetime.

“The only other Freo player that was in the vicinity was Adam McPhee,” Ballantyne recalls. “And he can barely kick over a jam tin.”

Ballantyne took aim.

For a chance to win a game off his own boot after the siren.

For a shot at West Australian footballing immortality.

For a moment dreams are made of.

“I thought it was a goal,” Ballantyne says. “It was a goal all the way and then faded at the last moment.”

Ballantyne began to celebrate as if he had kicked the goal, but celebrations were cut short soon after as the goal umpire signalled the ball had hit the post.

My perspective on that moment was a unique one. I was set up as human scaffolding beneath Nic Naitanui so he could run and jump on someone’s back to touch Ballantyne’s shot on goal. It wouldn’t be the only time I was used like that in my career, although this time it was intentional.

From where I stood on the goal line, I thought it look good, too.

But it missed. And we won.

The second infamous derby moment was of a less savoury nature: the Andrew Gaff-Andrew Brayshaw incident in 2018.

Ballantyne, on the bench at the time, couldn’t believe his eyes. Having played in Ireland in an International Rules series with Gaff, Ballantyne knew his character well. A quiet, well mannered, at-times docile young man Gaff’s swinging arm into Brayshaw’s jaw was indeed out of character.

Still, Ballantyne saw red.

“I don‘t think he intentionally meant it, but he got him,” Ballantyne says. “If you look at the swing, he looks like he doesn’t even know how to throw a punch, let alone actually land one.

“We were out for blood and, I‘ll never forget, I said to Ross [Lyon], ‘Can I get him?’ Ross looked at me, like he wanted to say yes but he said, ‘No, don’t dirty your name.’”

Gaff was suspended for eight weeks and numerous fines were handed out across both sides.

In such a fast-paced environment, players sometimes don’t have the time or decision-making ability to make the right call. This was one of those incidents where all you could do was control how to handle yourself after the fact.

Fremantle players had a right to stand up for their mate.

“When you‘re within a footy team, you would literally do just about anything to support your mates,” Ballantyne said. “You’d do anything – it doesn’t matter if you like them or not. There were teammates that I didn’t necessarily get along with during the week, but they had the same colour jersey on as me, so they were my brothers for that game.”

West Coast players stood up for Gaff, for much of the same reason.

The Fremantle crowd wasn’t happy. Fair enough.

The West Coast crowd wasn’t happy with the Fremantle crowd. What’s new?

Gaff showed remorse and paid a high price by missing the Eagles’ premiership win.

And Brayshaw, an innocent bystander in it all, handled the situation impeccably. In fact, the first-year player was quite keen on showing his gratitude.

Ballantyne received around $5,000 worth of fines as he went into bat for Brayshaw that day, who was clearly appreciative of the support.

“He messaged me and offered to pay all of my fines for that game for sticking up for him,” he said. “That‘s the kind of person is Andy Brayshaw is.”

‘You poor bastards’

To many West Coast fans and players, Hayden Ballantyne wasn’t someone generally found atop the Christmas card list. To the Freo faithful, he was a much-loved small forward during the Dockers’ most successful era.

“To be honest I loved it,” Ballantyne says of his reputation for niggling, harassing and making a general nuisance of himself. “I loved that perception. I was out there to do a job and to win games. I wasn‘t out there to make friends, I was out there to kick goals, tackle people, sometimes hurt people if I could – all to win games of footy.”

Many opponents realised far too late that the constant needling was just a ruse.

The real pain was inflicted by Ballantyne with the football in his hands

“I‘d cause a bit of shit and stir a few players up but then I’d come out and kick a few goals,” he continued. “I think what really got people annoyed was that I could actually back it up with my footy as well.

“The outside perception was water off a duck’s back, I was very determined and very driven to win games, to play in finals and to try win a premiership. So, I know I pissed a few people off, but I won‘t be apologising anytime soon.

“That's why Ross Lyon picked me every week because I would do my job. And everyone knew it.”

For a fair portion of Ballantyne’s career, Fremantle were the best side in the competition.

They may not have won a flag, but they did qualify for four consecutive years of finals from 2012 to 2015 under Lyon. The Dockers made a grand final in 2013 and finished top of the ladder in 2015.

Ballantyne doesn’t look back in anger or regret at the grand final loss to Hawthorn, but it was certainly an opportunity that got away. Fremantle were inaccurate, kicking 8.14, and Ballantyne was among those who didn’t make the most of his opportunities in a match that marked the beginning of a Hawks dynasty.

Ballantyne concedes that, in hindsight, Fremantle could have prepared better for grand final day. For example, he and Michael Walters were denied access to the ground at their usual set shot warm up routine.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” he reflects. “And we didn‘t know how to prepare for that day. I don’t think that ultimately cost us the game. But it’s just something that might have given us that extra couple of per cent that could have got us over the line.”

Ballantyne became the arch-enemy of West Coast fans over the course of his career but, if not for a twist of fate, he might have been an Eagle. In the off season of 2016, Ballantyne had an offer tabled to him by West Coast, only for it to be rescinded upon the arrival of Sam Mitchell to the footy club. A sliding doors moment.

“I was going to take a bit of a pay cut to move across to West Coast, that was all good though because theoretically it could have been a premiership win in 2018 with Schoey.”

I was introduced to him a decade prior to that.

Drafted to West Coast at the end of 2006 as an interstate player, I was placed in a secondary draft in order to allocate all interstate draftees to a WAFL club.

I was drafted by Peel Thunder, the only player from West Coast.

Peel Thunder is an hour drive from Perth, daunting for some West Australians, but it felt like home to me – the drive was the same distance as Geelong to Melbourne, a journey I’d been on every weekend to play sport growing up.

One of the many players to greet me on the first day at my second new club was Ballantyne. A short but confident young midfielder, he told me with a cheeky smile that I was skinny for an AFL listed player (I was drafted at 79kgs and played my best footy around the 95kg mark).

Ballantyne went on to win a Sandover medal in 2008, my second year at the club. I’d like to think without me putting on blocks for him at stoppages and feeding him possessions, he would never have won the best player in the league. Others, including the man himself, put it down to his speed, his elite goal sense and innate ability to shrug himself out of tackles.

The jury is still out.

Ballantyne was drafted at the end of that season and quickly developed into one of the league’s best small forwards.

He reflects on his playing career fondly.

“When you‘re walking down the race before a game, you’re looking at the players that are around you and how focused they were – they were just animals,” he says.

“You‘d look at the opposition – I’d love Anzac Days where you could look them all in the eye when they’re lined up – and you’d just be thinking, ‘You poor bastards are in for a big night.’”

Racing vs footy

Ballantyne spends his days now running his successful horse training business, Ballantyne Racing. His foray into racing has given him a new appreciation for Lyon and the coaching profession generally.

“There‘s not a whole lot of difference between [footballers] and [horses]: you train them hard, you get them as fit as you can in the pre-season, you give them a trial which is their pre-season games and then they’re ready for the real deal: Round 1,” he says.

“Building them up, putting all that work in and then seeing the results. Winning and performing how we‘d hope they would. It must be like the feeling a coach has when the team goes out and does what they’re meant to do, and they win. It’s out of my control once I leg that jockey up. I’ve done everything I can do; I’ve prepared it as best I can. Hopefully the game plan works, and we’re fit enough to get the job done.”

The feeling of winning a game of footy compared to your horse winning a big race?

“There‘s nothing more satisfying than seeing your horse come around the turn of the 400 and it looms up and wins,” he continues. “There’s nothing even like it, on or off a footy field. There’s no better feeling. It’s just the buzz you get from it. It’s phenomenal.”

You can catch the latest episode of BackChat with Hayden Ballantyne here: