‘Brazzle Dazzle’: Ash Brazill’s extraordinary legacy as a trailblazing champion of two sports

“I keep thinking she’s gonna do a John Farnham — I’m a big John Farnham fan,’’ Richardson laughingly confessed to CODE Sports back when the Magpies, like Brazill, were still a going concern.

“But I know this is it.’’

Or will be, on Sunday at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town. Two games left: a semi-final against great threat Jamaica ahead of Sunday’s playoff for a medal, colour to be determined. Gold not quite the prospect it appeared to be before Thursday’s surprise preliminary loss to England rejigged the anticipated crossover fixtures, but still achievable nonetheless.

And while Brazill’s farewell tour as the last foundation player at the doomed Magpies ended as emotionally as it unfolded, a debut World Cup doubling as a send-off was always the desired netball outcome.

So here she is. Given her Quad Series form in January and the faith of coach Stacey Marinkovich, she was always going to be. Despite a middling Super Netball season, Brazill won a hotly-contested midcourt spot to be the Diamonds’ starting wing defence and over the past week has produced regular moments of what is fondly known as Brazzle Dazzle. Brazball, even.

The oldest Diamond, at 33, and a trailblazer among cross-coders to concurrently reach Australian level in both her original sport and the AFLW adventure that came next, one of the first openly gay netballers overcame a brutal knee injury soon after securing a long-overdue national recall and will leave with the affection and admiration of so many.

Her legacy?

“What I love about Braz is that she plays with her heart on her sleeve,’’ says Richardson, the national assistant coach. “She’ll never die wondering and you know you’re always gonna get 110 per cent from Brazzy on the netball court.’’

*****

Off it, she’s cool, relaxed, known to keep her distance from the sometimes-intense daily machinations and politics of a team environment, only to switch on what former greats Cath Cox and Bianca Chatfield call a heady form of white-line fever when the whistle blows.

An even more colourful description – the Incredible Hulk – comes from former West Coast and Collingwood teammate April Brandley, also a NSW pathway product who was a fellow AIS scholarship holder (and witness to out-there hairstyles that included dreadlocks and a pineapple style barbered/butchered by Sharni Norder).

“Brazzy’s incredible. She just blows me away. Especially in the gym and stuff, she was always leading the way, and she’s just so strong and such a powerful athlete,’’ Brandley tells CODE Sports. “A lovely girl off the court, but just the Hulk when she gets on the court.

“She’s so chilled, but she’s also very determined. I feel like away from the game it’s really important for her to have her own thing; she’s very good behind the camera, with her videography skills, and she was like a skater girl for a while there.

“But once she gets onto the court she switches into this ‘Crazy Braz’ mode which is just unstoppable and it’s really cool to watch.’’

What has struck Brandley most across the years is the different style the dynamic Brazill brought to the game, through her athletic netball equivalent of an AFL mark which few could emulate.

Yet she was never that youngster who made every state junior team. That built resilience and persistence.

She was from Bargo in the NSW Southern Highlands’ Wollondilly Shire, which meant many hours on the road to get to training and games in Sydney. And required commitment and determination.

The sport was always a safe place for Brazill, who disclosed her sexuality at a time when she was unsure how that would be received; a decision that was challenging and courageous.

She became a leader, and a Diamond, after moving to Perth, where her love of Aussie Rules led to a supposedly secret stint representing Swan Districts that was revealed when her club best-and-fairest award was published in the local paper.

Oops. Sprung.

Forced to wait four years between her fourth and fifth Tests, to the bewilderment of many, Melbourne-based Brazill returned from the wrecked knee and a Covid-19 rehab which denied her access to physiotherapy for seven months, then sacrificed a treasured AFLW season to help get to the Commonwealth Games.

Now, just two more games and one more colossal opportunity remain.

“What are we gonna miss? I think just a different personality in the game,’’ Brandley says. “She’s such a unique, amazing human.

“Sometimes netball has been known to be quite cookie-cutter, but Braz is way out of the box, which is perfect for our sport, and shows how inclusive we are and how you can be who you want to be and be accepted.

“Her quirkiness and that leap that she does flying out the circle for those balls and just her grit that she shows throughout a game. She’s pretty selfless. She’s evolved her game to be able to do one-on-one so hard, but then still do the speccy stuff.

“Then her personality and how she’s speaking out about what’s important to her, and being proud of who she is, and her sexuality, and having a family, I think she’s just a real positive influence. She found her voice and has used it for the greater good, which is amazing.’’

At one point when Brandley finds herself referring to her friend’s career in the past tense, the freshly-retired Giant remarks, Richo-like, about how odd that feels after so long.

“I kind of forget a little bit that she’s retiring, to be honest,’’ laughs a fellow mum, whose son Clay is a month younger than Brazill’s eldest, Louis.

“Seriously, is it actually real?’’

*****

The 2019 season was pivotal for the foundation Magpie, who had forsaken the substantially bigger payday at Fever and personal contentment in Perth to move to Collingwood in pursuit of her Diamonds’ dream.

Which, despite what to many was compelling form, was proving frustratingly elusive.

Outward pessimism around her chances of a recall were at odds with the aspirations still flickering within the then 29 year-old, who could not quite bring herself to sign the annual Netball Australia opt-out for selection contention, as tempting as that sometimes was.

“I think to the external world I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m kinda done’,’’ she told this reporter at the time. “But I’d never given up hope inside. I think I was just trying to protect myself, in a way.

“I’d question whether to sign the form to say, ‘Don’t even look at me, kinda thing’, so that I stopped getting my hopes up. Because every year I’m like, ‘I’ve had a good year, I’m going to get a phone call’ and that phone call would never come.’’

Until it did.

Post-SSN, a season that had finished with a barnstorming stretch at centre during the Pies’ finals surge, when not even a member of the broader national squad. Noting a missed call from Lisa Alexander, there was a moment of anxiety, and certainly one of surprise before good news, at last, from the national coach.

Next, a call to ever-supportive wife Brooke, who was used to hearing the crushing news of another non-selection.

This one — as the Magpie coaches listened surreptitiously on speakerphone for the big reveal — turned out to be a prank.

Braz was back. It was really happening.

“Your family, they all ride the highs and lows,’’ she said. “They see when you come home and you’re heartbroken and you can’t leave the lounge for a couple of days because it’s your dream and you think it’s over.’’

Except that the All-Australian footballer was also in the Australian netball team.

Both at the same time.

Extraordinary.

“I’m not gonna lie – I’m just blown away by it,’’ Brazill admitted. “You couldn’t read about it cos it’s never happened before, so I guess I’m just super-lucky that I’ve got two sports that are supporting me as an athlete rather than making me choose.’’

In Richardson, the former Pies’ assistant who succeeded Rob Wright as head coach for 2021, there was a strong supporter who had represented Australia in both netball and softball and was keen to accommodate Brazill’s freakish physical gifts in a sport where ball-winners are precious commodities.

“You’ve got athletes who can play a shutdown role and do what they need to do for the sake of the team,’’ Richardson says. “But at the end of the day, Brazzy can be a match-winner.’’

*****

Early in 2020, Brazill did her knee playing AFLW. Not just the ACL, but a gruesome combination that extended to a damaged MCL and torn lateral meniscus. Plus a broken tibia.

It was a major setback, but not the end. “A lot of people were like ‘Oh, that’s Braz’s career done’,’’ she told CODE Sports in 2022, while insisting she was never among them.

Pinnacle events were ahead in 2022-23, and long-time ally Marinkovich was about to fill the head coach’s chair.

It was far from the end, as it turned out.

Having spoken often of her desire to represent Australia at a Commonwealth Games, and of the dolls and teddy bears lined up on the bed to receive autographs from her triumphant five-year-old self, that long-awaited box received a golden tick last year in Birmingham.

Which would have been enough, in some ways. The World Cup is a bonus, as Brazill counts down these last few games and then prepares for her next big journey, next year’s around-Australia family caravanning holiday, before settling in the west.

“I think there was a time when she thought she would never get back into the Aussie dress,’’ Brandley says. “It was hard. You’ve got everyone telling you how good you are and you should be there, and you’re kind of wondering why — I would imagine it would have been really tough.

“So for her to actually be there now at a World Cup, having the experience with her family there, is just meant to be. And I’m sure she’ll relish all of it and deserves absolutely everything good that has come her way.’’

And also, after two seasons with the Swifts, five at Fever and all seven of Collingwood’s, still near enough to the top of her game to be capable of playing on. That is, had she chosen that route rather than the front seat of a Jayco piloting the Brazill family on its lap of Australia.

“I know, but isn’t that cool that she’s doing it on her own terms?’’ Brandley adds. “She’s given the sport so much, and she’s made the choice that she’s ready and that’s something really powerful for her and just shows you how she lives her values and what’s important. She’s ready for something different and that’s really empowering.’’

For Brazill, 30 Tests down and surely two more to come, the timing is perfect. Louis will start school in 2025 in Perth, where Brooke’s career will come first, and extended family will be nearby.

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“I look at a lot of players who retire and they are either angry at the sport or it’s not their choice and their body’s not doing what they want it to do,’’ Brazill told FOX Sports this year, before her ticket to Cape Town was confirmed and when her mate Richo was still hoping she might do a Farnham.

“After winning a gold medal with the Diamonds, that was the dream I wanted when I was a five-year-old kid. To now have that and think about life outside netball and sport, (it’s) way more exciting to do this lap of Australia.

“I’m just ready, raring and can’t wait to get into my caravan.”