Angus Brayshaw will continue to fuel Melbourne's AFL premiership drive despite his enforced retirement on medical grounds.
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The much-loved utility hung up his boots last month after advice from doctors around his persistent concussion issues.
He is taking time away from football while the Demons prepare for the season-opener against Sydney on Thursday night.
But coach Simon Goodwin is exploring ways to keep 2021 premiership hero Brayshaw involved in the 2024 flag push.
"We're speaking internally about all those things, about how we can build a legacy that will be with us for the year," Goodwin said on Monday.
"There's ongoing conversations with Angus about his involvement.
"We're just giving him some time at the moment, to take some time away from the game before we really put something a bit more formally in front of him.
"We'll just take our time on that."
Goodwin declared Brayshaw "irreplaceable" and forecast more midfield time for Christian Salem and the emerging Trent Rivers as he searches for ways to fill the gap.
"From a leadership perspective, we're going to have to get everyone to step up," Goodwin said.
"(Brayshaw) brings an energy to our club, an energy to our team and drives the standard - that's really hard to replace.
"Players will lean into that, they've spoken about it and they want to make sure they honour Angus and the way that he's contributed to where this club's at in the right way.
"He's going to be a big loss for us."
Brayshaw's latest concussion was a high-profile incident in a qualifying final last year, when Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard cannoned into him while attempting to smother a kick.
The 28-year-old's retirement came with concussion at the top of the AFL agenda, with the league facing a class action from past players over health issues which they say stem from on-field concussions.
Australian Associated Press
