Busher Hits A Hundred

By Ken Casellas

A Jack of all trades --- and a master of them all. That’s the gifted and versatile Haydn Busher, who will chalk up his 100^th match in league ranks in WAFL football when he lines up for Claremont against East Perth at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

It’s been a rocky road to the century for the 26-year-old Busher, who provides a shining example for triumph over adversity with his highly professional attitude and diligent preparation.

A wonderful role model at Claremont, Busher is an elite runner with strong endurance. His aggression, robust play and skill has earned him the respect of his peers and makes him a highly influential player for the Tigers.

Busher has overcome many setbacks in his football journey, which began with junior teams with Victoria Park before he graduated as a 13-year-old to Perth in a development squad before he moved seamlessly into colts football.

He excelled at centre-half-back for Western Australia in the 2009 national under-18 carnival and then was ravaged by injury and managed just 39 matches in five seasons in league ranks with Perth before seeking a fresh start with Claremont in 2015.

In recent years he has successfully managed his injury problems and has notched 60 senior matches in four seasons with the Tigers. His dreams of an AFL career are a fading memory, and his ambitions now centre around being part of a Claremont premiership side and notching 100 games for the Tigers.

In his early days in football Busher played as a key forward and also at centre-half-back.

“I’ve been used recently on a wing, and that was the final spot to be ticked off,” Busher said. “I’ve played as a key forward, as a defender, a ruckman and an inside midfielder.”

He said that he learnt to be tough when playing junior football for Victoria Park against Gosnells, Kenwick and Maddington in a rough and tough competition.

“After that I played four seasons of colts, starting when I was 15 under the late, great Wayne Orsi, who along with Percy Johnson, was very influential in my development,” he said.

Busher enjoyed being a member of the WA under-18 side which triumphed after scoring runaway victories in all five matches. “We were dominant and our closest game was when we beat Vic Country, which included Dustin Martin, by about eight goals,” he said.

“I think we had from our best 22, 18 players drafted and I was one of the four who wasn’t drafted. I didn’t expect to be drafted that year because after the carnival I suffered from bad shin soreness.”

The record shows that among those drafted from the WA side were Claremont’s Nat Fyfe, Ryan Neates, Travis Colyer, Nick Winmar and Gerrick Weedon, along with Mitch Duncan, Jack Darling, David Swallow, Brad Sheppard, Kane Lucas, Jamie Cripps, Mark Hutchings, Anthony Morabito, Blayne Wilson, Brandon Matera and Joel Houghton.

“I played four seasons of colts football before making my league debut half-way through the 2010 season,” Busher said. Then, he had a breakout year in 2011 when he played in 19 of Perth’s 20 matches and kicked 29 goals.

But in 2012 he was unable to play a single match. “I had issues with my hips which required surgery on each hip,” Busher explained. “I had further issues with my hips in 2013 when I managed only five games and a bad hamstring injury restricted me to seven matches the following season.

“The hips are still an issue for me now. It’s an anatomical thing … my body wasn’t designed to play football, so I require plenty of maintenance from the team (physios, medical and training staff) who are amazing being able to get me up and fit to play every week.

“I also have to be very diligent with my preparation and rehabilitation. The way my body is structured, if I get any knocks or injury it throws my whole system out. I don’t want to be in and out and playing average footy and being sore.”

Busher made his debut for Claremont as a key forward in the 2015 round-one match against Subiaco. “I couldn’t get a kick in a stampede and it was a strange feeling,” he said. “I’d been at Perth since I was 13 and I had had difficulty in getting a transfer.

“I didn’t get to Claremont until late January and I hadn’t built a whole lot of chemistry with the players, something which is so important. I played the first two league games and was just horrible before being demoted to the twos.

“After a couple of good weeks I got back into the league side, playing as an inside-mid. I spent the rest of 2015 as a midfielder and it was a great experience. I learnt so much from Andrew Browne, a highly knowledgeable person to learn the craft from.

“I have loved being at Claremont where there has always been a good feeling, win, lose or draw. We’ve had a couple of bad runs, and those losses have served to motivate us more, to try, train and work harder. We haven’t enjoyed the team success, but I’m confident that we are pretty close.

“So far it has been a disappointing season. But we’ve got some momentum up and if it hadn’t been for poor kicking on goal we would have won our past four games. We kicked ourselves out of it against Peel and West Perth and, definitely, we haven’t given up hope of qualifying for the finals.”

Busher also is enjoying the responsibility this year of being a member of the leadership group. “I enjoyed being out of it for a while because after my first year at Perth I was straight into the leadership group, which was probably a bit early for me,” he said. “ It was difficult being part of a group that was having to discipline players when I was only 19,” he said.

“I’m now enjoying mentoring some of our younger guys and working closely with Richo (captain Ian Richardson) and our other leaders. Missing so much footy has put into perspective how lucky I am to be able to play. I don’t have a preference where I play, though I love playing forward and kicking goals.

“This season I have played key back, as well as being used in a defensive lock-down role and, at times, as a rebounding half-back. I’ve also played on a wing and occasionally in the ruck.”

Off the field, Busher has the rewarding occupation as a medical social worker at the new Perth Children’s Hospital where he is involved in a variety of roles, including looking after complex long-term patients with profound disabilities.

“We are involved in bereavements, palliative care and we do acute-end stuff, dealing with situations in emergency and helping families to cope with injuries and illness. We also work within the areas of social issues that are really prominent in society that involve and impact kids --- helping families who are dealing with domestic violence, mental health and drug issues.

“You’re involved in a broad cross-section of society and I think if maybe I was stuck in a Claremont bubble I’d definitely wouldn’t be exposed to some of things I am through my work.

“It helps to keep life in perspective and how lucky we are to be healthy.”