Kaiden Brand will play for West Adelaide in the SANFL in 2022.
The 27-year-old defender played 48 AFL games over nine seasons with Hawthorn and Sydney before he was delisted by the Swans at the conclusion of the 2021 season.
Brand had struggled to force his way into John Longmire’s best line-up in his two years in the Harbour City, tallying just five games, but is content with where things stood in the end.
He says the COVID-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons did make it difficult but holds no ill-will towards the Swans.
“Nah, I saw the writing the wall for a little bit there,” he said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“The last couple of years had been pretty different in terms of how footy has looked. I guess when you’re playing in the reserves, especially through the last couple of years.
“It’s been pretty hard to crack in when games get cancelled and things like that. I certainly saw the writing on the wall and I was ready for it.”
Brand was with the Hawks for seven seasons, playing 43 matches, and couldn’t quite get past the 50-game milestone but is satisfied with what he achieved at the elite level.
“In terms of games played it’s not the most successful career, but I certainly appreciate the opportunity I was given by both those clubs,” he added.
“The two clubs I was at have probably been two of the strongest clubs in terms of performance and culture over the last 20 years.
“A lot of the things I was able to experience, there’s no way in hell I would have experienced that stuff without being at a footy club. I’m really appreciative of it.”
He witnessed immediate success at Hawthorn, who won three flags on the trot in his first three seasons with the club, and did get used to a winning culture even if he had to wait until 2016 to debut.
“I thought winning flags was easy just by being there and seeing how well they were going,” he said further.
“It was something I probably took for granted in the first few (years) because I was just learning it all. But when you play on for a few more years and realise how hard it is to do that, it was pretty incredible (winning flags) at the time to be honest.”
The Bloods product will head back to Richmond Oval having been drafted from there in 2012.
He is keen to settle back in his hometown of Adelaide and get back to playing footy with his former club.
“As soon as I realised my AFL career was finishing at Sydney I was pretty keen to get back to Adelaide and back closer to family and friends,” Brand said.
“It just so happened that I ended up back at ‘Westies’ which is great. Obviously my old club before I got drafted and I’m really looking forward to getting back there.
“The decision to head back to South Australia was an easy one really. I’ve been planning for that for a while for whenever footy did finish.
“When it came to that, Westies were obviously (the club). I’d been speaking to them for a while. Being my old club they kept in contact over the last couple of years to see what my movements were.
“There’s still a lot of people there who were there when I left. I think they’ve got the right people in place now to move back up the ladder.
“They’re going to be pushing hard to work back up the ladder which is exciting.”
During his time in the AFL, he had the pleasure of playing with and against Lance Franklin, who he rates as his toughest opponent, while naming Cyril Rioli as the most exciting teammate he played alongside.
“It’s hard to go past ‘Bud’ (Franklin). I did line up on him a few times for the Hawks,” Brand said of the Hawks and Swans superstar.
“Luckily I only had to play on him at training after that, but it still wasn’t that fun.
“One of the most exciting to play with was Cyril.
“Some of the things he did on the field were incredible. Witnessing it was like front row seats to a movie.
“It was pretty exciting playing with him, but there were so many of that generation that I played with that I’ll look back on in the future and be honoured to have even lined up next to them.”