Brayden Cook has truly blossomed in season 2026.
The South Australian was taken with pick 25 in the 2020 National Draft - one that has produced as many gems as it has misses, courtesy of COVID's interruption of the junior football calendar that year.
While players from his draft class such as Errol Gulden, Josh Treacy, Max Holmes, Beau McCreery and Jack Ginnivan announced themselves sooner than the Happy Valley product, Cook's bedding down of a permanent place in Matthew Nicks' side took a little while longer.
That makes it no less sweet for the 24-year-old, who's played 22 games this season, averaging career-high numbers across the board.
Cook spoke to Zero Hanger ahead of his side's clash with the Western Bulldogs in a home elimination final this weekend - his maiden voyage into do-or-die football at the elite level.
The utility credited a chat with Matthew Nicks at last season's conclusion as the driver behind his emergence this season.
"The thing that flipped a switch for me was my exit meeting last year," Cook said.
"I had a clear focus on what I needed to do to get better and probably wasn't where I wanted to be at that stage of my career, so went to work and figured out that the main thing was to get fitter so that I can perform a high standard for longer period of time."
His motor did improve, considerably, culminating in two positional switches in the span of a matter of weeks.
"I actually spent the whole preseason down back," Cook said.
"“Nicksy” rang me just after draft night, I reckon, and we spoke about wanting to get a bit of ball movement off half-back, so that was the plan, but obviously things haven't gone to plan.
"Through the pre-season we had a lot of boys playing half-back, and we've got some of our best players down there, so when Round 1 came around, and I got my opportunity on a wing, I just grabbed it with both hands."
Communication with his coach has been a constant as Cook navigates the rollercoaster that is AFL football.
In 2025, Cook managed just three appearances at the top level, after 15 the year before. In his last outing, a stirring comeback victory over Hawthorn in Round 21, Cook was substituted off after managing a lone handball.
It was a bitter blow to his confidence, and although strong SANFL performances populated his year's story (23 disposals and six majors in a heartbreaking finals loss to Glenelg, 15 and four against Woodville-West Torrens), it was his last taste of the top level for the season, ultimately missing out on AFL Finals action as the Crows bowed out in straight sets.
Nicks was clear with Cook about what it would take for him to become a regular contributor.
"We've got a pretty good relationship," Cook said.
"I try to catch up with him and touch base at least every couple weeks to talk about my game. Last year was a pretty tough one for me; (it was a) tough team to crack into, when they're minor premiers, and we played the sort of footy that we did.
"I just knew it was on me. There was no frustration on that part; I just had to get to work.
"(That was a) pretty grim day against Hawthorn. We've got a club psych who's amazing, and I've got a good support system. I'm very lucky to be in Adelaide, where my family is."
Let Brayden COOK 🤩@Coles | #AFLCrowsSaints pic.twitter.com/mbybegD4Yi
— AFL (@AFL) April 18, 2026
The lanky utility's return to the senior side has produced two signature moments this season, netting him two Goal of the Year nominations.
The first, a running checkside from the boundary against St Kilda, was a sublime piece of skill.
"That was one of the nicer ones (I've hit). I try to always look inboard, but I like to think I didn't see anything - I was pretty happy with that one," Cook smirked.
The second will live long in football folklore. In a seesawing Showdown, Cook, a lifelong Crows fan, seized his moment, icing the coolest of drop punts in front of a frenzied Adelaide Oval crowd - not that he can provide much detail around the highlight.
BRAYDEN COOK YOU ARE A SHOWDOWN HERO!!! 🤯#AFLCrowsPower pic.twitter.com/ueiQfCPoQi
— AFL (@AFL) May 1, 2026
"The other one in the Showdown will probably be a highlight of my life.
"If I could walk you through that moment in the Showdown, I'd struggle to describe it, because it was an out-of-body experience."
Asked if he'd always possessed the fabled "clutch gene", a couple of instances in his junior football did spring to mind.
"Looking back at my under 18's at South Adelaide, I had a few games where we were out of it, and I had to go one-out in the goal square, and we brought it back."
Cook signed a two-year contract extension in June, in just rewards for his newfound reliability this season, and will look to again be the difference on Saturday night, when Marcus Bontempelli's Western Bulldogs come to town.
