AARON Francis’ teammates were still having their premiership photo taken behind him as he walked from the ground last year to go to Royal Adelaide Hospital to say goodbye to his brother.

Still in his West Adelaide footy gear, the mud not yet wiped from his knees and holding his premiership medal, this was not how he expected to be celebrating his first flag.

But football all seemed so insignificant when his 18-year-old brother Hayden was in the final hours of an extremely brief but brave battle with cancer.

At 4am the following morning, Hayden passed away surrounded by his family and in 24 hours Aaron had gone from the high of an under-18 SANFL premiership to grieving the loss of his brother who looked so similar people used to mistake them as twins.

“I struggled to be in the room to be honest,” Aaron said.

media_camera Nathan, Aaron, Hayden and Levi Francis.

“He (Hayden) could hear but he was struggling to talk so (eldest brother) Nathan did most of the talking and I couldn’t really be in the room.

“At the time I didn’t really care about the game (grand final) but now it’s a good memory given what happened that night.

“It definitely feels like we won. I’d played in one under-13s grand final but we lost that so this was the first premiership and it definitely meant something.”

It is now June and nine months have passed since Hayden’s death and Aaron thinks about his brother every day, including every time he steps on to a football field.

At a hulking 191cm and 90kg, the 17-year-old has this year emerged as SA’s top AFL draft prospect.

He has played league footy with the Bloods and just produced consecutive best-on-ground performances in the under-18 national championships.

media_camera Brothers Hayden and Aaron Francis playing for East Murray.

Most agree the key position player who looks equally at home in defence as he does in attack will be selected in the first round, then it’s just how high.

That’s a big deal for a boy from Wanbi — a tiny farming town between Loxton and Karoonda in the Riverland — where his family runs sheep and cropping on 17,000 acres.

The Francis brothers are a tight bunch. Nathan, 21, is the oldest and was followed by Hayden, Aaron, 17, and Levi, 16.

They loved all sports but football was their main go — following in the footsteps of father David who played as a ruckman until he was 38 and mother Kerryn who is a popular figure at East Murray and Loxton North football clubs.

media_camera Hayden Francis in his West Adelaide jumper.

“We were well behaved when we were out somewhere, but once we were home we ran amok on the farm,” Aaron said.

“Running outside, playing in the dirt — footy, soccer, cricket.

“We’d play two on two in any game and it would always be me and Hayden on to Nathan and Levi.”

And who used to win?

“Us, always,” Aaron said with a wry smile.

On the day Nathan made his A Grade debut with East Murray alongside his dad, Aaron, Hayden and Levi played in the same colts team together.

They were all pretty handy junior footballers but Hayden — the only left-footer in the family — had the best kick.

Hayden played under-15s and under-17s for West Adelaide in the state championships but it was the taller and more athletic Aaron who made his way to the city full time on scholarship with Prince Alfred College in Year 10.

The other three boys remained in the Riverland including Hayden who worked as an apprentice butcher.

In mid-August, 2014, Hayden had his appendix removed but there was no inclination he had cancer. He was still playing A Grade footy with Loxton North, working full time and had no symptoms of the disease.

But on a Thursday in September, complaining of a sore back, he went to the doctor and had blood tests.

He played football on the Saturday, went to work at 6am on the Monday but by 8.30am was in hospital throwing up.

It was initially thought he had kidney stones but scans in Adelaide on the Tuesday showed lesions on his lungs and a lump under his arm. It was then doctors told the Francis family that Hayden had cancer, but it was not known what type.

By the Friday — the day of Aaron’s under-18 grand final against Woodville-West Torrens — Hayden’s oxygen levels began to rapidly fall and he was placed in intensive care.

The only person other than Aaron at West Adelaide who knew of the situation was football manager Andrew Marks, and at Hayden’s request, it was decided that none of the players or coaches were to be told until after the grand final.

media_camera Aaron Francis receives his premiership medal last year while in the background football manager Andrew Marks waits for him.

“Aaron’s voice and leadership that night was the best I’ve ever heard it,” Marks said.

“I’ve known Aaron since he was 13 and he’s not a very talkative fella, he was a bottom-age 17-year-old but the voice and leadership from him that night was amazing.”

Mid-way through the third quarter of the grand final Marks was running the interchange bench from the boundary when Nathan and Levi appeared.

They told Marks that as soon as the game was finished, Aaron had to leave for hospital immediately because Hayden’s condition was deteriorating quickly.

The family didn’t know it at the time but Hayden was fighting widespread metastatic cancer — a very rare and aggressive form.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my entire life because as Aaron got his medal and everyone was happy and chirpy, I stood off to the side and went to him and said ‘mate, you have to go to hospital, Hayden is not doing well’,” Marks said.

Aaron’s stony-faced and swift exit explains why he’s missing from the photo of his teammates huddled together clasping the premier’s cup and pointing their index finger to say ‘No. 1’.

Weeks later West Adelaide had the photo re-taken with Aaron included to make it complete.

As tough as the next few days were after Hayden’s passing, Aaron again found solace in football with a trip to Melbourne with the AFL-AIS Academy the following week.

“I was questioning whether or not to go to that camp but mum sent me and it helped a lot to be away with 30 other boys,” Aaron said.

“It was good to get away from everything.”

This season, Aaron is honouring Hayden in the best way he knows — by playing cracking football both for West Adelaide at senior level and with the state under-18s.

He made his league debut in Round 4 but his unofficial debut was a trial game against Glenelg in the pre-season which was when the Bloods knew they had a serious player on their hands.

media_camera Aaron Francis at Richmond Oval.

The under-18 national championships began in May under the watchful eye of AFL recruiting scouts and Aaron said he was disappointed with his first game.

But his response could not have been more emphatic — delivering best-on-ground performances in SA’s wins over Victoria Metro and Western Australia.

And they came at either end of the ground. The first week he dominated with 11 intercept marks across half back, then he had 22 disposals and kicked four goals (4.5) at half forward last weekend.

Aaron said his brother is always in his mind and he imagines what Hayden would say to him after each game.

“I’m sure on the weekend he would have said ‘I would have kicked those goals’,” Aaron said of his wayward 4.5 at AAMI Stadium.

But he has done little else wrong all season.

“The pre-season set it up for me with all the guns here now like Jason Porplyzia and Chris Schmidt (at West Adelaide), they’ve pushed me to where I am now,” he said.

“And I’ve got people like Tom Keough and Adam Hartlett in the backlines who motivate me to keep playing the way I have been.”

The way he’s playing is seriously impressing AFL recruiters which means he could end up anywhere in the country after the draft.

The whole Francis family are Essendon supporters — except for Hayden — who barracked for Brisbane which Aaron suspects had something to do with the 2001 AFL Grand Final.

“He probably would be hoping the Lions would pick me up,” Aaron said.

“He always spoke about that if I did get picked up by Brisbane he would move up there and start a butcher shop and keep me in check.”

Regardless of where Aaron ends up, memories of Hayden will be driving him.

On the inside of Aaron’s right footy boot — his kicking boot — he has written in permanent marker the words ‘Swing Life Away’ which is the title of a song played at Hayden’s funeral.

It serves as a constant reminder that no matter where he goes or what field he steps on to, his brother — and his old two-on-two companion from the family farm — will always be with him.

WISE HEAD ON YOUNG SHOULDERS

SOUTH Australia’s under-18 coach Brenton Phillips says it’s a credit to Aaron Francis for the way he has dealt with the tragic death of his brother to play outstanding football this season.

Phillips has played Francis as a key forward and key defender in the first three games of the national championships and his standout performances have AFL recruiters circling.

Some predict he could go as high as top five in the national draft.

But Phillips says he has been equally impressed with the way Francis has emerged from a tough past 12 months to put his best foot forward.

“When a tragedy of that event happens, each individual reacts differently,” Phillips said.

“And it’s a mark of his maturity that it is so close to his heart and he is playing very productive football.

“He’s played midfield, defence and forward and it highlights the fact that he is versatile.

“The championships are about winning but it’s also development and we need to showcase that these players can play in a range of positions and Aaron has done that.”

media_camera Harrison Westhoff, Jack Agostino, Jarrod Meers, Will Snelling, Aaron Francis, Hugh Haysman, Riley Bonner. West Adelaide has a strong representation in the South Australian state under 18 side.

SA — which is gunning for an historic three-peat — hosts Victoria Country at AAMI Stadium on Sunday in a game which could well decide the championships.

The Croweaters lost to WA by one point in Round 1, then beat Victoria Metro and exacted revenge on WA in their second crack at the Sandgropers on the weekend.

Phillips said Sunday’s clash with Vic Country was like a final, even though there are still two rounds to follow it.

“In lots of ways it’s a mini-grand final, Vic Country have been the benchmark so far in this competition and they have the most national academy members so we certainly embrace the challenge,” he said.