Browns journey back to VFL best thing that could have happened to me
Consider the journey of Ben Brown. In his ninth game of AFL football, he played in an elimination final against Essendon in front of 80,000 people at the MCG. He kicked four goals.
He played in two preliminary finals in his first two seasons in a team that he ultimately became a focal point for inside 50.
Ben Brown is revelling in his opportunities at the Demons, soaking in the moment after Melbourneâs big win over Geelong to advance to the grand final.Credit:AFL Photos
Between 2017 and 2019, he kicks 188 goals at North Melbourne. Thatâs more than his Friday-night counterparts Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron did in the same period of time.
He is on the precipice of a new deal at Arden Street in 2020 when his manager asks for more money. He gets injured. The deal falls through. Heâs traded to Melbourne.
The game fundamentally changes. The âstandâ rule alters the way teams move the ball inside 50 and teams begin to look for different combinations inside their forward half.
He takes seven weeks to be picked for his Melbourne debut. He plays three weeks and is dropped for two months.
Ben Brown celebrates after scoring on Friday night.Credit:AFL Photos
And now, miraculously, Brown finds himself playing in his first grand final, not at the MCG but at Optus Stadium in Perth. And not as a focal point, but as a role player.
âIâve probably had to come to terms with a lot in the last 12 to 18 months in terms of my own game and I just come back [and] try to do the things the team wants me to do,â Brown told The Age.
âAt times, itâs jumping and marking the ball and at other times it was just scrapping it on the ground from out of position and I think thatâs definitely something Iâve improved on this year.
âI probably needed to find my best football again. So going back into the VFL was the best thing that could have happened to me.
âThe reality is, after six weeks in the VFL I knew in my own head that I was ready to come back and have an impact on the team.â
Ben Brown is all smiles with Max Gawn and teammates. Credit:AFL Photos
Itâs uncomfortable to describe a 200-centimetre forward with an elongated run-up and unique hair as a role player, but thatâs exactly how Brown views himself in his new team.
âItâs then a luxury to come in and play in a team with so many good people and so many good AFL players. Theyâve made it easy for me,â he said.
âItâs great to be part of a forward line that has so many prongs to it. Youâve got Tom McDonald whoâs been outstanding this year. Bayley Fritsch has kicked over 50 goals as a hybrid forward, then youâve got Kosi Pickett. And when you have the luxury of Max Gawn and Christian Petracca to pop into your forward line, it does make it easier as a key forward.â
The statistics from the preliminary final will state that Brown had eight disposals and kicked two goals.
But inside Melbourne they talk privately about the contests he gets to and the balls that he brought to ground, on top of the seven marks he took.
Brown is not the goal-kicking machine that he was at North Melbourne, but heâs also not asked to be. His biggest haul at the Demons is four goals against Gold Coast.
But on Friday night he occupied Geelongâs best defender Mark Blicavs, and it would be hard to argue that he didnât win that battle.
Like many of his teammates, Brown is missing his family. According to Brown, he has several video calls a day with âmy girlsâ; wife Hester and daughters Aila and Esme.
As losing coach Chris Scott reflected on during his media conference late on Friday evening, in the bowels of Optus Stadium, the two-year toll on players and staff being away from family and friends was beginning to impact on people in a significant way.
But for Brown and his teammates they only have two more weeks with the light of a cup at the end of the tunnel.
It will all be worth it if he can return home with a premiership medal.
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Sam McClure is a sport reporter for The Age and winner of 'best news reporter' at the AFL Media Association awards.Connect via Twitter or email.
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