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CAPTAIN BLOOD AIDING WEST’S CAUSE They say you’re only as good as your last game. In the case of Nathan Brown, that adage could be extended to his last six games as an AFL footballer, all of which were of the highest calibre. Brown closed 2007 with 148 disposals in his final halfdozen matches (average 24.7) as a Demon, amassing 20 or more on each occasion to cap off a superb individual season. Brown achieved a top 10 finish in Melbourne’s bestand-fairest count. So it comes as no surprise to see Brown’s name listed prominently and regularly in the list of best players each week once again this year. But few would have expected him to be doing so in a West Adelaide jumper. Brown’s decision to retire from the AFL at the end of last season and return to the SANFL with the Bloods came as a shock to many, but the man himself has no regrets. “A new coach had come on board and I seriously thought my opportunities, turning 32 this year, would be more limited,” Brown said when surmising the reasons for ending his AFL association after 146 games with the Demons (1998-2007). “I felt there was a changing of the guard scenario. “I could see it was going to be a rebuilding process and I was tossing up whether to retire for most of the last half of the year. “Mark Riley (Melbourne’s caretaker coach for the latter stages of 2007) wanted me (to stay). “When he didn’t get the (2008) job, I thought that’ll do me. “I still thought I could play, I just wanted to go out while I was still going alright. CAPTAIN BLOOD AIDING WEST’S CAUSE BY STEVE BARRETT “I thought it was a good time to go.” Born in Hastings, Victoria, Brown and his two older brothers played their junior footy wherever their father, who was in the Navy, was posted. That took the Browns to Pinaroo for a while before coming back to Adelaide where Brown joined West. The skilful, attacking defender won best-and-fairest awards for the Bloods at Under-19s (1995) and Reserves (1996) level, and finished third in the League best-and-fairest in 1997, which led to him being drafted by Melbourne. Returning to West this year after the best part of a decade away, Brown was handed the captaincy, albeit reluctantly. “I didn’t expect the captaincy and originally I didn’t want to be captain,” he said. West captain Nathan Brown. “I just wanted to play and contribute and get the last bit of footy out of my system before getting into the workforce. “The coach (Andrew Collins) was pretty adamant that he wanted me to lead the boys for at least a year until he got a good hold of the group. “It (captaincy) wasn’t laid out on the table as part of the deal or anything like that, but it is a great honour and I’m proud to be a part of developing our young list.” The chance to reunite with fellow leadership group member and long-time teammate Peter Walsh was another factor in Brown’s return. “That was a reason, to have a kick with an old mate,” said Brown, who with his wife Tamara has two children, Kynan, three, and Jake, one. “Walshy and I started at Westies together, we played together in Melbourne for a lot of years and we’ll get to finish together.” Brown, who works as a Development Officer with the SANFL, played most of his career under two of the AFL’s great contemporary captains in Garry Lyon and David Neitz. He feels uncomfortable being compared to them. “They’re at another level to me,” he laughs. “I’m a pretty cruisy bloke and I just try to help blokes as much as I can. “But they were a really big presence at the club. “I had a ball under the two of them and it was a great honour to play alongside them.” Just like his old AFL club, Brown’s Bloods are deep in rebuilding mode. If Brown’s team-mates can follow their skipper’s example, more prosperous times may be just around the corner at Broadspectrum Oval. SANFL FOOTBALL BUDGET - VISIT: WWW.SANFL.COM.AU 9
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