To be honest, I haven’t played many finals, and that’s the reason you keep going – to pursue your dream of winning a premiership LEIGH BROWN
After a torturous summer campaign to improve his fitness, Brown slotted into the Collingwood side in round two and has played every game since, filling roles up forward, as a pinch-hitting ruckman and down back in recent weeks. Set to bring up game No. 200 this weekend against Richmond, the former Heyfield junior from Victoria’s Gippsland region feels his adaptability is the reason for his longevity. “It’s something that has probably helped and hindered me across the journey,” Brown said. “But this year I’ve played a lot more throughout a particular match in just one position, rather than a lot of different positions in one quarter or a half. I think that’s when I play my best footy.” Now, with the in-form Magpies pushing for a top-four berth, Brown has the chance to achieve the ultimate, a goal that seemed a million miles away in the dark days of 2008. “To be honest, I haven’t played many finals, and that’s the reason you keep going – to pursue your dream of winning a premiership,” he said. “At Collingwood, we know the fantastic opportunities that lie ahead if we continue to play good footy as a team.”
AT LAST: Leigh Brown will complete
a long road to 200 games.
NEWS TRACKER
AR20 p07-24 TheBounce.indd 9
GAME-PLAN
Blues building midfield depth C A L LU M T WOMEY
A
t the start of the season, in his role as a columnist for the Herald Sun, Essendon great James Hird wrote an article extolling the virtues of Carlton’s ‘Fab Four’ midfielders. Hird said the quartet of Chris Judd, Marc Murphy, Nick Stevens and Bryce Gibbs had the potential to dominate the competition in the same way the Brisbane Lions’ on-ballers did in their premiership years of 2001-03. The beauty of the powerhouse Lions group, however, was its depth. Brisbane’s ‘Fab Four’ of Michael Voss, Nigel Lappin, Jason Akermanis and Simon Black received significant support from a host of others including Luke Power, Craig McRae, Shaun Hart and Marcus Ashcroft. Following Carlton’s surprise 35-point win over Geelong last weekend, it is clear the Blues are quickly building depth in their midfield beyond the four identified by Hird. The emergence of tagger Aaron Joseph has added a defensive aspect to the group, complementing the attacking strength of Kade Simpson, Heath Scotland
TAMING THE CATS: Marc Murphy breaks free.
and Ryan Houlihan. Andrew Carrazzo offers another ballwinning option, and the return of Andrew Walker brings an exciting spark. Murphy said that having an even effort from the midfield group has helped Carlton against the strongest sides in the competition. “Last year, we probably just left it up to ‘Juddy’ to get the hard ball but we’ve all tried to take our turns this year to win first possession and get it out of the clearances. In the same way we’ve been taking our turns running forward and trying to kick goals, so it’s been good,” said Murphy, who has pushed forward to kick 25 goals this season. “We’ve been really working hard at spreading from stoppages and I suppose that shows with midfielders kicking goals.” Against Geelong’s strong midfield, Gibbs, Judd, Houlihan, Scotland, Simpson, Murphy, Carrazzo and Stevens all had 22 or more possessions, resulting in Carlton dominating the corridor and at stoppages. Usually these are areas where the Cats dominate, but Murphy, 22, said the Blues knew they had to beat Geelong at its own game if they were to win. “We wanted to take them on. We knew if we played slow, chip-up-the-line footy we would never go well against Geelong,” he said. “We tried to take them on at their own game with run and handball and linking up through the midfield and that’s what we did.” With wins against Geelong, Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions (twice), the Blues have shown they can match it with the best. With a growing number of quality midfielders, it is understandable how they have done it.
AWAY F R O M T H E G A M E
Best of the stars’ picks Many people judge the modern footballer by his athleticism, or his kicking skills. The AFL Record searched through every player profile submitted this year to find another way of assessing the contemporary footballer. Here are the most common answers to some of the mainly popular-culture questions asked of the players. Surprisingly, boxer Muhammad Ali – a regular in the ‘Four people you would invite to dinner’ category – did not make the final four. CALLUM TWOMEY
Favourite movie The Shawshank Redemption
‘Can’t miss’ TV show Two and a Half Men Most famous person he’s met Shane Warne
Favourite meal al before a gamee Pasta
What does hee like to collect lectt Money
Four people le he would invite to dinner Jennifer Hawkins wkinss Lance Armstrong rong g Michael Jordan an Jessica Alba
AFL strikes deal with ESPN for the network to provide “multi-platform” coverage of AFL games in North America.
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