WEBVTT - Ben Brown - Footy done differently 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:11.280 I'd people say that, you know, if I wasn't one 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.240 of the boys, and if I didn't buy into the culture, 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:16.599 I wouldn't make it as an AFL player. So that 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.560 was going to affect my ability to perform. Ultimately, what 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:22.840 I found was that I could actually do both. I 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.840 could show all those traits on the field and be 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:32.879 the loving parent, be the caring husband. I could be 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.080 someone who was a really great friend to people. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.040 I'm John Ralph and I'm Glenn MacFarlane. 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:41.280 Welcome to Sacked, a podcast that explores what really happens 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.839 when the X falls in the AFL world. Will take 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:45.600 you behind the scenes with some of the biggest names 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.000 in football and find out how they found out their 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:49.760 time was up and who pulled the trigger. 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.080 Today, footy done differently. The Ben Brown story. 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.040 There was no more consistent key forward in the AFL 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.040 from twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen than North Melbourne's Ben Brown, 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.880 and yet at the conclusion of the twenty twenty season, 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.399 he was out the door at Arden Street, devoid of 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:07.600 confidence and searching for a new home. 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:09.760 Fast forward another twelve months. 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.039 And he just kicked three goals as his new team, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.280 Melbourne stormed home to win the twenty twenty one flag. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.360 A crazy year or just parf of the course for 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.760 the unlikely footy star from Tazzy who always did footy 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:22.720 a bit differently. 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.480 Ben Brown, Welcome to the podcast, mate, thanks for coming. 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:27.039 In, Thanks very much. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.280 Played one hundred and seventy five games, three hundred and 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.839 sixty goals, Ralphie, two AFL clubs, a drought breaking premiership, 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:38.160 four time club leading goalkicker, multiple runner up in the 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:38.920 Coleman Medal. 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.000 It's a great record. What do you think about when 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:42.119 you think about your career. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.800 What's the one defining moment other than the Grand Final? 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.720 Oh, defining moment, I think it was I think about 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.680 draft day, to be honest. It was, you know, four 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:54.960 drafts that took me to get to the level, and 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.560 I think you know that you know, that relief in 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.520 some ways, but that pure excitement I think that everyone 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.880 would have felt when they were every AFL player would 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:09.880 feel when they get drafted. I still remember that sitting 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.080 there with my mum and dad and my grandma and 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:17.680 how excited they were. And yeah, that was sort of 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.360 the moment that kicked it all off, and it was 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:21.760 you know, over a period of years and having to 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.280 put all that time and effort in and yeah, that's 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:26.400 pretty cool memory. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.600 So you're Tasmanian Royalty because granddad Jym is a footy 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.480 star and a leading politician. Of course, uncle James part 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.560 of his own great baking flag. Yeah when did that 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.480 draft aspiration? 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:39.680 When was it unearthed? Didn't you tell us to tell 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.040 us about those early years? 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.720 Yeah? I only played. I played a whole heap of 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.120 sport growing up and just loved sport of any kind. 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.000 A lot of basketball in their cricket, tennis, wherever he 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.520 hit my hands. On footy. I played school footy until 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.200 I was in grade ten in Devenport and after that 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:58.840 point we didn't have a school team, so that's when 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.160 I went and played at Devenport Club. Joined up in 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:07.000 grade eleven and just yeah, enjoyed my footy. I didn't 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.799 think that i'd i'd ever make it to a high level. 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.280 I would have absolutely loved to more than anything, being 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:16.480 a being a sport loving kid growing up, but I 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:21.360 never thought that I'd get to the highest level. But 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.400 it was probably a teacher I had at school that 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:25.400 said you should go and maybe try out for the 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.000 Tazzy Mariners and the out sixteen's and you know, go 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.840 along to some trials, and so I did that and 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.400 was selected a couple of those teams, and I remember 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:38.720 it was my top age, my top age under eighteen's. Yeah. 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:42.600 I played as a ruck all my life and I 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.080 got the opportunity to play Ford a couple of times 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.000 and another ruck they wanted a trial and I kicked 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.240 a few goals in a couple of games. And then, 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.040 as you do when you're a seventeen year old in 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.360 that area, go on to Big Footy, and. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:56.280 Of course that's what you're doing. 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:58.880 And I saw my name popping up, people saying, oh 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:03.559 this guy from Tazzy, this big, weird looking fell at. 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.280 Yeah yeah, no TikTok. But big Footy forums were definitely thing, 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.000 and we get a couple of stories out of there, 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.720 and yeah, that sort of lit the fire. I mean, 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.520 I had the biggest roller coaster you'd ever imagined. Because 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.520 I didn't think I was a chance of being drafted. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.359 I had maybe three good games in the in the 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:24.800 Championships and thought, oh, it might be a thing here, 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.480 and then I did MACL did a c L. 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:30.120 Yeah, twenty ten or twenty ten. It was a game 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.200 against was it NT, Yeah, game against NT, I think 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.800 I was. I think I maybe rocked against Stephen May 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.320 that day or maybe that was another game I'm thinking of. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.240 But and it was actually a teammate ran through. It 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:51.279 was Jimmy Webster. So Jimmy, thanks mate. But yeah, that 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:55.400 it was almost that moment though, I think was another 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.240 really key moment for me, because after that moment, I 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.880 didn't I didn't play any more basketball. After that point, 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:03.760 I went, I want to I want to make it 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:04.919 to the next level in football. 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:05.279 Yeah. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.360 So I put everything I could into my into my rehab, 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.880 and yeah, another another four drafts that took me. 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.760 But yeah, that's that heartbreaking to watch, to listen to 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:16.800 drafts that probably was was was it on TV then? 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.480 I'm it would have been on TV then, And yeah, 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:20.720 I have your name called out. 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:25.279 I mean yeah, I remember watching it, watching the picks 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:29.839 roll through on a laptop. Yeah, in my room, and 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.200 then the picks had go through and your name wasn't called. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.040 I'm like, all right, I better go back to studying 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:34.760 for my exams. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:36.719 Yeah. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.280 So it was definitely. 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.080 Any of those three drafts clubs interested interviewing you. 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.480 Yeah, I had a I remember after the rookie draft 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.440 in my draft year, I've done macy L so I'd 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:52.479 gone to the combines, the State Combine I think it was, 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.400 and I was in Melbourne actually for the rookie draft 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.520 and having a couple of weeks staying with my staying 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:02.080 with my uncle actually remember Derek Hein and I think 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.520 it might have been Jason Taylor then was it Collingwood. 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.000 About an hour or two after the rookie draft, they 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.480 drove out to my uncle's officers in Cheltenham and sat 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:11.960 me down and said we'd like to have you a 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.440 part of the VFL program or do all of your 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:19.039 rehab through the club. And I turned them down and 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:24.640 said I wanted to stay in Tazzy so playing a Magpie. Yeah, yeah, 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:29.360 I remember having that conversation and me, as a seventeen 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.240 eighteen year old, went, no, I want to I want 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:34.280 to do it myself and do it on my own 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.599 merits and not sort of be need a club to 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:39.680 Whether that was the right or wrong thing to do 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.880 at the time, I don't know, but yeah, went back 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.000 to Tazzy and back to senior footy at Glenorky footy club. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.440 And how was it playing over there? 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.440 You're playing against men as you're coming through in a 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.880 lot of ways there And what brought you across was 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:57.240 that the promise of North was aligned to Worry at 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.120 the time. But was there any promise there that you 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.279 come across you're at ans or was it just on 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:03.360 Specky decided to come across a little bit later. 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:08.040 No, No, I wanted to play senior footy and tazzy 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.280 and have that opportunity to play against bigger bodies, get 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.320 and get used to that. I did have to play 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.280 as a ruckman primarily down there, and that was probably 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.720 the thing that I got to the point where I went, 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:20.520 I'm probably not going to make it to the next 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:22.840 level as a ruck and I need to play as 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.840 a ford. And it was actually Mark Stone, good good 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:31.480 weerriby man and lovely, lovely human who came down over 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.160 a couple of couple of years. He came down I 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.640 think it was the end of twenty eleven, maybe the 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.960 end of twenty twelve, and I said thanks very much, 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:44.160 but no thanks. And then the following year had another 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:45.640 coffee with me and said I think should come and 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.760 have a trial at werribe and so I did really 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.560 liked it, decided this is my opportunity to move across. 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.600 Scottie West sold me the world and he was going 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:56.160 to said he was going to play me as a 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.320 key forward and a few too didn't. Yeah, that year 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.120 we were a tall forward line. I think it's ever existed. 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:07.720 We had Magic Door and Daniel Curry coming back from North. 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.840 We had young Mason Wood playing in that team. Ben 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:15.000 McKinley and Ben Warren were in that team and somehow 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:19.920 they fit me there as well. And yeah, that year 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:24.120 was that year was probably what gave me that opportunity 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:25.920 to play as a key ford and show what I 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.400 could do. The Foxtel Cup as well, was that year. 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:32.240 I got a couple of opportunities in that. So yeah, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.680 it was a really interesting year. And the alignment with 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.880 North Melbourne, I suppose I was under their eye quite 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:37.160 a lot. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:41.320 So you celebrate your twenty first. They eventually take you 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.320 at forty seven in the draft. What's that draft night like? 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.480 Given as you say, you'd watched the laptop and been 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:49.640 overlooked so often before. 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:52.720 Yeah, I'd had a chat to a couple of clubs 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:57.880 and so I thought maybe this was my best opportunity. Actually, 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.800 I had a call from Adrian the door about an 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.360 hour or so before the draft saying like maybe strap in. 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.079 So I that was the most confident I've been, but 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:09.560 I'd sat through three drafts. I didn't want to take anything. 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.479 It gives a lot of promises. 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.400 Yeah, And I've actually spoken to Cam Joyce since he 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:22.440 was the the list manager at the time about because 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:24.840 I asked him about it years later, because I remember 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:26.800 they sat there for a minute and had a discussion. 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:30.200 I remember asking him like, what was that discussion that 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.600 you had and a little in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:36.520 And I was just interested. And he said that they 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.960 were tossing up between me and Joel Tippett at that 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:40.760 at that pick, and I ended up getting Joel in 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.720 the in the rookie draft. Yeah, so he said they 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:47.160 got the best of both worlds there. But yeah, that 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.240 was that was interesting. I remember sitting and I had 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:52.720 back in the day they used to read out the 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.560 readout the number, the player number, six digit registration. They 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:01.080 famously got Buddy wrong. I'm pretty sure taking yeah, the 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:05.840 registration number. So I remember I'd memorized my my registration number. 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:07.679 I couldn't tell you what it was now, but I 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:11.600 remember hearing the number and like, here we go that. Yeah, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.960 so that feeling was up there to. 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.199 Celebrate with your family as well. I think your name 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:21.480 was there, your five younger brothers, is that right? Yeah? 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:26.040 Yeah, yeah it was bad and yeah, my five younger brothers. 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:27.360 So it was me and my mum and dad and 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.199 my grandma sitting sitting in front of the telly and 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.640 and watching that play out. I think my brothers were 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.280 scattered around the house. They sort of started watching it 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.480 and then lost. Interesting they get to pick forty seven. Yeah, no, 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:44.240 they didn't quite make it, so but that yeah, it 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:46.360 was so exciting, awesome. 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.920 And he's straight off to Utah after that? Is that? Like? 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.480 How weird is that kid from Tazzy gets drafted after 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.480 you know, missing a number of drafts and then he's. 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:54.920 Off to Utah. 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:58.560 Yeah, yeah it was. It was straight off to Utah 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.320 within a few days. So I think I had to 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:06.040 organize a passport at short notice. I never traveled overseas before, 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.440 and so yeah, it was straight into it. 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.560 That was it over there? Sorry? How was it over there? 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:14.679 Yeah? It was interesting. I walked straight into a room 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:19.520 I was roomed with Robin Nahas my first my first 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:25.640 time there. They actually the guys said, you've got to play. 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.200 The first thing you've got to do is you've got 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:32.080 to play our worst FIFA player. And they set me 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.520 up because Robin Nahas was one of the best fifty 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.839 players in Australia at the time and he played around 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:41.000 with me for a bit. But yeah, no, I remember 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:48.640 my very first night with with was he I said, 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:50.760 if you've got any issues. I was a bit of 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.840 a snorer. I said, if you've got any issues, like 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.200 just you know, wake me up, throw a pillow at 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.040 me and I reckon. It was within twenty minutes of 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:01.840 falling asleep, pillow in the face and Robin moved out 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.240 of the room next the next night. So I had 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:05.800 a ruin myself, which wasn't the worst thing. 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.240 So Heatha locked on who as the media manager at 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:10.160 the time and there with basketball. He said, oh, this 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.200 guy's going to be a new cult here. Where did 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.880 the hair come from? Where did the long run up 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.600 come from? Idiosyncratic? But that was you and you were 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.360 determined to keep all of those parts of your character 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:22.360 and your football identity. 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.679 Yeah, the hair came about because I'd moved out of 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.960 home and my mum couldn't tell me to go and 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.560 get a haircut anymore. So I grew it out and 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.720 it was honestly, it was probably laziness more than anything 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:36.800 else that I didn't want to go and go to 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:41.360 the barber. My long run up was I think, as 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.680 I said, I was a rock growing up, so I 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.920 never really developed anything as a set shot routine. So 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.600 I developed it quite late on would have been at 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.440 Glenorky Footy Club. I started it. It started out more 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:58.320 robotic than it ended up, believe it or not. And yeah, 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:03.120 it was something I sort of yeah with the coaches 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.559 at Clonorkey Footy Club and then Keenan Reynolds. Was it 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:10.160 at where you when I was there? And yeah, it 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.640 just that's what felt comfortable to me for whatever reason. 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.040 It was more basic than it looked. It was run straight, 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.160 kick straight, follow through straight. If I do everything straight, 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.760 the ball should go straight. That's that was it. That 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:25.600 was the that was the basis of it. Did you 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:27.800 ever think about did you ever trial with shortening it? 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.439 Because you had such a lovely action technically when ball 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.199 hit boot, But did you ever you know, well, I'll 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.520 go exactly the same ratio because it was long and 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:36.640 it was almost labored. 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:41.760 Yeah, it was. I think I had a mental checklist 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.640 along with a physical checklist, if it makes sense, when 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.880 I went back from my for my shots. So I 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:51.600 think it was important for me to sort of follow 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.920 through and be able to tick that off. And for me, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.280 it was more about knowing that I'd done the work 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:01.080 and knowing that what I was doing was setting me 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.320 up to kick well and to calm myself down on 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:08.400 game day. So knowing that I had a routine and 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.120 that routine, as you said, it was weird, but it 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.960 made me feel comfortable. So it made me feel like 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.320 I'd done the work, So that was the most important. 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.400 You made you Taboo round fourteen, twenty fourteen versus Melbourne 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.320 wearing the now famous or soon to be famous number fifty. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.200 You're twenty one, almost twenty two, your last minute inclusion 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.240 for Robbie Tarrant. You're playing with a young bloke called 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.840 Brent Harvey who's thirty six and has played three hundred 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:33.960 and seventy five. Tell us about your memories of that 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:35.560 day and kicking the goal. You made a bit of 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.120 a tribute I think to your grandfather, didn't you tell 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:41.000 us about that and what that meant to you? 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:47.440 Yeah? Family, Yeah, I was nervous. I was so incredibly yes, 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.680 you know, first game on the MCG. North didn't play 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.000 on the MCG much either, so to get that opportunity 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.960 to play on the MCG, I took my first first 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:57.960 mark and first kicked pretty much right in the center 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:02.560 of the ground, which was which was incredibly cool. I 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.560 think I settled into the game about maybe half of 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:07.400 the way, halfway through the third quarter. 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:09.160 Yeah. 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:13.520 Yeah, I was playing on Lyndon Dunn, who I had 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:15.560 a lot of battles with over the years and was 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:17.760 a real pest to play on. I'll talk to him 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:24.080 about this, but yeah, I just remember taking a mark 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.520 and everyone's telling me to go back and have a shot. 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:31.800 It went pretty straight. They take the march first shot 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.840 a goal. But he is really working the cameras here. 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.160 This is the longest run up with him. 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:42.040 Twenty one year old Ben Brown. His first goal has 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:47.240 plenty Brenny six with a goal and the Roswie by 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:48.520 forty four points. 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.200 But yeah, it was it was important, particularly I think 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:56.480 for my from my grandma and my pop who was 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:02.640 you know, as you said, a player in Tasmania who 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.600 played a lot of games and a big, big personality 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:10.640 I suppose, and just to show that, you know, he'd 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.000 been part of that experience, but you know, passed away 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:14.600 in twenty ten and he never got to see that 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:15.160 first goal. 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.560 So yeah, that was what the tribute was for. And 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.200 he passed away in really challenging circumstances. That house was 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:22.960 ransacked and he went down and had a look at 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.520 it and then came back up and had a heart attack. 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:26.040 Is that right? 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.880 Yeah, that's right. He was an avid collector, had if 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:34.640 you went into his dar, I want to call it 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:41.160 like just bookshelves on bookshelves of stamps and postcards and 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.000 everything you can name. My mum's still going through it 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:47.840 to this day, fifteen years later, and so yeah, I 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.680 think the fact that someone had broken into the house, 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:53.080 you know, that was pretty stressful. Had a bit of 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.120 a weak hard as it was, and yeah, it was. 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.880 It was a pretty tough time obviously for my grandma, 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.000 who's one of the most amazing women you'll ever meet. 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.520 And yeah, that was that. 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.040 The first one was for her. It's a good side. 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:11.040 Brad Scott's up and running Pem Harvey's flying. What's it 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.960 like being thrown into that Arden street environment there with 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.680 I assume lots of strong personalities and yeah, an expectation 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:17.320 to perform. 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:21.639 Yeah, it was. I actually found my first couple of 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.480 years at AFL level pretty tough in a lot of ways, 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:29.119 probably didn't fit the mold of your typical AFL player, 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.560 and at times, yeah, found that environment challenging. Not necessarily 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.280 for you know, that was anyone's fault. I think it 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.600 was just that I was twenty one, twenty two and 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.760 still figuring out who I was as a person and 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.639 who I wanted to be, and yeah, and found that 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:48.520 challenging at times. I think that in terms of the 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:53.360 footy side of things, that it was an incredibly committed team. 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.399 You know, some really amazing athletes that I was able 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.080 to be a part of. And so to have that 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:03.000 experience in terms of learning what it was like to 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.320 be an AFL player and the professionalism that was required, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:08.760 I had a lot of really good role models in 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.920 that sense that sort of pushed me along and pushed 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.520 me to become a better player. So, you know, the 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:17.120 likes of Drew Petree when I came to the club. 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.560 To be able to learn off someone of that caliber 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:21.399 who was probably in the back part of his career, 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.560 but you know, taught me so much and to have 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.919 some you know, I'd mentioned Mason Wood before, but you 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.120 know it was one of the most professional players from 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.919 really really young age and really incredibly driven. So to 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:34.719 have someone like that that wanted to play a similar 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.399 spot to you, and yeah, it was definitely the drive 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:40.640 was there to sort of get to get better. And 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.119 now watching the heights that Mason's been able to get 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.440 to the in this part of his career has been 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:46.560 has been great to see too. 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:48.879 You've got a pretty strong moral code. I imagine the 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.840 locker room's pretty blokey place. It's probably a misogynous place 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.560 at times. What's alike when you're twenty one, so you're 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.359 not a kid you want to call stuff out? You 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.679 probably don't at times. There's other times yet understand your 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:02.480 walk past the ones you accept. What's that like for 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.360 a lot of people, you know, given that Collingwood's locker 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:07.200 room was changing, Yeah, what's the dynamic? 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:14.720 Yeah, it absolutely was. I think, as I said, a 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.800 lot of really positive things about being in a football environment. 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.000 This is not exclusive to North Melbourne at that stage 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:26.080 by any means, But yeah, it was something that I 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.240 had to come to terms with. It's like what standards 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:30.200 do I actually want to want to walk past and 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:36.720 which ones? Which ones am I accepting? And it took me, yeah, 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:39.880 a long time to come to terms with that and 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:43.480 to I suppose learn There's a lot of listening and 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:47.439 learning I think from you know, the women in my life, 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.680 also other men within football clubs that I found as 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.199 I started to understand a bit more about the stats 0:19:55.200 --> 0:20:00.600 around finance against women and about the kind of cultures 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:07.239 that lead to violence and to disrespect, and it was 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:09.960 it was a lot of a lot of listening to 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:13.080 people and understanding that a lot of the a lot 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.400 of other men in those environments are feeling uncomfortable and 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:24.040 about certain things. Again, not everything being a negative, but yeah, 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:26.000 I sort of learned that there are a lot more 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:31.760 AFL players, staff members within football clubs that actually that 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:36.800 felt like the environments and cultures needed to change. And 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:38.840 so that was a lot of the learning that I 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:41.360 did in that space probably led me to that point 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:45.040