He's been killing it in the reserves games but can't crack the seniors. Do we hold on to him for another year as insurance or do we cut him because he can't get a game?

 

Brown had a very good 2019 was probably unlucky to be cut by the Dons. My mate Skeats is a bombers man and he thought Brown would have kept his spot in their list. Was puzzled he was delisted. 
 

I really thought he would have got a game but club has preferred Jackson and his development.  With tommy mcd and Weid (obviously) also in the mix, Browns opportunities appear limited. 

He is turning 30 shortly so may get another year but he’s on the edge again.  I think he’s a good CHF and can still make a contribution if called up  

 

He must be confused why we bothered to recruit him. We lack quality talls forwards, had injuries, and still didn't play him. He can consider himself unlucky.

Perhaps he could be the third tall if say Oscar was injured or a faster more mobile tall was needed for day a Jske Stringer !

Might  still play a part as we didn't expect Charlie  to return like he did.

Depth  May still Be needed!

I'd say he'll be cut.  The irony is he would very likely be getting a game at the bombers right, given their injuries

We still have Petty to come back to help our tall fwd stocks

12 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

He must be confused why we bothered to recruit him. We lack quality talls forwards, had injuries, and still didn't play him. He can consider himself unlucky.

Or, on the flip side, he can count himself lucky that at his age a club threw him a life line when it looked like he was out of the system all together.  He probably jumped at the chance, even if he was probably told he was nothing more than depth.

He looked pretty ordinary against West Coast: also not too flash in the pre-season games, apart from a quarter where he kicked 3 goals.

Hopefully he'll get a decent run / crack at it at some point.  2020's Dunn (2016) & Pruess (2019)?

Let’s not forget that Essendon delisted him, we didn’t trade for him. I’m guessing he’d be pretty happy at the moment just to be on an AFL list. 

Essendon probably wish they hadn't delisted him given their injuries.

I'm surprised he didn't get a game when we were struggling during the Geelong/Richmond period, but I'm not sure kicking goals in a sub-VFL-level reserves game is a sign he should be playing seniors.

The players he’s most likely to replace in the side are Melksham and Fritsch. Leading forwards with good skills and iffy pressure. Expecting him to be a genuine key forward is missing what he does best and miscasting him due to his height.

If he was a few years younger he’d probably be in the side at CHB too. 

He’s an insurance policy against T Mc struggling, Weid not coming on and Jackson taking time to find his feet. That’s ok. Hasn’t hurt to have a smart forward for the guys in the Reserves and at training as well 

He ain't getting another year

7 games to go, and 30 years of age. 7 games at that age won't save him.

Thanks for your time Browny.

I've also had Bomber mates ask why Brown wasn't getting a game. Most rate him for at least the first 22.

3 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

The players he’s most likely to replace in the side are Melksham and Fritsch. Leading forwards with good skills and iffy pressure.

I think lack of pressure is also a problem with Brown. Probably why he's not getting a game.

Insurance policy we didn’t up needing. Just because the house didn’t burn down doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have insured it.

The time to bring him in was when TMac was first injured. They went with LJ instead. LJ coming on quicker than expected has made Brown and possibly Preuss redundant.

Brown still may play a role. I thought he was a bit stiff. Fumbly first game but given no chance to make amends yet. Preuss has only just played one reserves game so may have played last week if he had a bit more match condition. We need to keep Preuss or swap him for another similiar type.

If he can reinvent himself as an inside mid, there might be a spot on the wing for him

Edited August 12, 20205 yr by John Demonic
/s

Jackson has been ready sooner than expected, hence brown has not been needed, ...so far

Good player, please play him and stop making excuses.

 

20 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

The players he’s most likely to replace in the side are Melksham and Fritsch. Leading forwards with good skills and iffy pressure. Expecting him to be a genuine key forward is missing what he does best and miscasting him due to his height.

If he was a few years younger he’d probably be in the side at CHB too. 

He’s an insurance policy against T Mc struggling, Weid not coming on and Jackson taking time to find his feet. That’s ok. Hasn’t hurt to have a smart forward for the guys in the Reserves and at training as well 

If he’s back up for T-Mac, Fritsch and Melksham he’s permanently in the mix. Melksham has had more chances than anyone since 2018.

I think he offers more than T-Mac and can actually be a swingman

16 hours ago, John Demonic said:

If he can reinvent himself as an inside mid, there might be a spot on the wing for him

^ Didn't get the credit it deserved, so I'm just replying to it so it gets a second run.

Well played, John. ?

He's a smart player but he's not the high ball competitor that we need. Jackson has been admirable in this facet since he's come in, which is a string that you could easily imagine him not having as a first year ruck. I think we saw the forward line as being TMac and Weid, with Jackson getting a few games for development and Brown being a solid back up if our more mature bodied keys forwards were injured. 

We've been fortunate that Weid has been fit and productive, and Jackson has been so competitive as a forward/ruck in his first season (coming from basketball too). Effectively TMac has become the backup to Weid and Jackson, which is a luxury at the moment.

I don't think Preuss is redundant because I'm sure they'd rather use him as a battering ram to protect Jackson early in his career if Gawn is injured. The ruck is a brutal slog of a position and Jackson is worth protecting.

7 minutes ago, Axis of Bob said:

I don't think Preuss is redundant because I'm sure they'd rather use him as a battering ram to protect Jackson early in his career if Gawn is injured. The ruck is a brutal slog of a position and Jackson is worth protecting.

Yep - when I made that comment I wasn't fully convinced of it myself (hence possibly) - I think you're probably right on that aspect. It'll be interesting to see if Preuss gets a run this week.

Just now, Nasher said:

Yep - when I made that comment I wasn't fully convinced of it myself (hence possibly) - I think you're probably right on that aspect. It'll be interesting to see if Preuss gets a run this week.

I think I still get harrowing visions of Josh Fraser being physically belted for 100 minutes a week every time I see an 18 year old being thrown into the centre bounce! 

3 minutes ago, Axis of Bob said:

I think I still get harrowing visions of Josh Fraser being physically belted for 100 minutes a week every time I see an 18 year old being thrown into the centre bounce! 

I just went back to look at his stats from the start of his career:

Game 1: First ruck against Paul Salmon and Nathan Thompson. No recognised ruck backup.

Game 2: First ruck against Shaun Rehn and Matthew Clarke. No recognised ruck backup.

Game 3: First ruck against Matthew Allan and Trent Hotton. No recognised ruck backup.

Game 4: First ruck against Greg Stafford and Adam Goodes. No recognised ruck backup.

Game 5: First ruck against Scott Wynd and Luke Darcy.

By this time they finally brought in Stunning Steve McKee as backup. McKee was backup from rounds 5 to 10. Fraser then rucked solo (with only Anthony Rocca as part time backup) in every game for the rest of the season, aside from round 18.

This was during a time where nearly every club had two recognised mature ruckmen in their team, whilst Collingwood had a precious skinny 18 year old pick 1 'once in a generation' ruck .... and they absolutely destroyed him. It was criminal.