Brown keen to prove his worth
Brent Diamond and Charmaine Camilleri | June 4, 2009
RICHMOND forward Nathan Brown believes he can be a part of a new era at the Tigers, despite the departure of his friend and two-time coach Terry Wallace tomorrow night in the match against their former club, the Western Bulldogs.
The 31-year-old, who was coached at the Bulldogs and now the Tigers by Wallace, believes he has to prove himself in the second half of the season to keep his 213-game AFL career alive.
He is mindful that the incoming coach could opt for a youth policy similar to that employed by last year's premiership coach, Alastair Clarkson, at Hawthorn in 2004, when he made hard calls on veteran Hawks Nick Holland, Mark Graham, Nathan Thompson, Jonathan Hay and Peter Everitt.
Richmond has six key players — including Brown — over 30.
"Whatever the new coach coming in wants to do, I'll respect that decision and just get on with it," Brown said.
"I'll hope to play for the rest of the year, play and prove that you are worth keeping on another year."
Brown said Wallace was his on-field and off-field mentor and he was excited when Wallace was appointed coach of the Tigers back in 2005, just a year after Brown crossed from the Bulldogs.
"I've had a good relationship with Terry over the years. He's been a friend and a mentor and it's sad to see him go," he said.
"It's just the nature of the game and (there's) so much interest in a club like Richmond. As soon as something starts to get wobbly, the pressure does come in.
"Now another chapter starts at Richmond."
But Brown, who is preparing for life after football with his fashion label Blackbyrd, believes he still has another leg of his football career left despite his critics believing he is on his last.
"I don't think it's time to retire," Brown said. "I've had a lot of injuries over the last four or five years, and when you have injuries you tend to get wound up pretty quickly when you get over 30. I'd be guided by whatever the club thinks best."
But Brown said he hoped to be part of a reborn team at Tigerland in 2010.
"I'd like to take one year at a time … I'd love to play next year because I want to be part of a new era at Richmond," he said.
Brown has had little impact on the Tigers this season, averaging 1.6 goals and 19 disposals in his seven matches. He missed three matches with a groin injury, further adding to the wear and tear of his ageing body.
Brown conceded he was not performing at his best but said he was "hoping to play some good football in the second half of the year".
Before he broke his leg in 2005, he averaged more than 23 disposals and 3.4 goals a match.
He had a titanium rod inserted in his tibia to recover for the 2006 season, and Brown admits the mental scars from his leg injury restricted his efforts to return to his best.
"I think it did for a couple of years afterward … it did take a couple of years to get over it because I had stress fractures in my leg after I broke it twice," he said.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/brown-keen-to-prove-his-worth/2009/06/03/1243708507047.html
