One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: letsgetiton! on June 06, 2006, 06:40:36 AM
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Brown's return welcome for Tigers
Greg Denham
June 06, 2006
NATHAN BROWN appears certain to make his long awaited return for Richmond on Saturday against the Kangaroos at the MCG.
The dynamic forward only has to get through training pain free tomorrow at Punt Road to be included for his fourth game this year, Tigers football operations manager Paul Armstrong said yesterday.
Brown was rested indefinitely after pulling up sore against West Coast in round three, but completed a full week of training last week. His setback was the result of complications from last year's round-10 horrific injury when he snapped his right lower leg in two places.
"Wednesday will be his test, but he pulled up well last week," Armstrong said. "He stepped up his training last week and so far, so good."
Brown's inclusion will be a bonus for the youthful Tigers who have won five of their seven games without him this season, which is in contrast to last year when they won seven of their first nine with him playing full games and contributing more than 200 possessions and kicking 34 goals.
Without him in 2005, Richmond lost nine of their last 12 games and slid out of contention after being fourth after round 10.
Richmond should have a stronger list to choose from this weekend than when it was beaten by 11 points by Fremantle on Saturday night at Subiaco, as Brett Deledio and Andrew Krakouer could also be available after missing the trip to Perth.
Deledio and Krakouer sustained minor medial ligament strains in round nine, and both will have their knees assessed tomorrow.
"Both are improving each day," Armstrong said.
Matthew Richardson will miss consecutive weeks after fracturing his wrist against Geelong last Saturday week.
Team-mate Kayne Pettifer can accept a reprimand after being reported for striking Fremantle's Steven Dodd.
St Kilda's Brendon Goddard was cleared by the match review panel for striking after being reported by a field umpire, but team-mate Andrew Thompson will be out of action for a month.
Thompson will not play again until next month after receiving a small fracture in his back in the opening minute of the loss against Melbourne on Sunday.
Also unavailable for the injury-ravaged Saints are Justin Koschitzke, Aaron Hamill, Lenny Hayes and Xavier Clarke.
Three players will be missing this weekend if they accept charges against them and plead guilty.
Fremantle's Des Headland can accept a two-match ban for attempting to strike Pettifer and will risk a three-game suspension should he take his case to a tribunal jury hearing.
Brisbane ruckman Jamie Charman has been charged with his fourth offence in three years and was yesterday offered a one-match ban for engaging in rough conduct against Collingwood's Anthony Rocca.
Essendon's Henry Slattery was also offered a one-match penalty for attempting to strike Adelaide's Chris Knights last Friday night.
Geelong's Gary Ablett, Western Bulldogs forward Brett Montgomery and Carlton's Simon Wiggins can accept reprimands with early guilty pleas.
Ablett was found guilty of a rough conduct charge against West Coast's David Wirrpanda, the same charge handed to Montgomery in an incident involving Hawthorn's Peter Everitt.
Wiggins was charged with striking Port Adelaide's Michael Wilson.
The AFL has opened an investigation into the Western Bulldogs having 19 men on the ground for a brief period against Hawthorn on the weekend. The club faces a fine of up to $5000 if found guilty.
* The AFL executive and the players' association will meet today and tomorrow in Melbourne in an attempt to resolve the players' demands for a hefty pay increase over the remaining two years of the present collective bargaining agreement.
Also attending will be an AFL total-player-payment sub-committee, comprising four club chief executives.
After three years of modest 3 per cent annual pay increases, the players' union expects to benefit by about $20million across the board next year.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19375125-36035,00.html
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Just reported on SEN
Browny will play this week. Lot less pain than 7-8 weeks ago. Even kick to kick was painful. He is underdone and will be rotated off the bench and there was thought to bring him back via the VFL. But the Club think is this the best way and they had always planned to bring him back for the Roos game.
The Chronic ache Browny had wouldn't go away but now the pain isn't there anymore. He came back when the bone hadn't healed properly as revealed by X-ray. Now the bone near perfect (best it'll ever get).
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I just hope the pain doesn't return after a few weeks from the intensity of playing actual games.
SEN said the Club thinks because the side was doing well we can bring him in. That's fine as long as he can contribute. It doesn't help the team if we're effectively one man down. Just ask Geelong with Ottens.
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Look who's back
2:44:32 PM Tue 6 June, 2006
Jen Witham
Sportal for afl.com.au
Star Richmond forward Nathan Brown will make his eagerly-anticipated return to the Tiger side on Saturday at the MCG against the Kangaroos.
Tiger coach Terry Wallace confirmed on Tuesday that the dual All-Australian would come in for his fourth match of the season, in a game the Tigers must win to stay in the midst of the finals race.
Brown missed half of last season after a horrific broken leg but made it back to the Tiger side in time for the first game of the season, in which he gathered 18 touches and took five marks.
However, he had just 10 touches the next week and only two the following week against West Coast at Subiaco, a match in which he clearly appeared to be struggling.
Following that match, the Tigers decided to give Brown more time to recover and develop further strength in his legs.
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=271742
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See we are so excited we posted it twice :rollin
:gotigers :cheers :birthday :clapping :pray :santa :help
:ROTFL
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See we are so excited we posted it twice :rollin
:gotigers :cheers :birthday :clapping :pray :santa :help
:ROTFL
:rollin
Sounds like SEN will be playing Wallace's and Browny's press-conference soon.
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He kicks a goal early, his teammates get around him and the crowd lift and the pain will go away :gotigers
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Brown's ready, no bones about it
Martin Boulton
The Age
June 7, 2006
NATHAN Brown will return for Richmond on Saturday against the Kangaroos after spending seven weeks out of the senior side due to chronic soreness in the leg he broke last year.
Brown, a veteran of 170 games for the Tigers and Western Bulldogs, broke his lower right leg in round 10 last year against the Demons and had a rod inserted to assist the healing process.
He played the first three matches this season, starting promisingly with 18 possessions against the Western Bulldogs in round one, but was forced to pull out of the team after a poor match against West Coast in round three and ongoing pain in his leg.
"(Coach) Terry (Wallace) has selected me in the senior side this week, so I'm back playing senior football, which is exciting," the 28-year-old All-Australian said yesterday.
"I guess I'm a bit nervous; there was a time there when I thought I wasn't going to be able to do what I wanted to do … but a lot of the pain has gone away, which is good."
After that promising start to the year against the Bulldogs, he had only 10 possessions against St Kilda in round two and only two kicks against the Eagles the following week.
Brown had an X-ray three weeks ago, which he said showed the bone "hadn't quite healed over", but he had no hesitation about returning to senior football.
"We decided to take a break for a while and … I don't know how it's going to be going on from here, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be a lot better than it was."
He said there had been a couple of times over the past two months he thought he may not play for the rest of the season, but the time off had freshened him for a return.
Brown described the feeling in his leg as "a chronic ache" that stayed with him for up to six days after each of his three games this year and he had had soreness going into the match against West Coast.
The popular Tiger said the past seven weeks on the sidelines had been "frustrating" and he was looking forward to reclaiming his spot in the senior side.
"It was very limiting to what I wanted to do … I couldn't give the team anything. Hopefully that's behind me now."
"I don't expect to be the best on ground (against the Kangaroos), but the one thing I aim to do is have an impact — to contribute to the team," he said.
Wallace said he would use Brown "as we would normally", but didn't expect him to be on the ground for every minute over the coming weeks.
"Last time around we played him out of the goal square," Wallace said.
"Now we have the ability to play him up the ground and move him around a bit. We'll rotate him, obviously.
"He'll be underdone in terms of time on the ground."
Wallace also said the injured Brett Deledio and Andrew Krakouer were also being considered for a return against the Kangaroos.
"Brett's a little bit ahead of Andrew, but we're expecting both to put their hands up," he said.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/06/06/1149359745637.html
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Nathan Brown thrills to the MCG's roar
11 June 2006
Sunday Herald Sun
Jon Pierik
THE comeback officially began at 1.35pm yesterday when Nathan Brown stepped on to the MCG and completed his warm-up routine with Richmond teammates.
Much like a child taking his first tentative steps, Brown, wearing those now familiar snow-white boots, began with short kicks to skipper Kane Johnson.
They soon became long kicks, marks off a short lead and shots at goal.
Returning after an eight-week break in which he had rested his reconstructed right leg, Brown felt pre-game something was not quite right.
"I couldn't buy a goal when I was warming up today – I missed just about everything," he said last night.
Unfortunately for Kangaroos fans, the silky skills and deadly eye quickly returned.
"I kicked two today, so it was exciting," he said.
Brown had been in limbo since Round 3, when the pain in his right leg was too severe to continue his comeback.
In that game, against West Coast, the slick forward played 86 minutes for only two possessions.
The Tigers then decided to put him on ice, allowing his leg more time to heal.
A recent X-ray showed his broken bone, supported by a 32cm rod, still had not healed properly, but medically there was no reason not to resume. Brown had his leg broken in Round 10 last year.
The Tigers said during the week Brown would play about 60 per cent of yesterday's match and that proved to be the case.
Brown's day began on the pine, but it was not long – at the 9min24sec mark of the first quarter to be precise – that the No.7 emerged to the cheers of the yellow and black faithful.
"It puts the hairs on the back of your neck up a bit when the Tiger faithful roar," Brown said. "It's nice to be liked."
Given free licence on the ball, it took three minutes to get his first touch – a quick centre-bounce clearance kick on the right foot, which resulted in a goal to Troy Simmonds.
The magic was back.
"There is a lot of difference when you actually grab your first ball," Brown said.
"It was a low ball and I got in there and took it and got the kick away. It just builds your confidence."
Brown came off at the 22-minute mark, but returned for the start of the second term.
Again he was involved in a build-up that culminated in a goal, this time to Danny Meyer.
He was taken off at the 11-minute mark, but came back six minutes later, this time on a wing.
Brown, 28, has had plenty to keep himself occupied during his recovery.
Along with rest and recuperation, there have been his media gigs, an inner-city pub to help look after and a flourishing T-shirt business.
But when he led to centre half-forward at the 19-minute mark of the second term, marked strongly in front of Cameron Thurley and kicked truly from 40m, it was clear footy remains his first love.
The fist pump said it all.
"It felt good to kick that," he said.
The good times continued to flow after the main break when Brown contributed to the Tigers' opening two goals and kicked their third.
Brown spent more time on the bench in the final quarter, but finished with 14 touches, seven marks and two goals.
He was happy to be on the ground and savouring victory when the siren sounded.
"I probably would have played 55 per cent of the game," he said. "I will be looking to bump that up by 10 per cent every week."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19430914%255E20322,00.html
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Browny was on the Sunday Footy Show and said he pulled up well after the game and wants to get through full-training this week. Let's hope that's a good sign his leg pain problems are now behind him.
Go Browny :gotigers
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Leg coping better: Brown
The Australian
June 11, 2006
RICHMOND star forward Nathan Brown says his leg is feeling much better than after his initial comeback attempt from last season's sickening leg break.
Brown played the first three rounds this season, before the resultant soreness and swelling in his leg forced him to take an extended break.
But, after returning to kick two goals in yesterday's victory over the Kangaroos at the MCG, he said today he had pulled up much better this time around.
"I pulled up great, I feel really good," Brown told the Nine network's Sunday Footy Show.
"I went down to recovery this morning and had a bit of a walk around and a swim.
"Compared to round one when I was limping for a couple of days, I could probably go for a run today.
"I'll train this week fully."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19436239-36035,00.html
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Brown recaptures best
12 June 2006 Herald Sun
Michael Stevens
NATHAN Brown's self-doubts of being able to return to his brilliant best would have evaporated in eight electrifying minutes against the Kangaroos at the MCG on Saturday.
Brown's dominance at the start of the third quarter exemplified the Richmond star's value to a young Tigers combination that is proving all the sceptics wrong this season.
Brown's first possession 90 seconds in was a short kick to teammate Dean Polo, and he then ran forward to accept the return pass.
With no forward option available, he waited until teammate Greg Tivendale ran past, and then gave off the handpass at exactly the right moment for Tivendale to have an unimpeded shot at goal.
The goal stretched the Tigers' margin to 20 points, which was reduced to 14 when Jade Rawlings kicked a miracle goal from the boundary line on his left foot at the other end.
Five minutes into the quarter, Brown was hemmed in on the boundary line, but managed to get a handball to Greg Stafford, who kicked long to an unattended Kayne Pettifer on the edge of the goalsquare for another goal.
Another three minutes on, Brown out-positioned opponent Daniel Pratt to accept a long kick from Shane Tuck on his chest deep in a forward pocket, converting for his second goal of the game.
Brown played only 73 of the 112 minutes of game time but those eight minutes were unparalleled.
The effort prompted coach Terry Wallace to say afterwards: "I thought he broke open the game for us. We knew he would be underdone, but that was exactly what we know he is capable of."
Wallace described the Tigers' 35-point win as nothing more than methodical, but it showed his side was a much more cohesive outfit than the out-of-sorts Kangaroos.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19438572%255E19742,00.html
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Brown recaptures best
12 June 2006 Herald Sun
Michael Stevens
With no forward option available, he waited until teammate Greg Tivendale ran past, and then gave off the handpass at exactly the right moment for Tivendale to have an unimpeded shot at goal.
Tivs finally did what I have been waiting to see him do for the past 5 years or so. :pray :banghead
Take a running shot for goal :clapping
Perhaps he is getting the 'have a go' message from TW at last :thumbsup :gotigers
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Tivs finally did what I have been waiting to see him do for the past 5 years or so. :pray :banghead
Take a running shot for goal :clapping
Perhaps he is getting the 'have a go' message from TW at last :thumbsup :gotigers
Agree Mopsy. He's got a long left foot kick and it was great to see him finally use it. All we now need is to tell Patto to go long on the run when there's an open goalsquare and when Staff is leading towards the goalsquare; not chip to Staff's opponent :-\.
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Brown delights Wallace
4:49:36 PM Tue 13 June, 2006
Angus Morgan
Sportal for afl.com.au
Richmond coach Terry Wallace has said the signs are promising for Nathan Brown and suggested the mercurial forward is over the "major hurdle" that recently prompted him to stand down from playing for several weeks.
Brown, on the comeback from a severely broken leg sustained in round 10 last year, played his first game since round three against the Kangaroos at the MCG last Saturday and was a more than handy contributor to Richmond's win with 14 possessions and two goals.
While reluctant to declare that Brown would play out the remainder of the season, Wallace said the longer-term signs were good.
"I thought what I saw on the weekend has me saying that I think he'll come up alright when we talk about next season and getting back to being able to play his best football," Wallace told his regular Tuesday media conference at Punt Road.
"With a full summer and a full break, he'll come back to playing his best footy."
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In the shorter term, Wallace said the club would stick to its plan to give Brown two matches before the mid-season break, then review where he's at.
"He's pulled up OK, there's no worries about him, he'll continue to play on," Wallace said.
"At the moment it just looks like he'll play similar to what he did last week.
"In today's football most players are playing up around 80 per cent of the time - I think he was up around 65 per cent of last week's game and I sort of see him remaining around that point in time."
Wallace said Brown enjoyed a good game against the Kangaroos and was particularly effective in the third term when, according to Wallace, the Tigers "broke the game open".
"I put things in 'goal-assist' terms … and he was our second-best 'goal- assist' player in his first game back - that's either the ones that you kick or the ones that you set up," Wallace said.
"That's a pretty fair effort coming back from the length of time that he was out and the injury that he's had and the lack of training that he's been able to do.
"I think it was a magnificent effort."
http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=273318
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Brown the magician waves wand over spellbound Roos
9:58:26 AM Tue 13 June, 2006
Chris Riches
richmondfc.com.au
Magicians such as Nathan Brown are few and far between in the AFL.
Brown’s ability to bamboozle opponents makes him a matchwinner – a particularly precious commodity in today’s football.
His shocking injury mid-season last year, extended absence, frustrating comeback and then further time on the sidelines, have all been well-documented, as has his importance to Richmond.
While Tiger fans have enjoyed watching their young side notch five wins from its past seven games, they’ve also kept an expectant eye out for Brown’s “second coming”, keen to see him cast more spells over opposition backmen.
And, at a venue seemingly ideal for a bit of magic – a fog-shrouded MCG – it was 15 minutes of Brown brilliance either side of half-time which played a key role in sparking Richmond to victory over the Kangaroos in their Round 11 clash last Saturday.
After being outplayed during the opening quarter, the Tigers had fought back to snatch a two-point lead with only six minutes remaining in the first half. Less than 15 minutes of playing time later – and after some Brown brilliance – the margin had blown out to 26 points; a gap which the Roos, despite their efforts, were unable to bridge.
Brown casts his first spell over Roo Cameron Thurley with just over five minutes left in the second term. With Brett Deledio ready to kick the Tigers forward, Nathan Brown calls for the ball about 25 metres out from goal.
As the ball comes in, Thurley seems in prime position to spoil, but that’s when Brown’s wizardry kicks in . . .
A quick stutter-step at the start of his lead throws Thurley off-balance and buys Brown a split-second to get free. Eyes intent on the ball’s flight, Brown pauses again, allowing Thurley to catch up, put one forearm in his back and the other around him ready to spoil.
At the last instant, however, Brown launches himself at the ball and simultaneously stoops over slightly, protecting the space the ball is going to drop into. Thurley, seemingly set for a simple spoil, is left punching at air as Brown leans forward and lets the ball fall onto his chest, swivelling to protect the ball as he falls to ground 40 metres from goal.
Kicking the goal from 50 metres out is comparatively easy in comparison . . . Brown is mobbed by teammates, the Tiger fans’ guttural roar clearly jubilant, and the lead is pushed out to eight points.
The goal sparks the Tigers, who pick up the intensity and kick another to extend the lead to 14 points by the long break.
Four minutes into the third quarter and the Tiger defence combines for a clearance – Nathan Foley chipping the ball to Brown in the centre of an increasingly misty MCG.
With nothing further ahead, Brown waits. Seconds tick by before he short passes to Dean Polo a further 15 metres closer to goal. But Brown hasn’t stood still . . . As soon as he’s kicked the ball he’s on the move, and two steps ahead of most others on the ground.
Polo spots Brown now reaching full speed and handballs to him as he runs by. Kangaroos’ opponents are caught on the hop by the move as Brown, realising the need to run the lines and carry the ball forward, motors away.
Now facing the Roos’ Daniel Wells – himself no stranger to magic tricks on the football field – Brown slows a touch, lulling his younger opponent into a trap.
Waiting until the last possible moment, Brown then, like lightning, handballs sideways to Greg Tivendale. Tivendale, now well in the clear, has the chance to bounce, steady and run to 40 metres out before blasting a left-foot goal to push the Tigers’ lead to 20 points.
Fast-forward just a couple of minutes and with the margin cut back to 14 points, it would be Brown, again weaving his magic, to the rescue.
This time it’s Andrew Raines kicking the ball long into the Richmond forward line and to Brown, in a one-out contest with Roo defender Joshua Gibson, only 25 metres from goal. Brown watches the flight and, as he subtly edges his opponent underneath the ball so it travels over both their heads, turns to chase.
But big Greg Stafford comes in and, pursued by his own opponent in Shannon Watt, he gathers and dishes back to Brown.
Now the Tiger conjurer is under pressure – corralled by a couple of Kangaroo defenders and hurtling towards the boundary line.
Yet, instinctively, he knows Stafford is now free of his opponent and in a little space, so, without really even turning and looking, Brown fires a handball back to the Tiger ruckman.
This sleight of hand has wrong-footed his opponents just enough to give Stafford the time to spot Kayne Pettifer unattended near the goalsquare – and it is there that Stafford’s kick lands, with Pettifer kicking truly to re-establish the Tigers’ 20-point lead.
Barely a minute later, and its Brown’s turn to go from goal-provider to goal-kicker.
A chain of handballs through the centre lands with the long-kicking Shane Tuck. Brown is now deep in the forward pocket, opposed to Daniel Pratt.
There’s no real magic to what happens next, although Brown with his clever football brain and vast experience, makes it appear like there is. Knowing Tuck’s raking kicks, Brown doesn’t charge forward – instead moving backwards a little towards goal and a couple of metres behind his younger opponent.
Tuck duly kicks long and it’s Brown, who is now able to run into space behind his opponent, with Pratt only able to watch despairingly as the ball sails over his head and into Brown’s safe hands.
The finish, from a tight angle, is all class.
Due in no small part to some Brown wand-waving, the Tigers have grabbed a tight game by the scruff of the neck and bolted to a comfortable lead.
And, that’s why players like Brown are worth their weight in gold to an AFL side . . .
yellowandblack.info
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=featurestories&spg=display&articleid=273470
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I heard Browny on the Gospel today say he's feeling pretty good and got through training well this week. He also said whether he played or not earlier in the year it wouldn't have made any difference to where he is now.
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Voss warns Brown
20 June 2006 Herald-Sun
David Hastie
RICHMOND star Nathan Brown would continue to experience post-match pain until the rod in the leg he broke last season was removed, Brisbane Lions captain Michael Voss said last night.
Voss suffered an horrific broken leg in 1998 in the Round 11 clash against Fremantle in Perth.
The five-time Lions best-and-fairest said he had suffered problems throughout his comeback season in 1999 after playing with a rod in his leg, similar to Brown.
``I had a fair bit of pain after the games,'' Voss said on Fox Sport's On The Couch.
``You wouldn't train much during the week and then you would sort of come up for the week after. It wasn't really an ideal way to be able to prepare.
``I don't know what Nathan is going to do, but he'll feel a massive difference once he gets that rod out of his leg at the end of the year.''
Voss said for him it was a trade-off between the security of having the rod in the leg and the post-match pain it brought.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,19525781%255E19742,00.html