Brown gives Richmond leg up
23 June 2007 Herald-Sun
Scott Gullan
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace last night lauded the return of Nathan Brown, describing him as the inspiration behind the Tigers' first win of the season.
Brown kicked three goals in his first game of the year as the Tigers broke their drought in stunning fashion, smashing Melbourne by 49 points.
While there were dominant Richmond players all over the MCG, Wallace could not hide his delight at the performance of Brown, who had missed the first 11 rounds because of complications with his broken leg.
"When you have got a young side out there, to get a quality player and someone they have wanted to play football with for a while, I think they walk a bit taller when that is the case," Wallace said.
"A couple of times throughout the game when a goal needed to be kicked, Nathan kicked a goal, and I think that just lifts the spirit of the younger group as well."
Starting in the forward pocket, Brown had two touches inside the opening minute before kicking his first goal at the 15-minute mark. He finished the match with 13 possessions, seven marks and 3.1 goals.
"He was outstanding, the first quarter in particular," Wallace said. "He set the scene with the way he played the first quarter.
"I think we had him out there a little bit longer than what we expected, and from our point of view, his performance was well over expectations."
Brown admitted to having an attack of the nerves leading in, but soon rediscovered his magic with the help of his teammates.
"I was a little bit nervous because you get to the point where you start thinking, `Can I do this any more? Have I lost it?," he said.
"The injury was through no fault of my own. It was just an unlucky injury, so when I got my first couple of touches and first couple of goals, I felt right at home again."
Wallace said the victory – the Tigers' first since Round 21 last year – gives the players confidence that they are on the right track.
"I have been really pleased with the guys. The spirit and camaraderie amongst the group has been excellent the whole way along the line," Wallace said.
"As much as external pressures come on and bullets are fired – they have every right to be fired when you are sitting on the bottom of the ladder – but they haven't had any impact internally.
"We have been very much on our line of where we believe we can go and where our future is. We don't think we have had much luck in regards to injuries and bits and pieces going on.
"We had a lot of young boys out there, I think we were 1000 games down on them again, so to see that sort of football . . . you never lose faith in what you believe, but it just re-enforces what we believe internally."
As much as he loved Brown's game, the Tigers coach was just as happy with another Matthew Richardson epic, which included 23 possessions, 16 marks and 3.6 goals.
"I thought he was the absolute package that everyone would expect from a Matthew Richardson game," Wallace said. "An outstanding game, work ethic of an absolute demon, it just fantastic with the way he worked and the rough edges that you would expect.
"Only Matthew could hit the post three times in the one match. I don't think anyone else could do it.
"To have those highs and the lows, that is why people come through the turnstiles."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21953671%255E20322,00.html
