Broken Brown out for the season
28 May 2005
Herald Sun
Mark Robinson
SICKENING scenes of gun forward Nathan Brown cradling a leg with the bone snapped in half ended a disastrous night for Richmond at Telstra Dome last night.
The Tigers were mauled by 57 points – 20.11 (131) to 11.8 (74) – for their third loss, but worse, will lose their premier match-winner for the remainder of the season.
Brown was accidentally fallen on by Melbourne opponent Matthew Whelan after he had wheeled on to his his favourite left for a shot at goal. Whelan's momentum as he attempted to spoil carried him over Brown's right leg.
It was confirmed after the match the fibula and tibia bones had snapped in half and he was taken to Vimy House to be operated on immediately.
So comprehensive was the break that the bone could be seen pushing against the skin.
That scene was not unlike the incident involving Michael Voss at Subiaco in 1998. Voss also snapped the bone and, like Brown, could see his leg at right angles.
The popular Brown, with teammates Matthew Richardson and Wayne Campbell standing over him, seemed in shock, showing no visible signs of pain as he lay on the ground.
He sat there, his two arms supporting is dangling right leg, waiting for medical assistance.
Coach Terry Wallace was visibly shattered post-match, asking, on his way down from the coaching box, the extent of Brown's injury.
Wallace, a close friend of Brown's, said he could not watch the replay on the TV.
"You know him as a person probably closer than anyone else," Wallace said. "I've got a really strong relationship with him and at the time I didn't really want to see it.
"The guys, as soon as they saw it, just their expressions was enough for me not to even look at it.
"Obviously, I knew he was gone and he was in trouble so I didn't even have a look at it.
"It's been a disastrous night for everyone at the club, but unfortunately that's the nature of the business we're in.
"But as I said to the boys we've got to try to keep the spirits in the place up and that's the responsibility of us as a playing group."
The atmosphere in the rooms was one of devastation.
Brown's business adviser Oberon Pirak was there and told officials Brown's mother had rang him asking for information.
Tigers football director Greg Miller described the incident as sickening.
Club doctor Greg Hickey also seemed stunned by the extent of the injury, and fielded inquiries from president Clinton Casey and Miller.
He administered Brown pethidine in the rooms.
"He'll probably have a rod put down the tibia to fix it, possibly a plate as well," Hickey said. "Basically you have to fix that fracture in the correct position and it looked like that shouldn't be too hard to do, but then the bone's got to heal.
"He certainly was very calm, but I think he was in pain. Brownie is very tough, and he is very much in control, but I'm sure he was in a lot of pain. It certainly is one of the worst."
Commentator Brian Taylor, a specialist coach at Richmond, was in the rooms when Brown was brought in on the stretcher.
Taylor was amazed at Brown's calmness and ability to communicate. "He was calm. He was in complete control. He was talking openly to anyone who wanted to talk to him," Taylor said.
"He couldn't believe it when he looked down and saw the leg pointing in the opposite direction and that's why he refused to look at it from that point in time because he knew he was in trouble. I've never seen anything like it."
Brown's teammates, Campbell and Richardson, also were shattered post-match.
"I saw his leg, I knew it wasn't good," Campbell said.
"I just wanted to check if he was OK. I knew he wasn't OK, but I just asked if he was all right, which is probably a pretty stupid question.
"He actually looked calm. I don't know if it was shock or what it was, but he looked calm and I didn't expect that."
Said Richardson: "You're flat as a tack when you see when one of your mates down like that. He obviously was in a bit of shock and I don't think he probably knew what was going on."
Richardson panicked when the umpire stopped the game for the stretcher. "I thought something was wrong and then they showed the replay and you could see from that something had happened."
Calling on Channel Nine, Eddie McGuire, a good friend of Brown's, said he had tears in his eyes.
"It absolutely took all the spirit out of us. We were calling a great game. We were so excited, and as a commentator and football lover, seeing that, I was shattered," McGuire said.
"I actually had tears in my eyes when I saw it. Maybe because I know Brownie so well and I know what his footy means to him, but no doubt it was unbelievable."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,15431060%255E19771,00.html
