We're all to blame - Nathan Brown
Cheryl Critchley | April 17, 2009
RICHMOND star Nathan Brown said the Tiger players were behind embattled coach Terry Wallace and equally responsible for the side's poor start to the season.
Brown also revealed he feared he would not play again after breaking his leg in 2005.
Brown, who is fronting a campaign to ensure all homes are disability-friendly, played his past three seasons in pain.
This has been his first pain-free year, excluding the emotional agony of Richmond's 0-3 start.
Brown revealed that despite media speculation about Wallace's future, the coach had been upbeat at Punt Rd this week and the team was confident of beating Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
"He's been pretty high-spirited," Brown said.
"He's been the one who's making sure everyone's up and confident."
Brown said players should share the blame for Richmond's winless start and sacking the coach was not the answer.
"The coach is obviously the one who cops it," he said. "All the players are behind Terry 100 per cent. You don't want changes this early in the season because it just throws everything into chaos."
Brown is supporting the State Government's Build for Life campaign, which wants all homes to have accessibility features such as wider doors and hallways, stepless entries and big ground-floor bathrooms with lever taps and stepless showers.
After breaking his leg Brown needed help to get to the toilet and the kitchen for several weeks, and could not walk for three months.
While he was not clinically depressed, Brown said there were a couple of times when he thought, "I don't know whether I can come back from this".
"I was just hoping to be normal again at some stage, just wanting to be pain-free," he said.
"I had some dark days. I wouldn't call it depression, I'd call it anger.
"I was very determined to get back."
About 3500 Victorians end up in hospital each year with fractures and other footy injuries.
More than one in five Victorians are aged over 60, have a disability or care for someone who has one.
All need well-designed homes, but only 4 per cent are considered fully accessible.www.buildforlife.com.au
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25343908-19742,00.html
