Brown forecasts 90,000 crowd
richmondfc.com.au
By David Reed
1:27 PM Wed 18 March, 2009
RICHMOND veteran Nathan Brown has forecast a crowd of 90,000 for the season opener against Carlton at the MCG next Thursday.
And Brown says the game will be the perfect dress rehearsal for finals, which the Tigers aim to play in 2009.
"If we want to play finals over the coming years then there is no bigger finals atmosphere than 90,000 in round one against Carlton, so you've got to soak up that sort of pressure and see how you handle it," Brown said before training at Victoria Park on Wednesday.
He also said he had full confidence that Ben Cousins would have an immediate impact on the competition, after picking up 25 possessions in the final NAB Challenge match on the Gold Coast last weekend.
"He ran well. He looked good, he looked sharp and he is just excited to be playing football again really above all else," Brown said.
"Everyone is pretty excited about it, there are going to be 90,000 people, everyone is looking forward to Ben playing his first game and obviously an old rival like Carlton certainly gets the juices flowing.
"We'll have a few hard sessions over the next couple of days then ease up going into next week and then hit them with everything."
Brown said he felt a changed mood around the club in the lead-up to this season.
"At the start of every pre-season you think it is a great vibe but there is something a little bit different in the air this year," he said.
"We've got a good list of players and its going to be hard to get a game. That's when you become a good side when good players are actually missing out and playing at VFL level."
Brown suggested he would spend more time on the ball in 2009 after an injury-free pre-season. "I'll probably play half-forward and roll up on to the footy a fair bit like I did a few years back," he said.
"We have got a very good forward line, we kicked a lot of goals last year and our midfield is pretty strong now so wherever I can get a game I guess."
The club has limited the training loads on Brown, Matthew Richardson and Joel Bowden, which Brown said had kept them fresh.
"We've only trained Monday, Wednesday and Friday," he said. "We haven't done as much as the other guys but it has been a good pre-season and I feel ready to go.
"We've got guys like Mitch Morton, obviously Richo is tearing the competition apart at 34, he is the Benjamin Button of the competition at the moment, and Ben Cousins, Nathan Foley and Brett Deledio, they are going to be the guys tearing the game apart.
"If I can do my bit I'm happy."
While Brown has enjoyed his best pre-season since 2005, young midfielder Trent Cotchin faces a lengthy stretch on the sidelines with an achilles injury.
"It is disappointing for a young guy because he just wants to get out there, learn what the game's about and show all the people why he is so highly regarded," Brown said.
"But he will come back and be one of the premier midfielders in the competition."
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