Retired Jonathan Brown #3 (1999-2014)

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Dylan12

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Sep 7, 2007
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Jonathan Brown’s retirement announcement could not have happened any other way

NOT A tear, not a sniffle, not a red eye. Could Jonathan Brown’s retirement announcement have happened any other way? It’s for more complicated footballers than Brown to wobble publicly in the emotion of stepping away from the sport that has been a life’s focus and be confronted by a life without it. The toughness and resilience with which Brown has lived his football career, despite a week of soul searching about whether he was capable of playing again, would not allow him to falter like other men. It’s just not in his make-up. Trying to find a word to describe Brown, who retired yesterday after 256 games for the Brisbane Lions and 594 goals, Leigh Matthews settled on “unique’’.

Loyalty was a big factor in Brown rejecting a second chance to join Collingwood for the 2009 season and also will be a reason why he will continue to work with the young Lions forwards Michael Close, Jackson Paine and Jonathan Freeman. “I want to be involved in the club going forward, probably not in a full-time basis, post 2014,’’ Brown said. “I can’t go cold turkey on the footy club and I’d like to be part of the ride that’s being created here. Hopefully there will be success not too far around the corner.’’
 

Dylan12

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Brisbane Lions champion Jonathan Brown was loved by all, writes Mark Robinson

WHEN I remember Jonathan Brown I think of that mark. It was 2002 against Hawthorn and Brown launches himself at an oncoming Jade Rawlings and Alastair Lynch and takes a high chest mark. The commentators don’t speak, they roar. We all did. And still do. Watched it again yesterday and “ahhhed” again. “That was unbelievable,” he said. “That’s one of the best marks I’ve seen.” Brown retired on Monday, and not surprisingly he did it kicking and screaming. In the end, he went out with a busted face and a concussion and you probably knew it was always going to be so. If not, Brown would’ve wanted to play forever. He was a warrior, he was brave, he was footballer’s footballer. When Chris Scott was asked recently to describe exactly what that meant, he said: “He is a player his teammates love to play with.”

That sums up Brown. But he was more than that. He was player admired by fans, respected by opposition, loved by all. He’d smoke a dart (occasionally), drink a beer and then at the weekend go out and kick eight and strut as if he was Wayne Carey. Can remember a night when Carey, Brown and Dermott Brereton, the school of centre half-forwards, shared a drink at a hot spot in Prahran. Carey and Brown are similar types and drank pots, while Brereton was likely on his favourite drink, Pernod and diet coke. Brown was a young bloke then, but he didn’t look out of place beside the other two. Between them, they won 10 premierships. In order of greatness, you’d go Carey, Brereton then Brown. Carey would probably have Brown before Brereton, going by this tweet yesterday: “J brown at he’s (sic) best there was no one better.. Congrats on a great career #kingbrown.” So much of Brown was uniquely Brownie. The way he would point the finger in the air after kicking a goal, how he always wore strapping around the wrist, the manner in which we walked, as if he had basketballs under his arm pits.

There was something endearing about Brown’s gravelly voice. He was part John Wayne, part son of a Warrnambool farmer and part drinker, smoker and singer. Who else would sing Sweet Caroline on national television? They say he also loved Brown-Eyed Girl. Blokes like that about Brownie because, like it or not, blokes like to sing when they’re well refreshed. The best part was Brownie thought he could sing, that his voice and beat moved to the rhythm. The decision yesterday was not a surprise and when Leigh Matthews, his coach in the three-peat, spoke about him last week, it felt like a fait accompli. When Matthews urged him to retire, I couldn’t help think that it sounded like a father telling a son to let it go.

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Dylan12

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Blokes you'd want to have a beer with

IN all the tributes that flowed for the retiring Lions legend Jonathan Brown, one stood out. Browny was the bloke everyone would most want to have a beer with. You know the blokes you desperately want to avoid when you settle in for a session. The big-noters, the name-droppers, the blokes who disappear just before it is their shout. Yet Brown not only has enough yarns to fill an epic footy trip, he has a man cave with Carlton on tap in his own backyard. It wouldn’t be a short afternoon and it might just end with the mother of all hangovers. But surely any boss who sacked you after pulling a sickie because of a Jon Brown-induced hangover is a bum. So here are our top ten footballers — past and present — who we would love to spend a long Sunday arvo with knocking down pots.

1. Jon Brown.
For obvious reasons. Loves a drink. Has good form on the Greyhounds given his links to the dishlickers in Warnambool. As Michael Voss has already stated, has enough respect to pick his own songs on the jukebox with no one else complaining. Three flags, took the mark of the century and has his own cricket pitch in the front yard to work off a few of those carbs. Probably amazing a pool and darts too. Enough said.

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BlackGun1

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Oct 13, 2007
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It was no better feeling than seeing him and his family take up the entire space of the Courier Mail backpage. To be able to take up the entire headline of such a league-centric paper goes to show the impact he had on all sports followers, not just us.
 

Dylan12

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A baby girl for Browns

Just two days after announcing his retirement from football, Jonathan Brown and wife Kylie are thrilled to announce that they have welcomed the latest member to their family. Macy Rose Brown arrived safely on Wednesday morning, weighing in at 6 pounds and 7 ounces, and measuring 48cm.

Both mother and baby are doing well. Macy is the third child of the Brown family, joining big sister Olivia, 4, and big brother Jack, 18 months.

Congratulations!!!
 
I would like to see the No 16 put in mothballs for a few years....at least until we have another player worthy of it.

..and if there isn't such a player, leave it there.

Could see one Lewis Taylor slipping quite easily into brownies guernsey literally and figuratively. Don't think we want to lump it on a KPF. The pressure would be enormous. Nice link to his area and you just get the feeling that lewy has some of those traits that made brown so loved
 

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Dylan12

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Brown praised in Parliament

Such was the enormity of Jonathan Brown’s retirement announcement on Monday that tributes flowed for the Brisbane Lions’ champion in the Victorian State Parliament on Tuesday. Bill Sykes MP, who played 48 games with Fitzroy from 1979-81 and is now the State Member for Benalla, made the following statement at the Parliament assembly on 24 June 2014.

“Hats off to Jonathan Brown, who announced his retirement yesterday. Jonathan Brown was a champion footballer and a great leader. He was the real deal; when the going got tough you could always count on Browny. He was country boy tough, not pretty city boy strong. He was courage personified; he ran straight, was hard at the ball and got the hard ball. Thanks, Browny” – Dr Sykes (Benalla)
 

Dylan12

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Loyalty in tough times deserves respect

THEY started their careers a year apart, both destined for the greatness they ultimately were to achieve.It looks likely they¹ll finish their careers a year apart, too. This week, one of them called time. The other was forced to defend his decision to play out his remaining time with a beleaguered club.

It wasn't meant to be this way for Jonathan Brown and Nick Riewoldt. Not in ideal world scenarios anyway. Brown this year wanted to lead a shell-shocked group of young men if not back up the AFL ladder but back to a self-respecting state, after several young, promising players chose to leave and the board had decided to knife its club legend coach. Instead, Brown has retired a broken man at a broken club, after one too many brutal knocks to his head.

Brisbane Lions and St Kilda, the teams of Brown and Riewoldt, are the AFL's problem children. They sit last and second-last on the ladder, both with just three wins from 13 matches, and most damningly, both with percentages less than 60. The near future for the Lions and Saints is distressingly bleak.With the AFL's new toy, Gold Coast, just 80 kilometres south down the road, the Lions have been neglected to the point of disaster. Brown was its one real link to the gloried and glorious early 2000s. There's massive debt at the Lions, too.

Brown and Riewoldt both had multiple, enticing offers to leave their clubs during their careers. The most exciting of those offers for both men came from Collingwood president Eddie McGuire. When it became known Carlton would secure Chris Judd, McGuire made an almighty pitch for Brown. The pitch was this: 'You've done all you can at the Lions. Now picture this: you, leading Collingwood out on to the MCG, to go and toss the coin against Juddy and the Blues.' As difficult as it is to stomach for Lions and Saints supporters, McGuire had every right to target these two superstars. And he nearly pulled off both approaches. Brown mulled it for some time. He had to. Riewoldt did too. Both would have been entitled to accept the overtures and no one, not even their most die-hard supporters, would have begrudged them deep down. But that they said 'no' says everything that needs to be said about these two grand football club warriors.

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Should I even be surprised that Barrett condones Eddie's behaviour and even has a sense of resignation that Eddie was unable to prise Brown or Riewoldt from their respective clubs.
 

MacMum

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I thought it was an excellent article about two greats of the game and their loyalty to their clubs. That Eddie tried to poach them is very annoying from our pov, but is a natural part of recruiting, we have probably done likewise at times.

The article mentions how we have been neglected (which is a perfect word for our situation) to the point of disaster in favour of the Gold Coast. I view that as a shot at the AFL.

..just my take on it, but I thought it was good.
 
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MacMum

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Got a real surprise late last night...turned on SEN after 10pm in time to hear the guys say they were to talk to the great JB!!

One of the two hosts actually knows him (he has mentioned it before) anyway, it was very good, a bit different than usual...JB talked of being daddy daycare, also HE had been weaning little Jack off his bottle, JBjnr hated his daddy for a while, but all good now:p....next is to teach him to climb trees!

Kylie had her first girls night out on saturday night since having the baby and didn't get home until 3am!....JB wants to know what she was doing until then!

..it was a good interview...he talked about hoping to stay at the club on a part time basis for a while, also about the problems facing the club.
 

Panthera

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Feb 15, 2008
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Got a real surprise late last night...turned on SEN after 10pm in time to hear the guys say they were to talk to the great JB!!

One of the two hosts actually knows him (he has mentioned it before) anyway, it was very good, a bit different than usual...JB talked of being daddy daycare, also HE had been weaning little Jack off his bottle, JBjnr hated his daddy for a while, but all good now:p....next is to teach him to climb trees!

Kylie had her first girls night out on saturday night since having the baby and didn't get home until 3am!....JB wants to know what she was doing until then!

..it was a good interview...he talked about hoping to stay at the club on a part time basis for a while, also about the problems facing the club.

Same :D
 

MacMum

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Who are those two guys on that show?...and how would one of them be friends with JB I wonder?....he is friends enough to stay at JB's house, so must know him well. He sounds quite young I thought.

(actually they annoy me the way the continually talk over each other and prattle on, but I'd still rather them than Finey)
 

MacMum

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JB is now on twitter..

..and isn't Olivia a little replica and toughnut like her dad! (photo on top of twitter page)

also, could someone please tell me how I can view Instagram.....just want to sticky beak at photos:)
 
JB is now on twitter..

..and isn't Olivia a little replica and toughnut like her dad! (photo on top of twitter page)

also, could someone please tell me how I can view Instagram.....just want to sticky beak at photos:)
Only by downloading the app if you have apple or Google play if you have android - or by people sharing pics on twitter etc.
 

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