- Dec 8, 2003
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'I think I will be booed every time I play them'
RICHMOND convert Nathan Brown expects to get booed by the Bulldog faithful for the rest of his life, but says he has nothing to prove against his old side in the Wizard Cup opener.
Brown quit the Bulldogs in acrimonious circumstances last October amid claims from some fans he had betrayed the club by joining Richmond.
A diplomatic Brown has made his peace with president David Smorgon and coach Peter Rohde, but is keener than ever to impress against the Dogs at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
"I am looking forward to it," he said. "The Bulldogs were good to me for seven years, and I would love nothing more than to have a good win first-up against them in the Wizard Cup, and I am really looking forward to just being out there and being amongst it.
"I think I will get a few boos here and there. That will be part and parcel of it . . . they will have a good memory and I think I will get booed every time I play them."
In the drawn-out trading negotiations Brown fell out with Dogs chief executive Campbell Rose and exchanged harsh words with the football department, but he has pledged to consign that troubled time to history.
"Yeah, there is no bitterness on my behalf any more," Brown said. "I have made the change now and I am keen to getting on with playing for Richmond.
"When I started at Richmond, I thought it was time to put it behind me. It had been a fairly tough off-season and I thought, 'Just put it behind me and have a clean break and get on with playing football'."
On Friday, he put on a display for Richmond fans in an intra-club match. He was prolific in the midfield, as well as adding a touch of class to the forward line.
Richmond plans to use him as a goal-scoring midfielder, but in truth would be happy with a replica of any of his past three seasons.
He was All-Australian with 467 touches and 32 goals from the midfield in 2001, followed that with 57 goals and 399 possessions the next year up forward, and last year tallied 333 possessions and 56 goals playing in attack again.
"My preference is a bit of both," he said. "I know I can kick goals down forward, and I know I can play well in the midfield because I played there a couple of years ago and did well. I guess I am best suited to the team playing 50-50, and trying to kick a few goals and run through the lines and set up a few as well.
"Me and 'Richo' (Matthew Richardson) have been working on a good relationship down there, and we are getting to know each other's games and it's going well. As the Wizard Cup goes on, and practice games, we can keep working on it, and then I can go upfield and feed him by foot.
"He is basically going to be positioned at full-forward, and he has put on a bit of weight and he is flying at the moment. He is looking 100 per cent."
Brown, 26 last week, has put on 3kg and will play at 80kg this year.
"It is a big year for me," he said. "Changing clubs, there is a lot of expectation to play good football . . . I have had a good preseason and will just go about it the way I have for the last couple of years and hopefully get a kick.
"We have got a great midfield, and the forward line is looking good, and with Darren Gaspar leading the backline there is no excuses if we don't make the finals this year.
"If we don't, we will have under-achieved. I want to play finals football and that's why I am there."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,8689309%5E19771,00.html
RICHMOND convert Nathan Brown expects to get booed by the Bulldog faithful for the rest of his life, but says he has nothing to prove against his old side in the Wizard Cup opener.
Brown quit the Bulldogs in acrimonious circumstances last October amid claims from some fans he had betrayed the club by joining Richmond.
A diplomatic Brown has made his peace with president David Smorgon and coach Peter Rohde, but is keener than ever to impress against the Dogs at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
"I am looking forward to it," he said. "The Bulldogs were good to me for seven years, and I would love nothing more than to have a good win first-up against them in the Wizard Cup, and I am really looking forward to just being out there and being amongst it.
"I think I will get a few boos here and there. That will be part and parcel of it . . . they will have a good memory and I think I will get booed every time I play them."
In the drawn-out trading negotiations Brown fell out with Dogs chief executive Campbell Rose and exchanged harsh words with the football department, but he has pledged to consign that troubled time to history.
"Yeah, there is no bitterness on my behalf any more," Brown said. "I have made the change now and I am keen to getting on with playing for Richmond.
"When I started at Richmond, I thought it was time to put it behind me. It had been a fairly tough off-season and I thought, 'Just put it behind me and have a clean break and get on with playing football'."
On Friday, he put on a display for Richmond fans in an intra-club match. He was prolific in the midfield, as well as adding a touch of class to the forward line.
Richmond plans to use him as a goal-scoring midfielder, but in truth would be happy with a replica of any of his past three seasons.
He was All-Australian with 467 touches and 32 goals from the midfield in 2001, followed that with 57 goals and 399 possessions the next year up forward, and last year tallied 333 possessions and 56 goals playing in attack again.
"My preference is a bit of both," he said. "I know I can kick goals down forward, and I know I can play well in the midfield because I played there a couple of years ago and did well. I guess I am best suited to the team playing 50-50, and trying to kick a few goals and run through the lines and set up a few as well.
"Me and 'Richo' (Matthew Richardson) have been working on a good relationship down there, and we are getting to know each other's games and it's going well. As the Wizard Cup goes on, and practice games, we can keep working on it, and then I can go upfield and feed him by foot.
"He is basically going to be positioned at full-forward, and he has put on a bit of weight and he is flying at the moment. He is looking 100 per cent."
Brown, 26 last week, has put on 3kg and will play at 80kg this year.
"It is a big year for me," he said. "Changing clubs, there is a lot of expectation to play good football . . . I have had a good preseason and will just go about it the way I have for the last couple of years and hopefully get a kick.
"We have got a great midfield, and the forward line is looking good, and with Darren Gaspar leading the backline there is no excuses if we don't make the finals this year.
"If we don't, we will have under-achieved. I want to play finals football and that's why I am there."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,8689309%5E19771,00.html
