Nathan Brown: Quite a ride.

[person_pitch]

From the official Collingwood site:

As Nathan Brown walked off after his final game of the 2007 season in the Williamstown reserves he turned to development coach Alan Richardson and declared: "I am never playing for Williamstown again".

It was a bold statement given the teenager had spent his entire first season at Collingwood with its VFL affiliate. But something had clicked inside Brown.
"I didn't just want to end up being a fizzer," he said. "I figured I was either going to end up being delisted or I was going to make something of it. So from that moment on I just really had a crack, I just really went 100 miles an hour at it."

Brown's anxiety had been heightened by the fact his twin brother, Mitch, had played five games in his first season with West Coast. The pair had been inseparable growing up on the family farm at Haddon, 20 minutes from Ballarat, and played all their junior football together before going to opposite ends of the country in the 2006 National Draft.

Nathan was the Magpies’ first pick at No.10; Mitch also went in the first round, at No.16 to West Coast. "We were really competitive in everything we did so I must admit watching him playing those games made me a bit angry," Brown said. "It made me push harder.”

Over the pre-season the 19-year-old transformed his body. If he was going to make it as the key position defender coach Mick Malthouse wanted, he had to start looking like one. He already had tremendous athleticism for his 195cm frame, thanks mainly to a brilliant junior basketball career which almost saw him try out for the NBL, yet he needed more bulk. In the space of four months, he added seven kg to a 91kg frame.

Written by Scott Gullan.

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/tabid/5586/Default.aspx?newsid=71007

 

[HFF]

Well, he got that right!

Even if he ends up being dropped, he will never have to turn up for Williamstown ever again!

 

[Dave The Man]

Must be just putting Snippets from the Black and White Season Yearbook up on the site

 

[mdc]

This sentence cracked me up:
"He already had tremendous athleticism for his 195cm frame, thanks mainly to a brilliant junior basketball career which almost saw him try out for the NBL, yet he needed more bulk."

...might use that as my new line if I want to impress somebody; "You know, I almost tried out for Collingwood!"

 

[FloreatPica17]

Nathan was the Magpies’ first pick at No.10;


... what happened to Ben Reid at pick No.8

 

[Jabso]

Nathan was the Magpies’ first pick at No.10;


... what happened to Ben Reid at pick No.8

He plays for Collingwood.

 

[duds0101]

Nathan was the Magpies’ first pick at No.10;


... what happened to Ben Reid at pick No.8

The article is about Nathan and who cares - Nath will be better than Ben IMHO.

 

[Skade]

I noticed Steven Gaertner went after Thoolen in the rookie draft, obviously we didn't rate him. I thought he'd be a good project player to help Nathan out down back when Presti retires. I know Dave likes him

Pick-57. St Kilda - Steven Gaertner
Steven finished the season 2008 off very well playing at CHB. Was very capable when going forward and occasionally into the ruck. His pace and run and carry were the standout features of his game. He represented Vic Metro in the 2008 NAB AFL U18 Championships, displaying his versatility playing at CHB and on the wing on occasions. The athletic tall recorded 2.87sec for 20m speed test and an outstanding beep test result of 14.3 at the Victorian NAB AFL State screening session. Steven was an AIS/AFL Academy graduate in 2007.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Nathan was the Magpies’ first pick at No.10;


... what happened to Ben Reid at pick No.8

Poor research, isn't it.

Browny was actually our first and only pick at #10. We didn't have any other picks at #10 after him, but luckily Dawes was our first and only pick at #28.

Gaertner is athletic to the billy-oh, but runs around like a headless chook. Very frustrating player.

 

[Dave The Man]

Poor research, isn't it.

Browny was actually our first and only pick at #10. We didn't have any other picks at #10 after him, but luckily Dawes was our first and only pick at #28.

Gaertner is athletic to the billy-oh, but runs around like a headless chook. Very frustrating player.

I agree about Gaetner you can defintaly see what he can become but he is so much of a Project and could take him along time to get there, Teams where bit Scared off him, Still would of taken him over Thoolen but Then again I don't know what Thoolen has shown since Pre-Season has Started

 

[person_pitch]

Poor research, isn't it.
Gaertner is athletic to the billy-oh, but runs around like a headless chook. Very frustrating player.

I'm kind of glad to hear that... reading that summary on Gaertner gave me the impression that all the nice things that we've heard about our recruits might not mean much. It's a little disheartening when every player drafted is reported as having some great qualities, given that only a certain number will make it.