Nathan Brown

[HFF]

Since we have had a thread on almost every player on our senior list, I thought I'd entertain a Nathan Brown one.

Seems to be alot of negativity surrounding Browny's form and/or development.

There have been suggestions he is perhaps "overweight" which is affecting his mobility/agility for a key defender.

Others suggest his form does not warrant senior selection.

Others have even gone to extreme measures and suggested that he should be played at CHF.

Perhaps he is suffering since Presti has returned?

My thoughts are firstly, we no longer have James Clement and Shane Wakelin. Our defensive stocks are very young, except for Presti.

Browny's development has been very good to date and needs to play another full season to fast-track his development for next season he is to take over from Presti when he most likely retires and becomes our #1 backman. We cannot afford to just drop him. That will do nobody any good.

I don't necessarily see his weight as an issue. He is a strapping young lad and will continue to get fitter and stronger with many more pre-seasons. Perhaps he is suffering a little from second year blues?

As for CHF? He could potentially have a few stints in the forward line, depending on match-ups, however, he is first and foremost our future full-back and needs to be left there to learn the caper and master it, even if we are feeding him to the wolves.

As for form, hasn't been overly great but was solid on the Tomahawk last night. Hawkins kicked 2 goals, 1 in junk time, so it was a solid effort from Browny defensively. My only query is he just needs to be more composed and not just blaze at times.


Your thoughts?

 

[mattys123]

He hasnt started the season well, but then again, there are few at Collingwood who have.

I hope he is just having a case of second year blues, although his ability to close on players late seems to have diminished.

I'll reserve my judgment on him till next year, when as you say, Presti wont be there and he will be relied up solely as our full back.

Next week he needs to play, who else other then Presti or Leigh Brown could handle Brown and Bradshaw.

 

[StillWaiting5689]

This is his third season at Collingwood not his second.
He hasn't been plaing great football this year but I'm sure he will get better as the year goes on. Your right in saying he needs a bit more composure, kicking it as far as you can out of the backline straight to the opposition is useless, we did that a few times last night. He didn't get destroyed last night but Hawkins still got 2 goals and did what was required and expected of him from Geelongs viewpoint. Also if he can't move around with Hawkins then he is in trouble because Tommy is a monster big man who uses his size rather than his extreme pace, mobility and agility.

 

[wixism]

I thought he did alright last night
I might make a player profile video of him last night to see the answer
I recon he kept Hawkins very quiet last night

 

[mattys123]

This is his third season at Collingwood not his second.
He hasn't been plaing great football this year but I'm sure he will get better as the year goes on. Your right in saying he needs a bit more composure, kicking it as far as you can out of the backline straight to the opposition is useless, we did that a few times last night. He didn't get destroyed last night but Hawkins still got 2 goals and did what was required and expected of him from Geelongs viewpoint. Also if he can't move around with Hawkins then he is in trouble because Tommy is a monster big man who uses his size rather than his extreme pace, mobility and agility.

It's effectively his second season, as he didnt play one senior game in year one at the club, that's why in most minds it is his second "real" season.

 

[Thommo 42]

he is a full back, but is playing CHB on more mobile forwards now that Presti has returned.

 

[DaVe86]

Think he is out of form. Seems a step behind the forwards at the moment.

Still obviously very young. You cant expect a player like Brown to peak until another 3 years. Its still all a learning curve from him.

He obviously burst onto the scenes last year. Realistically, its like 2nd year blues. Most players experience it. (i realise this is his 3rd year on the list but 2nd actually playing)


The problem is that we need him at full capacity to be a threat. It is hurting us having him down on form

 

[Quicky]

I was at the game last Thursday and watched Brown pretty closely. The thing that struck me most was that his fitness is horrendous. I watched one passage of play where Hawkins led him up the HFF after we had regained possession in our D50. We turned the ball over up the ground so Hawkins arched around and took off towards FF again, all the while Brown followed Hawkins but always about 2-3 paces off. By the time they made it back to FF Brown was so stuffed he couldn't even man Hawkins up and left the job to Cox to be his direct opponent. Brown was just standing around in no mans land unable to effect the play. Now i'm not sure why he has these fitness problems but this is whats holding him back. It's probably a combination of the extra muscle he has put on and the fact he is still a pretty young raw KPP that is taking too much of the burden in our backline. It seems to me that Brown is only a pace off getting a spoil on most of his contests and this lack of fitness is probably the difference in this. He might just need a bit more of a spell during games to stay fresh.

 

[rand corp]

Struggling to keep his man quiet down back at the moment, seems to lack both the mobility and awareness to be with his man at the contest.

Worrying signs, needs to tighten up, but that awareness of where your man is going and where the ball is going to fall and being right there on him is a skill that not all big guys seems to be able to learn and develop.

If we had the depth I'd recommend sending him to the VFL to play full back for a few weeks but, we certainly don't have the depth in KP defenders.

Wouldn't it be ironic if Ried ended up a CHB and Brown a CHF!

We certainly need Brown to work it out soon or I can see us giving someone else a go and we don't have room in the side for Presti, Brown, Rocca, Travis, Jack and another big KP player you'd think.

 

[FuManchu]

Looks lost, I reckon he is more creative than the role he is forced to play. Throw him up forward, push Cloke deeper.

 

[Dave The Man]

He hasnt started the season well, but then again, there are few at Collingwood who have.

I hope he is just having a case of second year blues, although his ability to close on players late seems to have diminished.

I'll reserve my judgment on him till next year, when as you say, Presti wont be there and he will be relied up solely as our full back.

Next week he needs to play, who else other then Presti or Leigh Brown could handle Brown and Bradshaw.

Yeah I do agree he has seemed to lose his closing speed and that is a worry we can all remember last year how he closed on a players to spoil at right time.

Though not seems to be suited to CHB because he plays on Smaller and more Mobile players and he struggles agaisnt.

Be intresting to see how he goes against the Lions where he will get a Big Tall in J Brown or Bradshaw

 

[Dave The Man]

Wouldn't it be ironic if Ried ended up a CHB and Brown a CHF!

I would not Rule that out, I reckon he could do quite well in the Forward line as he has Presense,Can Tackle and is a great set shot on goal

 

[Quicky]

Looks lost, I reckon he is more creative than the role he is forced to play. Throw him up forward, push Cloke deeper.

I wouldn't want to see this as a long term option (long term he should still developed as our FB/CHB) but I don't think it would be a bad thing to develop his versatility and take away the responsibility of CHB as he seems a bit stale there atm. It's interesting that both Brown and Anthony were having a shocker against Geelong - we could quite easily have thrown Anthony back onto Hawkins, Brown to CHF and Cloke to FF. We wouldn't have lost anything as both Anthony and Brown were being beaten and Cloke was having a bad day too. Cloke would have been more dangerous for us at FF than on a wing, Brown would have stretched a short defense and Anthony could not possibly have played worse than Brown was on Hawkins.

 

[FuManchu]

I wouldn't want to see this as a long term option (long term he should still developed as our FB/CHB) but I don't think it would be a bad thing to develop his versatility and take away the responsibility of CHB as he seems a bit stale there atm. It's interesting that both Brown and Anthony were having a shocker against Geelong - we could quite easily have thrown Anthony back onto Hawkins, Brown to CHF and Cloke to FF. We wouldn't have lost anything as both Anthony and Brown were being beaten and Cloke was having a bad day too. Cloke would have been more dangerous for us at FF than on a wing, Brown would have stretched a short defense and Anthony could not possibly have played worse than Brown was on Hawkins.

Hawkins would have monstered Anthony. Have a look at Anthony's build compared to Hawkins, he is built like a jockey's whip. Hawkins in one contest against two of our players in the goal square, just held his ground pushing them out with his body and marked the ball like they didnt exist.

 

[shawthing09]

His form was poor towards the end of last season as well and right through the NAB cup.

That all said I think it is important to remember his age and the role he is playing. Young key defenders tend to take ages to show anything. Just because he managed to jump out of the blocks early then expected doesn't mean he is going to be able to maintain that level. He is still very much learning his craft and with experince will get better. I don't think he is overweight (fat) but I do think it would be helpful for him to tone down the muscle a little.

At the end of the day he is also struggling a bit with some of his match ups with Presti back. Nathan will be fine, he still has all the great attributes that saw him jump out of the blocks early. Playing on a few more mobile mismatch fowards will probably help him learn how to deal with his limitations (like Presti has done) anyway. His still got great size, strength, closing speed and is a very good natural spoiler of the ball. Moving him to CHF is not an option IMO because he is the big key defender we can build our backline around.

I think for the moment there is a good arguement for horses for courses selections. Sides like Geelong, Melbourne, Nth Melbourne and the dogs who are lacking in the big key foward department probably only warrant one of Presti or Brown in the side. Whether we choose to stick with Browny for development and to give Presti a rest, or to give Brown a run in the VFL I don't know.

 

[Quicky]

Hawkins would have monstered Anthony. Have a look at Anthony's build compared to Hawkins, he is built like a jockey's whip. Hawkins in one contest against two of our players in the goal square, just held his ground pushing them out with his body and marked the ball like they didnt exist.

I don't think so. Maybe if they were in a one on one marking contest jostling under the ball but most of Hawkins shots on goal came from leads. There are plenty of defenders Anthonys size that regularly take big KPF like Hawkins - Bolton, Morris, Lake, Scarlett and Fisher are a few off the top of my head. Anthony is hardly a weak build anyway.