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Ben Brown (footballer)

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Ben Brown
Brown playing for North Melbourne in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Ben Brown
Place of birth Hobart, Tasmania
Original team(s) Werribee (VFL)/Glenorchy (TSL)/Devonport
Draft No. 47, 2013 national draft
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 101 kg (223 lb)
Position(s) Forward/ruckman[1]
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 50
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014–2020 North Melbourne 130 (287)
2021–2024 Melbourne 45 (73)
Total 175 (360)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2017 Australia 2 (2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Benjamin Brown (born 20 November 1992) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.[2][3]

Brown is well known for his unique, extremely long run up on set shots.[4][5]

AFL career

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North Melbourne (2014–2020)

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Brown played his junior football for Devonport Football Club, then played for Glenorchy Football Club in the Tasmanian State League before being selected 47th overall by North Melbourne in the 2013 national draft. After a development stint at then-Kangaroos affiliate Werribee in the VFL, Brown made his AFL debut in round 14, 2014 against Melbourne, kicking a goal and impressing coach Brad Scott enough to keep his spot the following week.

Brown went on to be an influential player in the North Melbourne team in the latter stages of the season, with strong performances in the finals series. He finished the 2014 season with 18 goals, improving in 2015 with 32 and once again in 2016 when he kicked 41 for the season and captured North Melbourne's leading goal kicker award for the first time.

In 2017, Brown kicked a career best 63 goals, allowing him to win North Melbourne's leading goal kicker award for the second straight year. Brown also finished third in the 2017 Coleman Medal behind Josh Kennedy (65) and Lance Franklin (69), with his form also paving the way to a spot in the preliminary 40-man All Australian squad. In 2018, Brown kicked 61 goals from 22 games, finishing second in the Coleman Medal behind Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt and once again being selected in the 40-man All-Australian team.

In round 22 of the 2019 season, Brown kicked a career high 10 goals in a 144–58 win over Port Adelaide. Brown became the first North Melbourne player to kick double-digit goals in a game since Wayne Carey did so back in 1999. He finished the 2019 season having kicked a career best 64 goals from 22 games, finishing second in the Coleman medal for a second year running behind Greater Western Sydney's Jeremy Cameron (67) and won the North Melbourne goal kicking award for the fourth year in a row. He again gained selection in the initial 40-man All-Australian team for the third year in a row but was again passed over for the final 22.

During the 2017, 2018 and 2019 home and away seasons Brown finished 3rd, 2nd and 2nd respectively in the Coleman Medal and kicked a combined total of 188 goals across 66 games, the most of any player in the AFL over that time period.

After a 2020 season hampered by injury in which he only played 9 games and kicked 8 goals, Brown was put up for trade by North Melbourne.[6] He eventually requested a trade to Melbourne, and was traded on the final day of the 2020 trade period.[7][8]

Melbourne (2021–2024)

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After an injury-hampered start to the 2021 season, Brown became a mainstay of the Demons’ forward line in the second half of the year and throughout the Demons’ finals campaign.[9] Brown scored three goals in Melbourne's 2021 AFL Grand Final win.[10]

After a slew of injuries as well as undergoing knee surgery, Brown announced his retirement from football on 19 August 2024.[11][12]

Personal life

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Brown is the grandson of footballer and politician Jim Manson and nephew of former Collingwood player James Manson.[13]

Brown attended secondary school at St Brendan Shaw College in Devonport. He has since completed a Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University in Victoria.[14]

Brown married Hester Mary MacKinnon on 14 October 2017, and they have two daughters.[15]

Brown is a vegan, celiac and an advocate for greater action on climate change.[16][17]

Statistics

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Updated to the end of 2024.[18]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2014 North Melbourne 50 11 18 9 66 41 107 49 17 1.6 0.8 6.0 3.7 9.7 4.5 1.5 1
2015 North Melbourne 50 22 32 17 152 72 224 99 21 1.5 0.8 6.9 3.3 10.2 4.5 1.0 2
2016 North Melbourne 50 22 41 18 174 65 239 115 28 1.9 0.8 7.9 3.0 10.9 5.2 1.3 0
2017 North Melbourne 50 22 63 30 180 76 256 120 27 2.9 1.4 8.2 3.5 11.6 5.5 1.2 14
2018 North Melbourne 50 22 61 24 186 60 246 100 24 2.8 1.1 8.5 2.7 11.2 4.5 1.1 6
2019 North Melbourne 50 22 64 34 187 57 244 108 25 2.9 1.5 8.5 2.6 11.1 4.9 0.3 8
2020[a] North Melbourne 50 9 8 8 49 13 62 31 6 0.9 0.9 5.4 1.4 6.9 3.4 0.7 0
2021# Melbourne 50 13 25 13 102 24 126 69 20 1.9 1.0 7.8 1.8 9.7 5.3 1.5 0
2022 Melbourne 50 19 30 19 114 59 173 79 17 1.6 1.0 6.0 3.1 9.1 4.2 0.9 0
2023[b] Melbourne 50 7 11 4 44 22 66 26 6 1.6 0.6 6.3 3.2 9.5 3.7 0.8 1
2024 Melbourne 50 6 7 4 26 11 37 18 2 1.2 0.7 4.3 1.8 6.2 3.0 0.3
Career 175 360 180 1280 499 1779 814 193 2.1 1.0 7.3 2.9 10.2 4.7 1.1 32

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ^ 2023 statistics include one game in which Brown was substituted out of the game (round 3) and was replaced by Jake Melksham.

Honours and achievements

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Team

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Ben Brown". North Melbourne Football Club. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  2. ^ "North Melbourne gives Werribee's Ben Brown the ultimate birthday present". Herald Sun. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  3. ^ "AFL draftee Ben Brown is ready to grab his chance with North Melbourne". Mercury. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  4. ^ Harrington, Anna (10 July 2018). "Ben Brown discusses his goal kicking routine and techniques contributing to his accuracy". foxsports.com.au. Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. ^ @AFL (20 July 2018). "It may be unusual, but it's effective! @FOXFOOTY compare Ben Brown's run-up to some other key forwards.#AFLPiesNorth" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 December 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Bye-bye, Ben? Big forward on trade table as Kanga clear-out rolls on". AFL Media. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Make me a Dee: Big Ben says it's time for a trade". AFL Media. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  8. ^ "North to Melbourne: Big Ben now a Demon". AFL Media. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  9. ^ "How the new Ben Brown has helped Melbourne to the cusp of a premiership". 9 September 2021.
  10. ^ "AFL grand final: Melbourne win first AFL Premiership for 57 years in bulldogs thrashing". Sporting News. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  11. ^ https://x.com/melbournefc/status/1825438176611274863?s=46&t=TGif9H5gbH55wGTb24y8dA [bare URL]
  12. ^ "Ben Brown has undergone knee surgery". 25 January 2024.
  13. ^ Ben Brown is North Melbourne's man of the moment and a heart-warming story
  14. ^ "All round nice guy Ben Brown kicking goals on and off the field – DScribe". Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Tassie's star Roo scores big in love". The Mercury. 17 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Ben Brown – World Vegan Day Melbourne". Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  17. ^ "'We all have a role': More than 260 Australian rules footballers sign up to climate campaign". TheGuardian.com. 16 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Ben Brown statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
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