North Melbourne debutant Luke Delaney thought that nightmare was about to come true when Brown, in his first game back for the Brisbane Lions since suffering facial fractures in round one, bounded forward following a Lions clearance from the opening bounce and took a chest mark directly in front of goal.
Thankfully for Delaney, the umpires picked out a free kick against Mitch Clark and Brown was unable to take his shot on goal.
"I was thanking my lucky stars - I had some doubts early on, I thought it was going to be a long night," Delaney said after the match.
The final score will show Brown went on to kick four goals and help his side to their first win of the season, but Delaney's colours weren't lowered against the superstar.
Two of Brown's goals came from 50m penalties by Scott McMahon and Scott Thompson, and Delaney, giving away seven kilograms to the Lions' skipper, had plenty of wins in one-on-one contests.
He finished with nine touches and three hard-ball gets.
"I was reasonably happy with my game, playing on the best in the business. It was always going to be a tough ask," Delaney said.
"I was honoured to play on him, I probably learnt more playing on him than my whole two years with the club."
Injuries to Nathan Grima and Ed Lower and Delaney's superb form in the VFL have been the catalyst for his elevation from the Kangaroo's rookie list.
His stay will probably be an extended one if coach Brad Scott's post-game words were anything to go by.
"Luke Delaney did a terrific job on Jonathan Brown. He is the best key forward in the competition when he is going and Luke did a great job," Scott said.
"It was just a matter of being able to elevate him from the rookie list and I thought he performed very well."
