He’s one of the hardest trainers at Arden St. and is always one of the last players off the track after a session, but Ben Brown takes little credit for his stunning form.
When asked about his ability to take contested marks and fly for a high ball, the Coleman Medal leader praises former team-mate Drew Petrie.
“I really admired the way Drew Petrie attacked the ball in the air and put a high price on making sure he didn’t get out-marked,” Brown told The Mercury.
“That’s one thing I’ve tried to improve as I’ve gone on and it’s something I like to hang my hat on.
“It’s a big driver for me, making sure the opposition isn’t able to drop off and mark the ball in front of me, and that I’m marking the ball or bringing it to ground.
“It’s something I value really highly.”
Brown has hundreds of shots on goal each week and believes practice makes perfect.
“The other thing I always want to make sure I’m doing is kicking the ball really straight and making the most of my opportunities,” he said.
Although he has 52 goals to his name with five games to go, Brown says individual awards aren’t important.
“It’s something that is there, you can’t ignore it, but at the same time I’ve just got to focus on the football that I’m playing,” he said.
“As long as I’m doing the best thing for the team, whether I finish on top of the goalkicking, or third or fifth or 10th, it doesn’t really matter.
“If everything pans out with the way I’m playing my football and that leaves me on top of the table, that’s great, but I’m focused on doing the best I can and getting us into the top eight at the end of the season to give us a good run at the finals.
“Kicking goals is important as part of my role, but there are a lot of other things my teammates rely on me doing as part of the team and I’ve got to make sure I’m doing those things as well.”
10th on the ladder, Brown says the upcoming game against the Eagles at Blundstone Arena is a must-win if North is any hope of playing finals.
“We came up short in a number of areas against Collingwood and we’ve looked at that today,” Brown said.
“We’ve got to make amends for it against West Coast, who are in a rich vein of form.”
