FOOTBALL
TAC CUP
By samuel darroch
COLLINGWOOD premiership player Leigh Brown endured a brutal baptism to the coaching caper as assistant at AFL club Melbourne, but the hardships helped harden the incoming Gippsland Power coach.
The 31 year-old Heyfield native returned to his old stomping ground in Morwell on Monday vastly changed from the fresh faced teenager who won the Power’s best and fairest in 1999.
Brown brings 15 years and 246 games of AFL experience back to Gippsland, but the greatest learning tool came after his retirement as a player in 2011 when he joined the ailing Dees to develop their forward line.
Far from looking to exorcise his Melbourne demons after a fruitless tenure, Brown will harness the lessons learnt at the AFL’s school of hard knocks in the TAC Cup.
“I had some great guys around and learnt a lot, you seem to learn a lot more when you’re losing than when you win, winning can gloss over a fair few things,” he said.
“I certainly know more about the game now, more than when I was a player for sure. The last two years, although not great in terms of wins and losses, were good for development and learning a lot about the game.”
The journeyman, who became just the second player to rack up 50 games at three different AFL clubs in his final season at Collingwood, has previous TAC Cup coaching experience, having worked with the Calder Cannons for several years.
Now taking to the helm for the first time, Brown was hopeful the club that launched his AFL playing career would do the same for his coaching aspirations.
“It was the perfect time for my development to coach my own team, develop my skillset and have the ability to make the decisions rather than throw up ideas – it was important in my future as a coach,” he said.
The former Heyfield senior premiership player began official duties on Monday at Power’s regional training session in Maffra, ahead of an arduous culling process to reach a final squad of about 38 from a pool of 160 players.
While Brown is not yet intimate with players currently entrenched in the Power system, he has kept a keen eye on the club since his departure.
“I think it’s just part of the country DNA that we all have, you seem to focus and keep close attention on people you know around you in different teams and different sports and also the clubs you’ve been at; I’ve kept a close eye on how they’re tracking,” he said.
Brown said he had no plans to make wholesale changes from predecessor Nick Stevens’ formula and would instead focus on bringing the playing group up to par with AFL standards.
“I don’t think you can change too much in terms of game style… I think I’ve got some skills and some knowledge that can bring some basic AFL fundamentals to these guys and fast-track their development, particularly when they get into an AFL system,” he said.
“So many times I’ve seen players come in and they’re so far behind the eight ball straight away because they’re just so far off in say a defensive area of their game.
“If I can upskill them in that area and fast-track them a little bit, maybe it’s only 15 or 20 per cent at this level, but that will hold them in good stead going forward.”
As a relatively young coach not long out of the game, Brown said retaining a player’s perspective would be key to building relationships with his new team.
Power is currently holding regional training sessions prior to a full squad session in Morwell next month.
FULL CIRCLE
1999
Gippsland Power best and fairest. Gippsland Power coaches award.
Drafted at pick number five to AFL club Fremantle.
2000
Played 21 out of 22 games for the Dockers in debut season.
2001
Fremantle best clubman award.
2002
Traded to North Melbourne where he played 118 games for 64 goals.
2008
Delisted at North Melbourne. Drafted to Collingwood at pick 73.
2009
Played 23 games for the Magpies and kicked 10 goals.
2010
Played in Collingwood’s premiership team.
2011
Retired from AFL. Melbourne Demons forward line coach.
2014
Gippsland Power coach
