Newly re-signed Adelaide Crows defender Luke Brown looking forward to playing on former teammate Eddie Betts
Newly re-signed Crows lockdown defender Luke Brown will have his work cut out in Round 10 of the 2020 season when his former teammate-turned Carlton forward Eddie Betts returns to Adelaide Oval for the first time.
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One of the biggest challenges facing newly re-signed Adelaide Crow Luke Brown in 2020 will be when he lines up on his former teammate, the mercurial Eddie Betts.
The dynamite small forward, who sought a trade from West Lakes to return to his origin club Carlton at the end of last season, will return to Adelaide Oval with his Blues teammates for the first time in Round 10 on Saturday, May 23.
Brown, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Crows on Monday after 135 games, is Adelaide’s go-to lockdown defender and will likely have the job of nullifying Betts during the clash.
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Speaking on 5AA radio on Tuesday afternoon, the 27-year-old said he’d gone head to head with the former Crows favourite plenty of times at training, and would welcome the challenge should it eventuate.
“I actually think there will be more fans hoping he kicks a few goals than me stopping him,” Brown joked.
“I think he gave me a bit of a towelling a few times as well (at practice), it’s hard stopping Eddie Betts when he’s in form.
“That will be an amazing game, the work he did at the club and what he brought to us was fantastic and I don’t think any of the fans will forget it.”
Brown reiterated the pre-season message emanating from within Crows headquarters that the club had renewed positivity and optimism heading into the 2020 season, adding the sky is the limit.
“I don’t want to put a ceiling on what we can achieve … we still do have a good core group of players from the last few years there,” he said.
“So, our midfield is really experienced, we’ve got a lot of experience in our backline and a couple of older heads up forward.
“But the beauty of it now is we have young blokes pushing for spots and they’re all training really well, and I would expect to see some of them (play AFL) really early on.
“They bring a lot of energy to the group.”
Top draft pick Fischer McAsey and second-year talent Chayce Jones were two players Brown identified as having standout pre-seasons.
The Crows kickstart their Marsh Community Series campaign against Melbourne at Casey Fields next Saturday, February 22, before hosting Gold Coast at Noarlunga Oval on March 6.
Brown said he couldn’t wait to get back into competitive footy.
“We’ve been training against ourselves for the last few weeks, and we’re really looking forward to testing it against Melbourne,” he said.