Ben Brown is North Melbourne’s man of the moment and a heart-warming story
BEN Brown is North Melbourne’s man-of-the-moment and has provided one of the heart-warming stories of the AFL finals series.
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IT’S the pre-game ritual for North Melbourne’s man-of-the-moment Ben Brown that links two of the most important things of his life — football and family.
He often text messages his maternal grandmother, Val, to tell her if he kicks a goal, the first one is for her.
He kicked four goals last Saturday night in his ninth AFL game. The 21-year-old forward with the impressive Tasmanian football pedigree helped to lift the Kangaroos to their first finals success in seven years.
In doing so, he provided one of the heart-warming stories of the AFL finals series.
But what few realise is the emotional backdrop to Brown’s journey — one that partly explains the text messages and the touching point-to-the-heavens gesture he made after kicking his first goal in his debut game back in Round 14.
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Only his tight-knit family and friends knew why he was pointing to the sky, even though others questioned why a first-gamer would celebrate in such a manner.
The reality was that it was a tribute to his late grandfather, Val’s husband, ‘Gentleman’ Jim Manson, a legendary footballer with Glenorchy, as well as one of the leading media figures and local councillors in Tasmania.
“I know a lot of people were looking at Ben at the time and saying why is this kid celebrating his first goal like that,” Brown’s uncle, Collingwood premiership player James Manson, said this week. “But it had significance to it that people didn’t know about it.”
Brown’s grandfather — and Manson’s father — died after a heart attack in May 2010. That would be tragic enough for a family at any time. But the heartbreak was in the circumstances of how it happened, which made the loss all the more painful and incomprehensible.
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Manson, who was 72, heard a disturbance downstairs at his home in the northern suburbs of Hobart at about 3.30am. He went to investigate and found the place ransacked. It was on his return upstairs that the much loved deputy mayor of Glenorchy suffered a fatal heart attack.
“Four people broke into Mum and Dad’s house, and Dad basically passed away because of that ... he suffered a heart attack and could not be revived,” James Manson said.
“That’s why Ben did what he did after he kicked that first goal. He is amazing to my mum (Val). He’s just a magic kid.
“I am proud of what he has done with his footy ability, but I am more proud of the human being that he is.”
Brown’s parents, Doug and Melissa (who is ‘Gentleman’ Jim’s daughter and James’ sister), were on hand to see their son’s tribute to his grandfather in June after kicking the first of his 16 career goals, in the MCG clash against Melbourne.
“His grandfather was a very passionate football person in Hobart, and was involved in footy media, as well as being a great player for Glenorchy,” Doug Brown recalled. “We all knew that it would have been very special for Jim to have seen Ben play that (debut) game.
“It means a lot to the family; it means a lot to James and his brothers. The incredible thing is that my side of the family is not really football orientated, but even my mum keeps getting calls from long lost relatives and from people with an interest in Ben, so it has been great for us.”
Manson explains the Browns are a “good Catholic family”, with Ben the eldest of six boys — Alexander, 20, Cameron, 18, James, 16, Dominic, 14, and Luke, 10. The entire family flies over from Tasmania today and will be on hand to watch their son and brother play in tonight’s semi-final clash against Geelong at the MCG.
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It has been the biggest week of Ben Brown’s football life. The Kangaroos had earmarked him as a player of the future when he was drafted last November, and with his flowing red locks, his height and his goal kicking, the club’s media department dared to dream that he might show enough to become a cult figure in good time.
But few could have imagined just how swiftly it has come, or how popular he has become with North Melbourne supporters in a relatively short time.
The crest of the wave came last Saturday night when Brown was the face of the Kangaroos’ comeback against Essendon, when he booted three goals in seven minutes of the third quarter as well as the first goal of the final term.
Brown said on Fox Footy: “It felt like the ground was shaking when the crowd went up after you kicked a goal.”
“At the moment I have just got to keep a lid on it. I’ve only played nine games of footy. I suppose it has been about trying to cement your slot.”
His father is proud of the way he kept working hard, even though the moment of his supposed “overnight success” has been years in the making.
“It was exciting that it all came together on the one night,” his father said. “But he has worked so hard to get there, and the beauty of it is that he has not looked out of place at the level. If he keeps improving, hopefully he can carve out a decent career.”
Yet the pathway to where he is now has been anything but smooth. The same wave that he is currently riding was not dissimilar to earlier ones that dumped him.
He was overlooked in three national drafts and three rookie drafts after being an talented footballer in Tasmania — with Devonport, the Tassie Mariners and finally with Glenorchy. And that included a knee reconstruction when he was only 17.
All through it, Brown ensured he kept up his studies, which has included a university degree with a philosophy/journalism background.
“Every time he seemed to get up to the level that he was being looked at, he would have a setback,” Doug said. “They always say to kids that if you want to hard enough and you work hard enough, you will get there. But the reality is there are a lot of kids who work hard enough, but never get the chance.”
It wasn’t until Brown made the move to Werribee last year to play VFL football — on the promise of nothing more than a chance — that he got his breakthrough. And in fitting into a club that was aligned with North Melbourne, he had an audition right in front of Kangaroos national recruiting manager Bryce Lewis.
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He was finally rewarded when drafted with pick 47 in last year’s national draft.
Manson, who now works as a cinematographer, and who was once himself a cult figure at Collingwood, was on assignment on Bendigo on draft day. He isn’t afraid to admit he shed a tear while listening on the radio.
“This has been the most fun ride I’ve been on for a while,” Manson said. “I’m North Melbourne through and through at the moment.”
“With this cult figure stuff, I think he has done more in his 10 games than I did in my 150-odd.”
Doug Brown disagrees. He watched Manson’s AFL career with Collingwood and Fitzroy with great interest and even came across to Melbourne with his then girlfriend Melissa to watch the 1990 Grand Final.
“I remember walking around the streets of Collingwood’s home ground that night and trying to get a taxi ... it was a crazy night,” he said.
“Look, if Ben could get half of what James got out of himself in his footy career, then he would be a big success.”
Manson’s former Magpie teammate and Brown’s current forwards coach Shane Watson says Brown is a relaxed, level-headed kid with a very different pre-game approach to his uncle.
“I remember James walking up to one end of the rooms and then running flat-out and hitting other wall with a hip and shoulder,” Watson said. “Browny is not like that. He’s a much more relaxed character.”
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