Callum Brown signs two-year extension with GWS Giants as Irish recruit begins to find his feet in the AFL

With a newly-inked two-year contract in hand, Callum Brown is ready to take his game to the next level at the GWS Giants and reward the faith of his family back home in Ireland.

It’s the simple three-word message that has driven Callum Brown.

“Don’t come back.”

The 22-year-old receives the text regularly from family and friends back home in Ireland. Their definition of success is if he’s still in Australia, things must be good.

This week, he told them he had signed a two-year contract extension with the GWS Giants – the first multi-season deal of his career.

The news was received as well in Limavady as it was by Brown himself.

“The past couple of years, it’s just been one-year deals, one after the other,” Brown said.

“Now I’m playing good footy and want to create more for the team. I want to stay here in Sydney, I don’t want to move anywhere else.

“Everyone is still texting from back home. It’s always the text, ‘Don’t come back … the county is going well but they don’t need you right now. Focus out there, keep your mindset where it is, and you’ll be good’.”

Brown has been rewarded for his form with a new two-year contract. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Brown quickly emerged as a Gaelic football star as a teenager. He played across the age groups in Derry, while also dabbling in an array of other sports, before GWS scouts spotted him in action.

While his physicality on the field set him apart from his peers, the conviction he had in his ability made up for his nerves when moving to the other side of the world as an 18-year-old.

“I had absolutely no idea of anyone out here, no friends or family, I’ve always just wanted to experience something new,” Brown said. “The Giants were keen to take me up, so I jumped with it without any hesitation.

“I wanted to do something professional and make use of my athleticism.”

He joined the Giants officially in 2018 as a Category B rookie and went about making his sporting dreams come true in Australia.

The transition to Aussie rules from Gaelic football came somewhat naturally. Brown admits, however, adapting to the attitude needed to reach the elite level took some time.

It took time for Brown to adjust to everything that comes with being a professional athlete. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I think the coaches probably didn’t pick up from the start the kind of person I was, I was very relaxed and laid back,” Brown said. “It might look like I didn’t want to be there but really, I loved it.

“I knew I had the attributes, but I probably needed more of a footy sense. Maybe I just didn’t put the effort in that they wanted from me.

“It was a real kick up the a**, there were a couple of them throughout the years. Serious conversations in the meeting rooms with the coaches and Jason McCartney – ‘What are you doing? We know you have it, but you’re not showing it’.

“It clicked in my head. This is exactly what I want in my life, so I need to put more effort into it.”

Brown finally broke through for his AFL debut in 2021 as a medical sub against Brisbane. In his second match against Geelong, he didn’t finish the game due to a hamstring injury.

Brown celebrates his first career goal against Geelong in 2021. Picture: Michael Klein

But he has now played eight matches in each of the past two seasons. In each passing game, he has shown another glimpse of his developing talent.

That included getting three Brownlow votes last year against Hawthorn, this week’s opponents, on the back of a four-goal performance.

Deployed in a more forward role in 2023, Brown has kicked seven goals for the season and has been one of the Giants’ strongest marking targets with their form turning since he came back into the side in round seven.

If that continues, he hopes to eventually be able to bring his family over to show them why he’s fallen in love with the game and the way GWS are playing.

“My little brother is still at school, my sister is over in London texting me … trying to send hints of me paying for the flights,” Brown said.

“Now that I’ve got two more years, I’ll definitely get them out next year if I don’t get them by the end of the year.

“You can tell by the celebrations how much it means. We spoke about it in meetings, we want to celebrate everything – whether it’s a tackle, spoil or a goal.

“We want to move it quickly. We want to move off the line. And at the minute there’s no frustration between the group. Everyone’s playing their role and you can tell by how we’re winning.

Brown has become a key part of a Giants’ side on the rise. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Brown certainly feels at home in Sydney, he’s even convinced some friends from Ireland to follow his path.

But his main goal is repaying the Giants for the faith they’ve shown in him. And that starts with living up to his own confident expectations.

“I just want to stay at the club and do the most for the club as well,” he said.

“I don’t really get inspired by other people. I don’t want to say it in a cocky way, but I know I have it in me so why should I look to someone else to play their game, why can’t I make my own type of style of footy.

“That’s always been the same, even with Gaelic, my mindset was I knew I was the best and I’ll stay the best.”