AFL world reacts to North Melbourne letting Ben Brown go

A star of the game is on the hunt for a new home after his club opted to let him go, leaving fans scratching their heads over his future.

Ben Brown is gone!

Ben Brown’s time at North Melbourne has come to an end with the club telling the star forward to start looking for a new home.

North’s 2020 season came to lacklustre finish as they finished second last on the ladder and they haven’t wasted anytime in planning for the future.

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The club have so far culled 11 players from the list, but on Wednesday it was the news of Brown’s departure that captured the footy communities attention. North footy boss Brady Rawlings confirmed the forward’s departure.

“It’s not a decision we’ve made lightly as Ben has been a tremendous part of our club since 2014,” Rawlings told the club website.

“It was a very honest discussion Ben was very mature and understood our decision. We will work with Ben and his management to secure a mutually beneficial outcome.”

Brown’s season mirrored the fortunes of his club. He played in only 9 games and managed to kick only 8 goals. Heading into the 2020 season he was coming off three straight seasons where he had kicked over 60 goals.

The decision to let him go was one that would have seemed unthinkable at the start of the year and left footy fans pondering if the right call had been made and many to speculate where his future may lie.

“Jesus. Did any player in the AFL lose more stock over 2020 than Ben Brown?” WWOS’ Chris De Silva wrote.

“The Ben Brown story is fascinating. Is there still a place in the game for an old-school, lead and mark full-forward with a run-up like that?” SEN’s Ashley Browne wrote.

“The biggest footy story of the day is Ben Brown being shopped around. Would he fit Freo … Taberner to centre half forward with Brown out of square. Lobb to ruck,” Tim Gossage wrote.

The celebrations were few and far between for Brown in 2020.

The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson praised the club for making the tough call.

“It was on the cards early. The news has broken tonight that this is the next step – that was always coming,” Robinson said on AFL 360.

“I think North had decided a while ago that they’d probably be better placed without Ben and that’s a brave call, 60 goals in the last three years. He’s had a really poor year this year, so have a lot of key forwards the way football is being played.

“It could come back and bite them in the bum, you never know. But right now North have decided Ben can look around for a new home.”

Former star Richmond forward Matthew Richardson couldn’t believe the call from North and believes once he gets his fitness back, Brown will be in the Coleman Medal hunt all over again.

“Seriously, North Melbourne’s game plan was all over the place early in the year,” Richardson said on 3AW.

“They were so slow and just didn’t get it inside 50.

“I’d just be a little bit careful, because I think when he comes back, gets fit and they’re back at Marvel Stadium and work out their ball movement I still think Ben Brown can kick 50 goals.”

Most @AFL goals
2017-2020

206 Tom Hawkins
196 Ben Brown
192 Josh Kennedy
191 Jeremy Cameron
177 Jack Darling

— Joshua Kay (@js_kay) September 23, 2020

Brown’s departure from the club that picked him up with the 47th pick in the 2013 national draft is made all the more baffling considering his position at the start of the season.

The star forward and his management turned down an offer believed to be around the $750,000 per-year mark over three years.

“(Brown had kicked) 63 goals, 61 goals, 64 goals on the way to this. A three-year contract offer somewhere around the $750,000 vicinity,” AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley said.

“He knocked it back and now he’s not quite free to a new home (but) he’s not going to get much for North Melbourne because they have taken the action to shuttle him off so they don’t have much hand left (and) Ben Brown doesn’t have a lot that he can ask for.

“I would doubt he could do much better than two years at $500,000 a year. Just by comparison of the commodity he was to the commodity that he now is, shunted into the open market.”

The money angle left former North Melbourne premiership star David King scratching his head, saying it was an ugly look for the player and his management.

“I’m not sure if Ben has got this one wrong or his management have got this wrong, but I don’t know how you can have a contract that has three years on it and then get to the end of the year and have nothing in front of you,” King said on AFL 360.

“Something has gone wrong here, either he’s had a really bad read of what the Kangaroos put in front of him or he got out of the alignment with what the rest of the AFL community are earning. But to be in this situation I think is a disaster on all fronts, for Ben personally and for the group that’s managing him.”