Big Ben Brown struggling to kick goals, but coach says it’s not all his fault
Tasmanian AFL legend Matthew Richardson says it’s tough going in North Melbourne’s forward line this season and that is not helping big Ben Brown.
AFL
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WHAT’S wrong with Bren Brown? That may well be the question on the lips of North Melbourne fans as the towering Tasmanian struggles to take marks inside 50 and kick goals while he approaches the end of his contract with the Kangaroos at the finish of this season.
Brown, 27, almost won the Coleman Medal last year only to have it snatched away at the 11th hour by Giant Jeremy Cameron.
This year Brown has managed only seven goals in six games and North Melbourne’s fortune reflect Big Ben’s battle as the Kangas languish 16th on the AFL ladder with only two wins and 85.9 per cent.
In Saturday night’s loss to Essendon, Brown took four marks, only one inside 50 and kicked a solitary goal, and ran 13.3km – further than any other player in the match.
It caught the attention of Tasmanian AFL great Matthew Richardson, who kicked 800 goals for Richmond.
“Ben Brown’s only taken four marks in the past four weeks inside 50 and it shows you just how hard things are inside their forward line at the moment,” Richo said.
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North coach Rhyce Shaw said it was not all Brown’s fault.
“Our delivery in there isn’t great at the moment,” Shaw said.
“We are playing in patches going inside 50.
“We won inside 50s again – 47 to 43 – so we are giving ourselves a chance.
“We’ve got to make the most of those chances but also go in cleaner as well and that will help our forwards.
“I was really pleased with the guys’ efforts and Brownie in particular competed and tried really hard but we just didn’t get the result.
“We are doing lot of work but we are just not getting the rewards. If we continue to do that we will get those rewards.”
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