North Melbourne defenders can’t wait to meet former teammate Ben Brown in Hobart
It’s a case of “join the queue” as North Melbourne defenders line up to have first crack at former Kangaroo Ben Brown on his debut for Melbourne in Hobart.
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NORTH Melbourne defenders are lining up to play on friend and former teammate Ben Brown in Hobart on Sunday and the number one ticket holder is Ben McKay, says Kangas captain Jack Ziebell.
Brown played 130 games and kicked 287 goals over seven seasons at North before it traded him to Melbourne.
After successful knee surgery and strong form in the VFL, Big Ben will debut in red and blue on familiar territory.
“Browny played a lot of footy for us and we understand the way he plays his footy and knowing he hasn’t played at Melbourne, we will be doing everything we can to make sure he’s not the damaging player he can be,” Ziebell said.
“His record in Hobart is pretty bloody good. He knows the venue, it’s his home state so no doubt he will be up for the challenge.
“We are looking forward to pitting our key defenders not only against Ben Brown but the whole Melbourne team.”
The player who gets Brown won’t have drawn the short straw.
“They are lining up,” Ziebell said.
“Ben McKay has put his hand up every week to take the best forward for the opposition and if it’s not him, Josh Walker has done a great job over the past few weeks after coming back after being up forward.
“We’ve got options and the coaches will have thought hard about who to play on Brownie, but they will get the job done, I’ve got no doubt about that.”
The undefeated Demons are on fire but North Melbourne is at the opposite end of the scale.
“It’s the perfect place for us to play them, at our Hobart fortress,” Ziebell said.
“We have performed very well since we’ve played there and it’s a great place to get one of the best sides in the comp.
“They are in fantastic form, they are playing terrific footy, they’ve got strengths all over the ground and we will have to be at our best to give them a good run. We are looking forward to the opportunity to seeing where we are at.”
The winless Kangaroos do have an upside.
“There are quite a few things going right for us at the moment,” Ziebell said.
“If you look at the end result of 0-6, there are probably no positives.
“But the way we’ve been playing and the things we are working on, there are massive positives coming out of our games.
“Our ability to hold up in our defence has been much-improved and we’ve limited the scores of oppositions a lot more over the past few weeks.
“Our young players are starting to understand the brand we want to play.
“We’ve got some outstanding young players coming through – Tommy Powell, Jy Simpkin and Nick Larky. Tarryn Thomas played a nice game last weekend and Will Phillips is gaining in confidence at the level.
“We have shown in patches we can score quickly, we can reduce opposition scoring. Now we have to work harder to get that four-quarter consistent effort to put it all together for a game.
“When we do that, our first win is not far away.”
COVID-19 stopped all AFL home-and-away games in Tasmania last year, and a quarantine issue after a game in Perth last weekend almost put the kibosh on this one.
“We are super-excited to be back. It has been 18 months since we played in Hobart,” Ziebell said.
“After last year being starved of the opportunity, we are absolutely thrilled the game is going ahead.
“We can’t wait to get back to our home away from home and play in front of our very loyal, very passionate Hobart members – and there’s quite a few of them.”
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