Jonathan Brown (footballer)

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Jonathan Brown
Jonathan Brown captaining Victoria vs. Dream Team
Personal information
Full name	Jonathan Brown
Date of Birth	29 October 1981 (1981-10-29) (age 27)
Place of Birth	Warrnambool
Recruited from	Geelong Falcons (VFL)
Draft	30th overall, 1999 Brisbane Lions (Father/son selection)
Height/Weight	195cm / 102 kg
Position	Centre Half Forward
Club information
Current club	Brisbane Lions
Number	16
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2000-	Brisbane Lions	159 (338)
¹ Playing statistics to end of RD 21, 2008 season.
State team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2008	Victoria	1 (3)
Career highlights
AFL AFL Premiership Player 2001, 2002, 2003 Coleman Medal 2007 Runner-Up in Leigh Matthews Trophy as League MVP 2007 All-Australian 2007 Vice-Captain of All-Australian Team 2007 AFLPA Best Captain Award 2007 AFLPA Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player 2007, 2008 AFL Mark of the Year 2002 Representative Captained Victoria in AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match Brisbane Lions Football Club Brisbane Lions Captain 2007 AFL Leading Goalkicker in season 2007 Brisbane Lions Most Goals in a Game (10 goals - Round 16, 2007) Merrett-Murray Medal (2007 & 2008) Best Forward Award (2007) The Player of the Year Award (2007)

Jonathan Brown (born 29 October 1981) is an Australian rules footballer and captain of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League. Widely regarded as one of the premier players in the competition, Brown is one time club best and fairest winner, All Australian and three time Premiership player for the Lions.

Early career

Hailing from from Warrnambool in Victoria's south east, Brown was drafted by the Brisbane Lions in the 1999 AFL Draft under the Father/Son rule. He subsequently made the move to Brisbane and was immediately groomed as the club's Centre half forward. The next year, played his first senior game for the Lions as an 18 year old against the Adelaide Crows, in round 5 of 2000. Brown failed to register a stat in that game, although his best game in his opening year came against Fremantle in the final round of the season. He had 23 disposals and two goals to finish a year which promised much to Brisbane fans.

2001 to 2004

Playing in a team that included 3 Brownlow Medalists, (Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis and Simon Black), Brown participated in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals, and was a part of three consecutive Premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Though not spectacular in the early part of his career, Brown was a consistent contributor and, at 195 cm and 105 kg, was an imposing target across half forward. Brown led Brisbane in marks in his second season and was third in goals with 38 from his 25 games. In round 6 of 2001, Brown kicked 7 goals to go with 9 marks and 19 disposals in his first dominant performance in front of goals.

Plagued by injury and regular meetings with the AFL Tribunal during the next three seasons, Brown's development was hampered, though he continued to improve and in 2004 had his best season to date. Despite missing 8 games, Brown kicked a career high 39 goals, including six in the Qualifying Final against St Kilda, and again lead the Lions in marks, with 140 at an average of more than 8 per game. The season ended very unfortunately for Brown as he was reported for striking Port Adelaide's Josh Carr during the Lions 40 point Grand Final loss. The report saw Brown suspended for the first five games of the 2005 season.

2005

Brown made his return from suspension in Round 6 of 2005 against Essendon and exploded for 14 marks and 8 goals, in what was the best game of his career and an ominous sign for the rest of the competition. The following week, Brown kicked another five goals, and in round 10 against the Kangaroos Brown had 12 marks, 27 disposals and 5 goals. Injury again cut his season short, but, 2005 was clearly Brown's best individual season as he averaged 8 marks, 18 disposals and 2.8 goals per game during the 12 games he played prior to round 17, before injuries prevented him from having any influence in his last two games.

In May 2005, Brown was targeted by Collingwood in a deal reportedly worth $6 million over the next four seasons, but he was quick to announce that he had no plans to leave Brisbane. Two months later he officially signed a contract committing himself to the Brisbane Lions until the end of the 2008 season in a deal reportedly worth $2 million over three years.

2006

2006 was the year that Brown first stamped his authority on the AFL competition. He dominated across Center half forward like no one since North Melbourne legend Wayne Carey in the mid 1990s. Mid-way through the season, Brown seemed certain to claim almost every individual award on offer at the end of the year, as he dominated in the air and in front of goals on a weekly basis. Brown's form hit a peak between rounds 7 and 10, when over four games he averaged 11 marks, 20 disposals and 4.5 goals per game. Tragically injury yet again proved the spoiler as round 10 ended up being Brown's last of the season. In the 2006 Brownlow Medal count, Brown polled 13 votes, enough to secure a top 10 finish despite only playing 10 games out of a possible 22. He was leading the count easily before he became injured.

Captaincy

Brown was promoted to the Lions' leadership group in 2005. Following the retirement of longtime captain Michael Voss in 2006, Brown was strongly favoured to replace Voss as captain. Nevertheless, when the captaincy was announced on 20th March 2007, Brown was named as co-captain alongside Simon Black, Chris Johnson, Nigel Lappin, and Luke Power.^[1] Brown had previously acted as co-captain for the Lions in the 2007 NAB Cup Grand Final, alongside Black, Johnson, and Power, with Lappin out injured.

2007

Desperate for an injury free season, 2007 delivered just that for Brown, and what resulted was the uninhibited Jonathan Brown that fans had been waiting to see for six long years. Brown had his best ever year, averaging 9 marks and 16 disposals, and kicked 77 goals at 3.5 per game in 2007. In round 16 against Carlton, he became the first Brisbane player to kick 10 goals in a game, and he finished the year with 7 goals against Geelong to secure the Coleman Medal as the seasons leading goal kicker - which he won be a margin of five goals over Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich. That year Brown took the most contested marks in the competition to go with his first Coleman Medal. He also won his first club best and fairest award, the AFLPA Best Captain Award, the Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player, was runner up in the Leigh Matthews Trophy as League MVP and was named vice captain of the All Australian team. At seasons end Brown was regarded by many, including AFL guru Mike Sheahan as the number one player in the competition.^[2]

2008

Brown started the 2008 season slowly by his lofty standards, and was rested for one game in round seven due to some minor injury concerns. He then returned to his best with three consecutive six goal performances and combined with Daniel Bradshaw to be one of the most formidable forward duos in the league in the second half of the season. In the 15 games after his week off, Brown averaged 9 marks, 16 disposals and 3.7 goals per game, although his season stats we down on the previous year. Brown captained Victoria in the State of Origin match against the dream team and was named the AFLPA Most courageous player at the end of the 2008 season by his fellow peers, for the second year in a row, however he missed out on a second All-Australian selection. Brown's 2008 season was capped off by winning his second club best & fairest award in a row.

At the completion of round 22 of the 2008 season, Brown announced he had signed a 4 year contract that would see him remain a Lion until he is at least 31.^[3] On 27 October 2008, Lions coach Michael Voss announced Jonathan Brown's appointment as sole-captain of the club.

Career Statistics

Personal life

Brown has three siblings, Matthew, Nathan and Gabrielle, who all live near the small country Victorian town of Koroit with their parents, Brian and Mary. Brian played football with Fitzroy and Jonathan was recruited to the Lions under the father son rule. He is the nephew of former Fitzroy player Noel Mugavin.

On the 25th October 2008 Brown married Kylie Adams.

References

External links

• Jonathan Brown (footballer) profile on the Official AFL Website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club
• Jonathan Brown (footballer)'s statistics from AFL Tables