Young defender Luke Brown has taken another step towards securing his place in the Round One team, holding dangerous Carlton forward Eddie Betts goalless at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.
Brown, who played three AFL games last season, has spent the pre-season auditioning for the vacant spot in Adelaide’s back six, which was created by the retirement of veteran Michael Doughty.
A member of Norwood’s 2012 premiership team, Brown has played all four pre-season matches but saved his best performance for last. The 20-year-old recorded a modest seven possessions against the Blues, but more importantly kept Betts – a four-goal hero in Carlton’s demolition of Fremantle last week – to a mere 10 touches. David Mackay was also superb in limiting Jeff Garlett to one goal from 13 touches, while amassing 16 of his own.
Brown said he’d relished the chance to play on Carlton’s leading goalkicker of last season.
“I found out on Thursday that I was going to play on Eddie. I was pretty happy the coaches had given me the job and the opportunity to play on a player like Eddie,” Brown said
“I did all I could to prepare before the game, so I would have no worries coming in tonight. He’s a quality player and I think I did pretty well.”
Was Brown’s performance enough to convince the Crows coaches he’s ready to assume the role as the Club’s designated lockdown defender?
“You’ll have to ask Sando that,” Brown said with a laugh.
“I feel pretty confident. I’ve had a good pre-season and played a few games. Tonight was another step up against Eddie Betts and I’ll be better for the experience.”
After being overlooked in the draft as an 18-year-old, Brown rocketed into round-one calculations following an impressive season at Norwood in 2011. But the 181cm, 79kg, utility never made it to draft day – he was pre-selected by the Crows as part of the same deal that saw the Club land promising midfielder Brad Crouch.
For now, Brown is being groomed as a defender at West Lakes, but his neat skills could see him develop into a midfielder, where he’s played at junior and senior level with the Redlegs.
“I don’t mind the small defender role. I think my defensive skills are pretty good, but I’m still trying to develop that defensive/attacking gear, so I can find the right opportunities to come off my opponent,” Brown said.
“There were probably a few more chances for me to do that tonight, but I really just wanted to nullify Betts in this game.”
Brown was just one bright spot in an encouraging display from the Crows.
Coach Brenton Sanderson appealed for a better effort from his charges after three patchy performances, and Adelaide responded. The home team made amends for recent slow starts, kicking six goals in the first quarter and showed a much improved level of effort. The Crows faded in the last term, but managed to hold on for a three-point win in their final hit-out before Round One.
“The boys just wanted to prove that they still had it,” Brown said.
“There have been a few questions about our intensity and poor attitude. I think we just wanted to show what we could do and everyone responded well.
“In our first three pre-season games, we had poor starts. I think tonight we really showed we wanted to win that first quarter. We would’ve liked to have done a bit better in the last quarter. We made a few turnovers and silly mistakes, but those can be fixed.
“I think tonight will bring a lot of confidence. We know that, against Essendon in a fortnight, we can perform and we’re just getting ready for that game now.”
