North Melbourne coach Brad Scott believes Ben Brown is becoming a “complete player” after the big man’s five goals at a wet and slippery Bellerive Oval.
Brown stole the headlines in his native Tasmania as the Kangaroos trounced winless Carlton 18.8 (116) to 4.6 (30) on Saturday night.
He’s now second on the competition goal scoring tally behind Lance Franklin after a game-high haul that including a stunning set-shot right-foot banana kick from the boundary.
“Browny is becoming a pretty complete player,” Scott said.
“I’ve said before he defends better than people give him credit for.
“Everyone sees what he does well, but he’s now finding multiple ways to get the ball, to be influential in all conditions.
“A couple of years ago we might have left him out purely because it wouldn’t have been the kind of day for 200cm forwards.
“He’s impacting regardless of the conditions now.”
Buoyed by the return of Robbie Tarrant, North restricted Carlton to the lowest-ever AFL score at Bellerive Oval to go 2-2 after four rounds.
“I think our defence was really solid all night, didn’t let anything through and worked in well together,” Scott said.
“We’re a much stiffer defence when Robbie Tarrant’s there, that’s for sure.
“But I was really happy with how they all worked in together.”