It won’t faze North Melbourne spearhead Ben Brown one bit if he’s not fighting for the Coleman Medal at the pointy end of the 2020 AFL season.
Because if he’s not, it will likely mean Rhyce Shaw’s plan to share the load in a multi-pronged attack has come to fruition.
Brown stormed to the front in the race for last season’s Coleman when he booted 10 goals in a stunning performance against Port Adelaide in round 22.
He then kicked two in the final round of the home-and-away season to take his tally to 64 and claim his fourth leading goalkicker award at North.
But then GWS star Jeremy Cameron claimed his first Coleman Medal in emphatic fashion with nine majors against a hapless Gold Coast.
“It was great to see him come out and kick nine … good on him because he had an amazing season,” Brown told AAP.
“He’s an unbelievable player and I really respect the way he goes about his footy.
“For me it’s one of those strange awards … it doesn’t really matter to me who kicks the goals.
“It’s certainly not at the front of my mind.
“We’re looking to build a really solid forward group that can attack from a number of avenues.”
Shaw has spoken publicly about his desire to attack the game, which bodes well for Brown and his teammates up forward.
Cam Zurhaar and Nick Larkey were the Kangaroos’ next best goalkickers last season with 26 apiece and Brown is excited to see the natural development of the young talls.
The 27-year-old is enjoying a rare pre-season without injury setbacks, having also avoided post-season surgery, and is hopeful he can play a part in bringing his teammates along.
“I’ve built a good base and now it’s time to build layers on top of that and look to improve,” he said.
“I’d like to take a bit more of a leadership role in the forward half because we’ve got a lot of younger players who are coming in.
“I want to be looking out for those guys, just helping them get set up and providing them with a few goal assists, that would be nice and would help us as a team.
“There’s been a few too many years where we haven’t played finals now and we’re excited as a team about taking that next step.”
