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JONATHAN BROWN 
AFL Footballer - Brisbane Lions
At a Glance
From: Warrnambool
Born: 29 October 1981
Height: 195cm
Weight: 102kg
Key Statistics:
Recruited from: South Warrnambool/Geelong Falcons
Draft Details: Father/Son Selection - 1999 AFL national draft
AFL Debut: Rd 5 2000- Brisbane Lions v Adelaide Crows, Gabba
AFL Games: 160
AFL Goals: 338
At a Glance
Arguably the No.1 player in the AFL, certainly among the most influential, Jonathan Brown is the epitomy of a match-winner a powerhouse key forward and inspirational leader who quite simply makes the difference between winning and losing.
A member of three premiership sides before his 22nd birthday, he has stepped out of the shadows of the likes of Michael Voss and Alastair Lynch to become the No.1 man at the Brisbane Lions and the face of football in Queensland.
In his 10th AFL season in 2009 and his first as solo captain after two years as co-captain of the Lions, he is coming off back-to-back wins in the Lions club championship in 2007-08, a 2007 win in the Coleman Medala as the AFL's leading goal-kicker, vice-captaincy of the 2007 All-Australian side and captaincy of the 2008 Victorian side for the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match, among a multitude of other honors.
Also, his future is confirmed ... he will be a 'Lion for Life' after commiting to the club for the remainder of his career in September 2008.
Yet at 27 he remains the same country boy from Warrnambool in western Victoria who was snapped up by the Lions as a father/son draft selection in 1999 and had a duck in his first AFL game in 2000 no kicks, no marks and no handballs.
Totally unaffected by his success, he is an enormously popular figure wherever he treds, admired as much for his generous and personable off-field nature as he is for the uncompromising manner in which he goes about every aspect of his football.
The son of ex-Fitzroy player Brian Brown, Jonathan was a standout junior footballer and cricketer growing up on the family property at Warrnambool, and had it not been for his undeniable football heritage might well have made a career for himself as a tearaway left-arm fast bowler.
A standout with the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup, he won All-Australian U18 honours in 1999 following the national carnival in Brisbane and would have been a top fancy with recruiting scouts right across the country had he not committed himself to the Lions ahead of the draft.
So highly was he regarded that AFL junior development guru Kevin Sheehan rated him a certain top five selection, and Essendon scouts
indicated he may even have been their No.1 selection.
But Brown, a life-long Fitzroy supporter and cousin of Marcus Picken, a Lions player at the time, was always keen to play in Brisbane. And weren t the Lions pleased that his father had fulfilled (just) the minimum 50-game father/son requirement of the time and that the AFL hadn t increased the limit to 100 games, as they did in XX.
Brian Brown, originally from Otway Rovers, played 51 games with Fitzroy from 1976-81 before two games at Essendon in 1983 after two broken legs in consecutive years cut short his days at the elite level. He was a member of Fitzroy s 1978 night series premiership side the last senior flag the old Lions won. A hard and skilful back pocket/centreman, he was a Victorian representative but admits he was never quite the same after his twin leg fractures in mid-1979 and early 1980. Ironically, it was in one of his only two games at Essendon in 83 when Leigh Matthews crashed into the behind post at Windy Hill and snapped it.
Brown Jnr is the oldest of four children, and boasts a strong football pedigree. His uncle Noel Mugavin played with Fitzroy and Richmond. And, of course, another uncle, Billy Picken, father of Marcus, played at Collingwood and Sydney.
He had a nomadic football childhood, following his father s coaching and playing career, and made his senior debut at 15 with South Warrnambool in 97. After establis
hing himself in the seniors early in 98 he joined the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup mid-season.
It was the beginning of an illustrious junior career. They won 13 games in a row from 14th on the ladder and then lost the grand final to the Murray Bushrangers at the MCG by 15 points after being 62 points down at halftime.
In 99 the Falcons finished seventh in the TAC Cup, losing in the first week of the finals without a suspended Brown, who had played at centre half forward in 99 after being used at centre half back in 98 and was Victorian Country s only representative in the All-Australian U18 side.
He completed Year 12 at Emmanuel College in 99 before moving to Brisbane, where he had done summer training with the Lions 12 months earlier.
He left behind him a promising cricket career to focus on a life-long dream to play League football. A left-arm fast bowler, he played A-Grade cricket with Wesley CBC in Warrnambool at 15, was Wesley Cricketer of the Year two years in a row and a senior premiership player, and was invited to join the Victorian U17 squad in 98 after doing well for his regional zone team at the State championships.
Brown, the youngest player on the grand in the 2001 grand final, was always a good player through his early years in the AFL. Even a very good player.
In 2002 he stamped his trademark on the competition when he won the AFL Mark of the Year a courageous-plus effort running back with the flight of the ball against Hawthorn at the MCG - and in 2003 he polled more club B&F votes in the last 10 rounds of the club's third premiership season than anyone else.
But if there was a defining moment that stamped him as a great player it was in Round 6, 2005 against Essendon at Telstra Dome when, in his first game of the year after a five-game suspension that stemmed from the 2004 grand final, coming off knee surgery, he put on a show to remember.
Single-handedly he lifted the 1-4 bottom-of-the-ladder Lions to a 48-point win over the 2-3 Bombers with 20 possessions, 14 marks and a then equal club record eight goals, before been rested for most of the last quarter.
It was the beginning of rich vein of form which included an impact-plus stint as an occasional centre square player before osteitis pubis cut short his season. And with it the Lions finals hopes.
Still, a superstar was born. And in the years that have followed he has thrived, sharing the mantle with Chris Judd as the game's No.1 player and surpassing the West Coast turned Carlton champion in 2007 when he became the first Brisbane player to win the Coleman Medal, was chosen vice-captain of the All-Australian side, and won the Brisbane B&F for the first time. Also, he was chosen Best Captain and Most Courageous Player by his peers in the AFLPA, and was a was a narrow runner-up to Geelong's Gary Ablett for the Leigh Matthews Trophy, awarded to the AFLPA Most Valuable Player.
In round 16 he kicked a personal-best and club record 10 goals for the Lions against Carlton at the Gabba.
In 2008 he was dealt the enormous honor of leading the 'Big V' of Victoria onto the MCG for the AFL's 150th Anniversary Hall of Fame Tribute Match against a Dream Team, comprising AFL players from each of the other states and territories. Also, he won his second Merrett/Murray Medal as Lions club champion, and was named 'Most Courageous Player' by the AFLPA.
Also, he married long-time partner Kylie Adams and undertook a major redevelopment of their home to confirm his long-time commitment to Brisbane.
|
Jonathan Brown | |
| 2000 | |
| 2001 | Member Lions Premiership Side, Lions Most Improved Player |
| 2002 | Member Lions Premiership Side |
| 2003 | Member Lions Premieship Side |
| 2004 | Member Lions Grand Final Side |
| 2005 | Lions Most Professional Player, Best Clubman |
| 2006 | Equal 9th Brownlow Medal |
| 2007 | All-Australian Selection (Vice-Captain), Coleman Medal (AFL Leading Goal-Kicker), AFLPA 'Best Captain', AFLPA Most Courageous Player, R/Up AFLPA MVP; Equal 8th Brownlow Medal, Lions co-captain, Lions Club Champion, Lions Most Courageous Player, Lions Best Forward. |
|
2008 |
Victorian State of Origin Captain, AFLPA Most Courageous Player, Lions Club Champion, Lions co-captain, Lions Best Forward |
|
2009 |
Lions Captain |
|
Jonathan Brown | |||||||||
|
|
Career |
Finals |
Brownlow |
Brownlow |
Club B&F |
Club | |||
|
|
Games |
Goals |
Games |
Goals |
Finish |
Votes |
Finish |
G/Kicking | |
|
2000 |
13 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
- |
0 |
T20th |
| |
|
2001 |
25 |
38 |
3 |
6 |
T72nd |
5 |
6th |
3rd | |
|
2002 |
19 |
14 |
3 |
4 |
- |
0 |
18th |
T9th | |
|
2003 |
23 |
27 |
4 |
8 |
T39th |
8 |
12th |
T4th | |
|
2004 |
17 |
39 |
3 |
7 |
T46th |
8 |
10th |
4th | |
|
2005 |
10 |
13 |
|
|
T18th |
11 |
6th |
3rd | |
|
2006 |
10 |
35 |
|
|
T0th |
13 |
11th |
2nd | |
|
2007 |
22 |
77 |
|
|
T8th |
17 |
1st |
1st | |
|
2008 |
21 |
70 |
|
|
T28th |
10 |
1st |
2nd | |
|
Total |
160 |
338 |
15 |
25 |
|
61 |
|
| |
Jonathan Brown - Goal-Kicking Highlights - six goals or more in a match
Jonathan Brown - Goal-Kicking Statistics - Round by Round - Year by Year