How Ben quit Iceland for his shot at Ireland
BIG North Melbourne forward Ben Brown is living his childhood dream — even if he had to cut short his honeymoon in Iceland to be a late call-up to the Australian International Rules squad.
Brown, the 2m-tall marking forward, is part of the Australian team for the hybrid AFL-Gaelic internationals for the first time after carving out 77 AFL games (and 154 goals) with the Kangaroos since 2014.
And as Brown was imagining his part in an AFL club journey, he was also measuring himself up for an Australian jumper while growing up in Hobart.
“Dad reminded me how I used to play International Rules in the backyard with my brothers,” Brown recalled as the Australian squad gathered in Adelaide for tomorrow’s first Test at Adelaide Oval — the first International Rules Test played at the Oval and fourth in Adelaide.
“It was with a trampoline turned up on its side as the goals,” added Brown of his childhood sampling of International Rules.
“So that’s my memory of these kinds of games that I used to watch in the early 2000s. It’s really exciting to be part of it and something I never dreamt I’d be able to do. “It means the world to me.” Brown, 24, was a late call-up to the Australian squad as the AFL adjusted its line-up to cover injuries and the late withdrawal of Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett.
Brown was scrambling for flights back to Australia — cutting short his honeymoon by several days — to get back to Melbourne to be ready for the two Tests against the Irish in Adelaide and Melbourne.
“I got the message about 10 days ago — midway through my honeymoon — when I was in Iceland,” Brown explained.
“My partner, Hester, she’s very supportive, straight away she was on the Flight Centre website trying to figure out how we were going to get home. We might have to go on another holiday at some point just to make up for it.”
The Australian squad, after trying the round Gaelic ball on Thursday, had its main training session at Football Park yesterday. There is still the challenge of adjusting to the round ball that favours the Ireland Gaelic players.