MY DREW GRIT

Coleman Medal front-runner Brown reveals his inspiration

NORTH Melbourne’s Coleman Medal-leading spearhead Ben Brown has revealed the source of his powers.

Big Ben credits former Kanga teammate Drew Petrie with giving him the determination to attack the packs and never be out-marked.

As the Kangaroos regroup from their loss to Collingwood with an equally hard task against West Coast in Hobart on Sunday, Brown said Petrie was his inspiration to hit the aerial contests hard.

“I really admired the way Drew Petrie attacked the ball in the air and put a high price on making sure he didn’t get out-marked,” Brown said.

“That’s one thing I’ve tried to improve as I’ve gone on and it’s something I like to hang my hat on.

“It’s a big driver for me, making sure the opposition isn’t able to drop off and mark the ball in front of me, and that I’m marking the ball or bringing it to ground.

“It’s something I value really highly.

“The other thing I always want to make sure I’m doing is kicking the ball really straight and making the most of my opportunities.”

The Coleman Medal eluded Brown last year and, leading on 52 goals — the first player to hit the half-century this season — with five games to go, says if he does his job for the team it might finally be his.

“It’s something that is there, you can’t ignore it, but at the same time I’ve just got to focus on the football that I’m playing,” he said.

“As long as I’m doing the best thing for the team, whether I finish on top of the goal-kicking, or third or fifth or 10th, it doesn’t really matter.

“If everything pans out with the way I’m playing my football and that leaves me on top of the table, that’s great, but I’m focused on doing the best I can and getting us into the top eight at the end of the season to give us a good run at the finals.

“Kicking goals is important as part of my role, but there are a lot of other things my teammates rely on me doing as part of the team and I’ve got to make sure I’m doing those things as well.”

North Melbourne is 10th but part of the log jam of teams hoping to play finals while West Coast is second and aiming for a home final.

“We came up short in a number of areas against Collingwood and we’ve looked at that today,” Brown said.

“We’ve got to make amends for it against West Coast, who are in a rich vein of form.” Build your own Ben Brown by collecting sections of the 200cm Kangaroo in the Mercury each day this week.