MEDAL NOT MY FOCUS
Coleman hope not too fussed
NORTH Melbourne forward Ben Brown has vowed not to change his game in an effort to win this year’s Coleman Medal — and doesn’t want his teammates to focus too heavily on him, saying he would prefer a final-round win over St Kilda.
Only four goals separate the AFL’s top four leading goalkickers, with Jack Riewoldt on 60 goals, Brown 58, last year’s winner Lance Franklin 57 and Tom Hawkins 56.
Brown, who sits second on the tally, two behind Jack Riewoldt, will know how many goals he needs to kick to win on Sunday, with the other contenders scheduled to play on Saturday. He conceded he will probably “keep up” with how the others fare in their games, but says it won’t change anything about his approach to the Roos’ final match of the year.
“I think it is more important that we make sure we play the right way and do what we can to carry our form into next year,” Brown said.
“It [the Coleman] won’t affect the way I play this week.
“If I was to take a mark with a minute left to go, and there was someone on in the goal square, I am not going to go back and have a shot at goal to try and win a Coleman.
“If there is someone on, I will give it to them. I will play the same way I always do.”
The 25-year-old failed to kick a goal in last week’s loss to Adelaide, but says he hasn’t been focused on the Coleman Medal. He finished third with 63 goals last year behind Franklin and Riewoldt, and could still better that figure with a strong finish on Sunday.
“I keep coming back to the fact that six years ago I never thought I would be playing in an AFL game, let alone playing against the best key defenders in the league,” he said.
“If you had said I would have been in the company of Jack, Buddy and Tom, I still find that pretty amazing.
“Those guys have played long careers and have put it together over a number of years. I know I have a lot of work to do and a few more years to put some more runs on the board.”
Riewoldt is rated a $1.45 favourite to win his third Coleman Medal with the Tigers to take on Western Bulldogs. Hawkins is $5, with the Cats set to meet Gold Coast. Franklin, who is suffering a groin complaint and is doubtful to take on Hawthorn, has blown out to $17, while Brown is rated at $6.
Brown saw parts of Riewoldt’s 10 goals against Gold Coast in Round 21, when flicking through the channels, saying to his wife Hester: “He’s going nuts here.”
He said there were plenty of other measurements than goals for forwards to be judged on. “Kicking goals isn’t everything for a forward,” he said.
“There are a lot of forwards who do amazing things. Look at Tom Lynch from Adelaide. He doesn’t kick a lot of goals, but he’s the link man up the field. He won’t win a Coleman, but he is one of the most important forwards in the AFL.
“I like to think there are a lot of other things I do well, apart from kicking goals. I focus as much on trying to mark the ball up the field or bringing the ball to ground for the smaller players if I am outnumbered.
“Those kind of things don’t show up on the [Coleman] leaderboard.”
He said the Kangaroos had focused on trying to become a more multi-pronged attack.
“It’s been great that in the last part of the year, while my own form hasn’t been where I’d like it to be, we had guys like Jack Ziebell play amazingly up forward, Jarrad Waite’s been incredible and Mason Wood has come on,” he said.