I’LL BE MY OWN MAN
KEVIN BROWN ON MOVE TO RED DEVILS
HE’LL take on Jackson Hastings’ role of leading Salford around the park in 2020, but had things gone slightly differently, Kevin Brown might have been lining up alongside the reigning Steve Prescott Man of Steel in the new season.
In a candid interview with Paul Whiteside of the Devil in the Detail podcast, Brown revealed that he had an offer from Leeds Rhinos – who were also chasing Hastings – before deciding to sign for the Red Devils.
“I spoke to Jacko and we were both looking at going to another club,” explained the 35-year-old.
“Jacko was saying ‘where do you think you’re going to go?’ At this stage of my career, I didn’t want to be moving my family to Yorkshire – it was Leeds I was speaking to and Jacko was speaking to them as well. He wanted to know where I was going and I was saying ‘what’s your plans?’ Obviously now, I’ve signed for Salford and he’s gone to Wigan.”
While he will occupy the scrumhalf position, Brown – who lined up in the halves for England in a World Cup final in 2017 – will look to play his own game, rather than recreate the magic Hastings brought to the AJ Bell Stadium.
“I’ll be the general and that’s what I’ve always done,” said the Wigan academy product. “I won’t be trying to do something I’ve not done just to do something that Jacko did.
“I think one thing that Jacko was fantastic with was that you knew he was going to compete and compete hard, and I think that’s the same for me. Whatever game, whether I’m playing well or not, I’ll be competing. I’ll chase everything and run my blood to water every single game, and normally my qualities come out there.” Brown will likely partner Tui Lolohea in the halves for the Red Devils and saw firsthand the qualities the Tongan international has during that 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
“I actually swapped jerseys with him after the semi-final, he’d had a great game that day,” said Brown.
“He’s just blown me away with how skilful he actually is. I think he complements me really well in that I can create some space for him out on the edges and he’s brilliant at taking the chances.
“He’s really composed, but he’s got that athleticism where if someone bites out, he can step off both feet, but he can also put the ball over the top or put it on his foot. Training with him has been a dream and, yes, I will be a general, but that’s not to say I’ll be doing it all on my own. Tui is very capable of doing that as well.
“Niall Evalds is quite a quiet guy, so it’s up to me, Tui, Joey [Lussick] and Chris [Atkin] to be vocal, but we all complement each other well.”