Benjamin Brown (born 20 November 1992) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who plays for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He previously played for the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

. Brown has become particularly well known for his unique, extremely long run up on set shots.

Career

Brown played his junior football for

Devonport Football Club Devonport Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Devonport, Tasmania. The club currently competes in the North West Football League (NWFL). The club previously competed in the Northern Tasmanian Football League, but from 20 ...

, then played for

Glenorchy Football Club The Glenorchy District Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently playing in the Tasmanian State League and the Southern Football League in Tasmania, Australia. History The club is nicknamed the Magpies after its black and ...

in the

Tasmanian State League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

before being selected 47th overall by North Melbourne in the 2013 national draft. After a development stint at then-Kangaroos affiliate

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

in the VFL, Brown made his AFL debut in round 14,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

against

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, kicking a goal and impressing coach Brad Scott enough to keep his spot the following week. Brown went on to be an influential player in the North Melbourne team in the latter stages of the season, with strong performances in the

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He finished the 2014 season with 18 goals, improving in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

with 32 and once again in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

when he kicked 41 for the season and captured North Melbourne's leading goal kicker award for the first time. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Brown kicked a career best 63 goals, allowing him to win North Melbourne's leading goal kicker award for the second straight year. Brown also finished third in the 2017

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

behind Josh Kennedy (65) and

Lance Franklin Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 20 ...

(69), with his form also paving the way to a spot in the preliminary 40-man All Australian squad. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Brown kicked 61 goals from 22 games, finishing second in the Coleman Medal behind Richmond’s

Jack Riewoldt Jack Riewoldt ( ; born 31 October 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, a three-time Coleman Medallist, a ...

and once again being selected in the 40-man

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

. In round 22 of the 2019 season, Brown kicked a career high 10 goals in a 144–58 win over Port Adelaide. Brown became the first North Melbourne player to kick double-digit goals in a game since

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbou ...

did so back in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. He finished the 2019 season having kicked a career best 64 goals from 22 games, finishing second in the Coleman medal for a second year running behind Greater Western Sydney's Jeremy Cameron (67) and won the North Melbourne goal kicking award for the fourth year in a row. He again gained selection in the initial 40-man

for the third year in a row but was again passed over for the final 22. During the 2017, 2018 and 2019 home and away seasons Brown finished 3rd, 2nd and 2nd respectively in the Coleman Medal and kicked a combined total of 188 goals across 66 games, the most of any player in the AFL over that time period. After a 2020 season hampered by injury in which he only played 9 games and kicked 8 goals, Brown was put up for trade by North Melbourne. He eventually requested a trade to , and was traded on the final day of the 2020 trade period. After an injury-hampered start to the 2021 season, Brown became a mainstay of the Demons’ forward line in the second half of the year and throughout the Demons’ finals campaign. Brown scored three goals in Melbourne's

2021 AFL Grand Final The 2021 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between and the at Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, on Saturday 25 September 2021. It was the 126th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL) ...

win.

Personal life

Brown is the grandson of footballer and politician Jim Manson and nephew of former Collingwood player James Manson. Brown married Hester Mary MacKinnon on 14 October 2017, and they have two daughters. Brown is a vegan and an advocate for greater action on climate change.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - ,

, , , , 50 , 11 , , 18 , , 9 , , 66 , , 41 , , 107 , , 49 , , 17 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 6.0 , , 3.7 , , 9.7 , , 4.5 , , 1.5 , , 1 , - ,

, , , , 50 , 22 , , 32 , , 17 , , 152 , , 72 , , 224 , , 99 , , 21 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 6.9 , , 3.3 , , 10.2 , , 4.5 , , 1.0 , , 2 , - ,

, , , , 50 , 22 , , 41 , , 18 , , 174 , , 65 , , 239 , , 115 , , 28 , , 1.9 , , 0.8 , , 7.9 , , 3.0 , , 10.9 , , 5.2 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - ,

, , , , 50 , 22 , , 63 , , 30 , , 180 , , 76 , , 256 , , 120 , , 27 , , 2.9 , , 1.4 , , 8.2 , , 3.5 , , 11.6 , , 5.5 , , 1.2 , , 14 , - ,

, , , , 50 , 22 , , 61 , , 24 , , 186 , , 60 , , 246 , , 100 , , 24 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , 8.5 , , 2.7 , , 11.2 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , 6 , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 50 , 22 , , 64 , , 34 , , 187 , , 57 , , 244 , , 108 , , 25 , , 2.9 , , 1.5 , , 8.5 , , 2.6 , , 11.1 , , 4.9 , , 0.3 , , 8 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , , , 50 , 9 , , 8 , , 8 , , 49 , , 13 , , 62 , , 31 , , 6 , , 0.9 , , 0.9 , , 5.4 , , 1.4 , , 6.9 , , 3.4 , , 0.7 , , 0 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

^# , , , , 50 , 13 , , 25 , , 13 , , 102 , , 24 , , 126 , , 69 , , 20 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 7.8 , , 1.8 , , 9.7 , , 5.3 , , 1.5 , , 0 , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, , , , 50 , 19 , , 30 , , 19 , , 114 , , 59 , , 173 , , 79 , , 17 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 6.0 , , 3.1 , , 9.1 , , 4.2 , , 0.9 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 162 !! 342 !! 172 !! 1210 !! 467 !! 1677 !! 770 !! 185 !! 2.1 !! 1.1 !! 7.5 !! 2.9 !! 10.4 !! 4.8 !! 1.1 !! 31 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * AFL premiership player ():

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

():

Individual * 4× North Melbourne Leading Goalkicker: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 *

Australia international rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Australian women's team, see Australia women's international rules football team.'' The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in Inte ...

* Ian Ridley Memorial Trophy: 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ben 1992 births North Melbourne Football Club players Werribee Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Living people People from Devonport, Tasmania Glenorchy Football Club players Devonport Football Club players Australia international rules football team players Melbourne Football Club players Melbourne Football Club Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players