The 18-year-old has strong family ties to Geelong, with dad Paul playing 84 games for the Cats in the 1990s and sister Millie currently on its AFLW list, but just fell short of qualifying as a father-son selection — allowing the Tigers to swoop on the ultra-athletic half-back flanker.
Brown has shot up draft boards in recent weeks, with phenomenal testing results at the recent Victoria Country Draft Combine in Bendigo, backing up an incredibly consistent season for the Murray Bushrangers at NAB League level.
Watching the draft from his home in Mooroopna with close friends and family, Brown described the wide range of emotions he felt when his name was read out.
“I wasn’t really expecting the Tigers (to draft me), I hadn’t had too much contact with them, but I am absolutely over the moon because I get to stay in Victoria and they are such a great club that knows how to win premierships so what more can I ask for, I am very lucky,” Brown said.
“Last night we just got the grandparents, cousins and close friends around and we just watched at home in Mooroopna and had a great night.”
Brown will add much needed depth to the Tigers across half-back following the retirement of Bachar Houli and goes to a team desperate to bounce back after a disappointing 2021 season.
He outlined what excited him most about going to Richmond and what he would bring to the already talented squad at Punt Rd.
“I am probably (most excited) about the environment and entering such a strong club, the list is obviously full of great players and premiership talent so I am really looking forward to going in there and learning as much as I can,” he said.
“The fans can expect me to give my all to the club and work as hard as I can to be the best player I can be and help the people around me be better as well — on the field I would like to say I am a complete player that likes to take the game on and take intercepts and just work hard to beat my opponent.”
Brown becomes the eighth Mooroopna product to enter the AFL/VFL system and follows in the footsteps of recent draftees Laitham Vandermeer (2018), Jy Simpkin (2016) and Clayton Oliver (2015).
He is also the second player from the Cats to end up in yellow and black, after Nathan Drummond played five games for the club between 2015 and 2018.
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