PLENTY has changed in football since Tony Brown’s AFL career came to an end in 2000.

For one thing, the Saints had no such thing as a Player Welfare Manager – the role he has just accepted 13 years after he was delisted.

But as football has become a bigger business and demands are higher than ever, player welfare has become an increasingly important part of the game.

“It didn’t exist during my time like a lot of positions at footy clubs these days. I see it as a pretty important role in the make-up of all football clubs now,” Brown told saints.com.au.

Time commitment and an increased emphasis on sports science are two of the biggest changes Brown has noticed since he was a player, both of which only add to the importance of monitoring player welfare.

In his new role, the 35-year-old will work with every St Kilda player to help with a range of issues such as education, life skills, media training, adapting to the demands of the AFL system and planning for a life after football.

And Brown’s personal experiences have taught him a thing or two about the challenges that can come with being an AFL footballer.

Drafted with pick seven at the 1994 National Draft, Brown played his first senior game three weeks before his 18th birthday. He held his spot for the remainder of his debut season and along with draftees Joel Smith and Austinn Jones was heralded as a shining light for a club that was struggling both on and off the field.

“As a 17-year-old I came in with my eyes wide open and had to grow up pretty quickly. In my first year we finished 14th and there were talks that the Saints might have to merge with another club,” he said.

“There were a few anxious periods then but thanks to a lot of loyal people around the place we won the Ansett Cup premiership in 1996 and played in the 1997 Grand Final against Adelaide.

Brown didn’t have the profile of his fellow 1994 draftees but he did carry some of the hype that came the way of the St Kilda youngsters.
“Because we all started at the same time and came together, also the common names – Smith, Brown and Jones gave us a bit of publicity,” Brown recalls.

“There was a bit of hype about it when we won the Ansett Cup and also when we made the finals in 1997 but I don’t think there were any unreal expectations.”

Brown, Jones and Smith were a close trio who briefly shared a house together in East Bentleigh with teammate Max Hudghton. Eventually a fifth teammate, Matthew Lappin moved in.

Looking back on the living situation with his Player Welfare Manager hat on, Brown admits it might not have been the ideal arrangement.
“There were four of us living together and Lappo moved in towards the end. It wouldn’t be encouraged now but that was in our second and third years,” he said.

“In our first years we were boarded out in family environments but still, I don’t think it would be encouraged for five players to live together. Aussie, Joel, Matty, Max and myself were all pretty close. We shared that house for a period of time and we still keep in touch.”

Brown went from being one of the Saints’ most promising players in his first year to being an integral part of the midfield in the side that made it to the 1997 Grand Final.

But the dizzying highs of the early part of his career came to an abrupt end soon after.

After 108 games in six seasons, Brown was delisted after new coach Malcolm Blight was appointed at the end of 2000.

Despite still being relatively young, Brown could not attract the attention of any other AFL club and made his way to SANFL club Port Adelaide where he won a Magarey Medal (the SANFL equivalent of the Brownlow) and captained the proud South Australian club.

While his exit from the Saints was a little unexpected, he retained a soft spot for the team.

“When I was delisted at 23 it was wasn’t ideal. I expected it to last a bit longer,” he said.

“I didn’t go to the footy but I always followed the club from a distance – especially the boys I played with. I’ve followed the Saints ever since my career ended but obviously a bit more so now.”

After five years at Port Adelaide, Brown returned to Victoria and played with his original club Leopold. He finished a Bachelor of Education and got a job with Melbourne private school Haileybury.

Brown signed up with the school’s old boys team to join fellow former Saints Stewart Loewe and Brett Voss, with Jamie Shanahan coaching.

Soon after he took a job with Christian Brothers Geelong, before moving to Sandringham East primary school and was a runner for Collingwood in 2011.

Brown moved back to the Saints to become the runner for new coach Scott Watters in 2012 before joining the club on a full-time basis just before Christmas.

He says he is back on board at an exciting time for the club.

“We run at a profit now which wasn’t always the case. A lot of work has been done off the field to make the club sustainable. On the field it is such a cut-throat business so to have played in two Grand Finals in the last four years was a fantastic effort,” he said.

“To just miss the finals last year was disappointing but a lot of people expected us to drop off more than that. To play finals this year is the expectation and I don’t see why we can’t do that.”