Born May 28, 1977
108 games, 62 goals
176cm
77kg

A handy rover from Geelong Falcons who was the least fashionable of the Brown-Smith-Jones trio when he came to the Saints. Took longer than the others to establish himself as his forte was playing on the ball and St Kilda had a strong midfield brigade.

He chafed on the flank or the wing and in 1997 was given more of a run on the ball and responded well. Brown was an effective running player for the remainder of the year. He started 1999 in slashing form before a more subdued back half of the season.

A committed and whole-hearted individual who was greatly respected within the club, he crossed to South Australia's Port Adelaide Magpies in 2001 and shared the Magarey Medal with teammate Ryan O'Connor.

How did you arrive at St Kilda?

John Beveridge and Gary Colling were behind drafting me as a 17 year old in 1994. I was lucky to be captain in the Victorian Country Teal Cup Side that went to Perth and had a reasonable carnival. I was then selected at pick no.7 in the 1994 National Draft. Being a Geelong boy, I followed the Cats, not passionately, but I used to love going to watch Gary Ablett Senior. My old man was a St Kilda supporter, so I probably saw more Saints games than Cats games growing up. I made my debut in 1995 against Fitzroy.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Ross Smith

What do you remember about your debut game?

I remember being very excited. All of my mates were doing Year 12 back in Geelong, and they saw on the footy show that I was debuting, so it was very exciting for my family and all of my friends who I grew up with.

I ran out at Waverley Park on a pretty cold day and Tim Pekinsaid to me: “Great day to debut Browny, against Fitzroy, we should win this one”. As it turned out, it was Fitzroy’s only win for the year. Mark Zanotti was my first opponent - he was big and quite intimidating.

Did you feel any pressure being such a high draft pick?

Not really. There was Austinn Jones, Joel Smith and myself who came into the side that year. Aussie and Joel debuted in the first couple of rounds, and then I debuted about a month later. Seeing them play before me was a bit of motivation to get into the side and start to contribute.

In 1995 we were right down the bottom of the ladder, in 1996 we won the Anzac Cup Grand Final and in 1997 we played in a day Grand Final. We rose quickly and we were a part of a few good years.

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Can you re-live the 1997 Grand Final?

Winning the 1997 Preliminary Final against North Melbourne on the previous Friday night actually was quite a surreal experience. The Grand Final parade was a highlight. I was in a car with Jayson Daniels, and going through the city with thousands of people was quite amazing.

I was living with Max Hudghton, Joel Smith and Austinn Jones in Spring Street, Sandringham and we had Channel 7 knocking on our door at about 7:30am on match day to have a quick chat while we ate breakfast. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best thing to do. The club questioned us the week after which was fair enough. It was quite strange really but they just turned up.

How difficult was the loss for you?

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Peter Everitt

It doesn’t trouble me nowadays, but getting so close and not winning always leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Stan Alves made us watch the game on the first day back of the 1998 pre-season. That was pretty hard, to sit and actually watch the game again. That was the only time I have ever seen it. It was the only match for the year where I started on the bench and I didn’t have a huge impact on the game.

After losing the Grand Final, was there a feeling that it was just a matter of time until you won a premiership?

We played two finals in 1998 but got knocked out. Looking back I thought we would get an opportunity the next year, but that never came. On reflection I did take it for granted a bit.

Who were the best players you played with at St Kilda?

The best players without a doubt were Robert Harvey, Stewart Loewe, Nicky Winmar and Nathan Burke. I was privileged to play in the midfield with those two. I was also lucky to play with Danny Frawley in his last year and he was an amazing captain and leader.

Who was the best opponent you played on?

I played on Greg Williams at Waverley Park which was a great learning curve. I played on James Hird for a half at the MCG and we beat Essendon that day in 1997. Garry Hocking was a tough opponent. They were probably the three hardest.

Round 1998, St Kilda vs Geelong, Round 1.

What you have done since you’ve finished playing?

At the end of 2000 I was delisted as a 23 year old having played 108 senior games in six years. I thought I had a few years left in me, but being the ruthless industry it is, that’s the way it went.

I went to South Australia and played in the SANFL with the Port Adelaide Magpies. I just went for one year and ended up staying for five seasons. I captained the club in my last couple of years and was lucky enough to win a Magarey Medal as well. I went back to university as a mature aged student and did my teaching degree, a Bachelor of Education at the University of South Australia.

The year straight after I was delisted I thought I could get back on an AFL list. I sat with Geelong in the board room with Bomber Thompson and Steven Wells and they were certainly keen to get me involved. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Fremantle and Richmond also expressed some interest, but things didn’t go my way. After that I didn’t nominate again for the Draft, I just concentrated on playing for the Port Adelaide Magpies and getting my degree finished.

I was in the class room for seven years. I taught at Sandringham East Primary School for two years, Haileybury College for four years in the middle school and then a year down in Geelong at Christian College. Then the opportunity came up to put my hat in the ring for the player welfare role back at the Saints. I was fortunate enough to get that job and I am thoroughly enjoying my role working with the players.

How did that opportunity come up?

In 2011 I had a phone call from an ex-teammate, Mathew Lappin, asking if I would like to do the running on match day for Collingwood. Lappin was the forwards coach under Malthouse, and I had never thought about doing the running, but I thought I would give it a go. Collingwood ended up playing Geelong in the Grand Final and the Cats just beat them. That experience wet my appetite a bit to get back involved at AFL level. Scott Watters was the defensive coach then and when he got the job at St Kilda he asked me to come and be his runner.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Aaron Hamill

What do you do in your role with the Saints?

My role didn’t exist back when I played, but each club now has at least one or two player welfare and development managers. I look after the induction for all the new players to the club, so everything from housing and relocating them, to communicating with parents, dealing with any issues, and making sure they are comfortable in their new environment. I also look at the other end of careers to make sure the transition out of the game for those who leave the club is as smooth as possible.

I also make sure the players are engaged in something outside of footy, so whether that’s University, work placements, short courses or career planning, so we can up skill them in an area of interest in preparation for when their footy career ends, so that they have skills to transition out of the game.

Austinn Jones and Tony Brown after St Kilda defeated Geelong in Round 17, 2000.

Talk us through your family?

I’ve been married to Kirsty for about a decade. Mackenzie is our oldest; she is seven and attends Barwon Heads Primary School. We thought she was going to be our only child, but we were very lucky to have twins, Jonty and Maddison who are three years old. So life is pretty busy but I love it.

What do you think about the modern game compared to the game you played in the 90s?

The modern game is a lot quicker than when I played and the sport science introduced into the game has been the biggest difference in my 10 or 12 years out of the game, which includes the GPS and monitoring of the players workloads.

As we saw with the Jack Viney incident - that’s amazing that the suspension has happened. During my day Byron Pickett was running around doing that every week and no one batted an eyelid. So certainly there are aspects that have changed. But probably the pace of the game is the biggest change.

It’s a different game. It was a good spectacle 20 years ago and it’s a good spectacle now. The AFL is an amazing organisation and I’m lucky enough to still be working in it.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Jason Blake

What does the St Kilda Football Club mean to you?

The Saints gave me an opportunity to be a player and I hold that very dear. I’m very proud to have my name on the No.2 locker and to now be back in an administration role. I feel very fortunate that I can now work with these elite athletes and pass on my experiences and assist them to be better people beyond the football ground.