Baby Magpies Fly High As Rocca Sinks Dockers

Sun Herald

Sunday March 23, 2008

By Martin Boulton MCG

COLLINGWOOD 16.15 111

FREMANTLE 13.7 85

AFTER Collingwood stretched their lead to three goals early in the final term against Fremantle yesterday, debutant Nathan Brown jogged to the bench.

The 19-year-old had earned a rest. He'd just won another clearance against Dockers skipper Matthew Pavlich, which Tyson Goldsack swept into the forward line.

From the bench, Brown watched Anthony Rocca snag a couple of his final-quarter goals and briefly soaked up the atmosphere of playing in front of 45,000 people - most of whom were cheering for the team he grew up supporting.

"I just wanted to get out there and give 100 per cent for the black and white," Brown said after the match. "I've always been pretty passionate about Collingwood."

Collingwood kicked away in the last term after the game had hung in the balance at half-time - booting six goals to three, including three of Rocca's six for the day.

"The first game is always difficult for big players and he [Rocca] mucked up one or two, so maybe he could have kicked more," Magpies coach Mick Malthouse said. "It was handy, very handy."

Brown was unperturbed when assigned Pavlich.

"Mick has told me it's all about focus, my [opponent] might be quicker than me, he might be stronger than me, but it's about positioning and being focused," he said.

At 97 kilograms, Brown is 5kg lighter than Pavlich, but he kept a few paces clear of the centre-half forward yesterday in a bid to unsettle him.

"I tried to lose him a bit, so he couldn't feel me or know exactly [where] I was."

It was a ploy that worked, despite Pavlich collecting 10 marks and finishing with 21 disposals. The star forward kicked just one of Fremantle's 13 goals.

Drifting back into defence early in the final term, Brown again gave Pavlich some space, but quickly edged around him as the ball was delivered and punched it clear.

A second effort close to the boundary line blocked Pavlich and the ball was Collingwood's.

Pavlich was swung into the middle and, after a stint on the bench, Brown was moved onto Luke McPharlin, who was giving the Dockers a sniff with his third goal.

At 195 centimetres, Brown has the height to play the key defensive role of centre-half back and backs himself to hold down the job.

"With James Clement [retiring] at the end of last year I set my sights on that and never looked back," Brown said. "I always had my sights on gaining that position."

Malthouse refused to get excited about Brown's debut, suggesting it was always going to be a difficult task, "particularly on a bloke like Pavlich, he's a pretty handy player".

"Browny held up and that's what we wanted him to do - we want to give him as much experience as we can," Malthouse said, before adding he might get the job on Brisbane forward Jonathan Brown at the Gabba next week.

"I'm just looking forward to next week," Brown said.

Malthouse said he would waste no time introducing more debutants.

"We wouldn't pick them if we didn't have any confidence in them," he said. "They're not restricted by age [and] if they're ready to play then we'll play them. I don't believe in holding players back if they're ready to go, it doesn't matter if they're 19 or 29, they'll play."

Collingwood had 10 players under 21 in their squad yesterday, while Fremantle, under new coach Mark Harvey, opted for experience.

"To judge them on one performance is harsh," Harvey said.

Collingwood forward Sean Rusling injured his left shoulder before half-time.

© 2008 Sun Herald

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