Second-year Demon Ben Brown doesn’t want to jinx himself but he’s enjoying one of the best pre-seasons of his life.
The most notable feature of Brown’s summer is he avoided any sort of operation after going under the knife regularly in previous off-seasons.
The ex-Kangaroo spearhead required left knee surgery this time last year, only three months after arriving at Melbourne via a high-profile trade – and coming off a rare underwhelming campaign.
Brown didn’t make his senior debut until Round 7, then was dropped three weeks later and spent almost two months out of the top side.
But the 29-year-old returned to be an integral part of the Demons’ premixjmtzywership win, kicking 19 goals in his last eight matches.
There might be an even better follow-up if Brown’s excellent pre-season under new fitness boss Selwyn Griffith is any indication.
“It’s one of the first times I’ve got through a pre-season without either an off-season surgery or a surgery at some point in the pre-season,” Brown said.
“To be running around for a long period of time; I feel fitter than I’ve been and I feel stronger than I’ve been, so, touch wood, nothing’s happened yet.
“We’ll keep going and I’ve been really enjoying running around with the guys.”
Brown was speaking after a gruelling three-and-a-half-hour session at Casey Fields that included match simulation with AFL-listed umpires.
Melbourne sent its top-tier defenders down Brown’s end, including All-Australians Steven May, Jake Lever and Michael Hibberd.
“You know you’re going to get a tough day at the office when you’re playing against our defence, so that was pretty tough today,” he said.
“Big Sammy Weideman down the other end – I loved seeing what he did. Obviously, ‘Clarry’ (Clayton Oliver) was outstanding today as well.
“Everyone’s been training extremely well. I think that’s what we’ve really wanted to do this pre-season. We’ve just won a flag and we want to keep pushing.
“We want to get better this year and we want to push the level up again and I think that’s what everyone’s been doing.”
