It’s party time for Callum Brown on Saint Patrick’s Day in Australia following his two exquisite goals for Greater Western Sydney in round one of the AFL yesterday.
The ‘Orange Tsunami’ made it two wins from two against North Melbourne (121-82) at home with Brown picking up from where he left off in last week’s ‘opening’ round win when the former Derry underage footballer kicked a bag of five goals at home against reigning premiers Collingwood at Engie Stadium.
Brown’s teammate Jessie Hogan picked up most of the post-game plaudits after kicking six goals against the Kangaroos but Brown’s contribution was equally noted.
Brown booted his first goal from close range early in the first quarter and in the third quarter he finished a stunning passage of play after GWS moved the ball from inside their defensive 50m arc to their forward 50m arc when Brown produced a sumptuous finish to underscore the host’s domination.
Happy St Patrick's Day 🍀 pic.twitter.com/R3Jt2tEcMf
— GWS GIANTS (@GWSGIANTS) March 16, 2024
Respected commentator Dwayne Russell who gave him the moniker ‘Downtown Brown’ last year, loudly exclaimed ‘Party Time’ live on the air when the Limavady Wolfhounds man’s kick went through the big sticks.
Overall Brown finished the four quarters with 15 disposals (7 kicks & 8 handballs), 5 marks, 2 goals, and one behind.
On the opposite side Brockagh-born defender Aidan Corr made his 2024 season debut against his old club.
Corr, who went off under the blood rule in the first quarter, returned to the field to notch 6 disposals (5 kicks & 1 handball) and 2 marks for the visitors.
Brown (23) has only played 31 senior games for GWS since 21, but after being elevated to the senior list and becoming a first-choice forward last year, the man in fluorescent orange boots is not letting that stop him from dreaming of becoming only the fourth Irish player in history after Tadhg Kennelly, Zach Tuohy, and Mark O’Connor to win an AFL Premiership.
“I do think about winning it, to be honest,” Brown said.
“It would be nice to obviously win it for everyone back home because I know everyone’s going to be supporting me and that does push me on to do it even more.
“That’s what Ireland’s all about.
“Once you play for a team, they’re all for it and yeah, it’d be special, a special moment.”
Brown is also heartened by the support he is receiving 10,000 miles away back home in Ireland.
He has been repeatedly told by his close family ‘not to come home’ until he is successful and achieves his dreams of AFL glory and that encouragement drives him on in every game.
“During the finals series last year, I’m pretty sure my old primary school opened up so if anyone wanted to come in and watch the game, they had it all set up, that was good,” he said.
“My mum tells me what’s going on, she’s got a good relationship with the principal of the school.
“She stays involved, everybody tells her what’s going on, she goes next door to our best friends and watches the game with them.
“Everyone’s really supportive and always pushing me on to be a better player.”
Brown’s family have also told him to take no notice of any dissenting voices in Ireland who speak vehemently against the poaching of GAA players to Australian rules.
In the past Derry boss Mickey Harte has been one of the most vocal urging the GAA to ‘cut all ties with the AFL’.
Brown said: “Everyone’s just like, ‘Dude, just don’t come back’ because there’s so many people coming here now and they can see how great it is here and once they come here, they’re like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go back home’.
“They realise there’s a good opportunity here and it’s probably a better lifestyle. So that’s why everyone back home is just like, ‘Make the most of the opportunity and just go for it’.
“Even if I was to come back at some stage, they know I can finish off where I started last time (in Gaelic football) and come straight back into things.”
In the late kick-off on Sunday, Tyrone Sam Maguire winner Conor McKenna endured a miserable St Patrick’s Day in Perth where, for the second consecutive week, the Brisbane Lions coughed up a big lead to hand their opponents four Premiership points.
On this occasion, the Lions made the longest trip in the AFL when they travelled 4,350km across the continent to lose 93-70 to an undermanned Fremantle Dockers in a match marred by injury carnage.
The visitors booted the opening four goals of the game but in the second-quarter they had no answer to Fremantle’s five goal onslaught that turned the tables.
Despite the Dockers losing defenders Brennan Cox (hamstring), Oscar McDonald (knee) and Karl Worner (head knock) in the second quarter, by the end of the third quarter they had booted 11 of the past 12 goals and there was no way back for Brisbane.
McKenna reported a hamstring injury and will undergo scans to determine the extent of the damage.
The Eglish club man broke down with a hamstring strain during the first of the Lions intra-club pre-season games last month and missed the Lions opening round one-point loss to Carlton last week.
The Lions have not yet confirmed if McKenna has damaged the same hamstring.
He collected 14 disposals (11 kicks & 3 handballs) and 4 marks off the half-back flank. Dockers star midfielder Caleb Serong set a new club record with 46 disposals and was named as one of his team’s best on ground players.
On Saturday, Portloaise veteran Zach Tuohy kept his nerve to boot a crucial third quarter set shot goal for Geelong in their season opening 76-68 win against Saint Kilda at their Simmonds Stadium home.
Former Geelong skipper Joel Selwood, perhaps the greatest player in Geelong’s history and an ex-teammate of Tuohy, was commentating on television when he paid tribute to the kicking skills of Irish AFL recruits.
“Zach is one of the Irish players who came over here and learned the game late, but regardless of that they just don’t make mistakes with their kicking,” Selwood, who had a new stand named in his honour before the game, said.
Geelong led by 24 points (4 goals) in the third quarter but Saint Kilda who have not won in Geelong’s backyard since 1999 reduced the deficit to 13 points at half-time. Uncharacteristically the Cats failed to kick a goal in the third quarter for only the sixth time in 403 quarters coached by incumbent Chris Scott.
Three quick Saints goals in stoppage time reduced Geelong’s lead to a solitary point, but the visitors were denied a famous comeback win when Cats midfielder Patrick Dangerfield won the next clearance to kick a last-minute winner.
Tuohy finished with 15 disposals (11 kicks & 4 handballs), 4 marks, 1 goal and 1 behind.
Kerry tagger Mark O’Connor collected 17 disposals (9 kicks & 8 handballs), 5 marks, and 1 behind.
Earlier on Saturday, Meath midfielder Conor Nash was on the Hawthorn team who lost 107-83 to bitter rivals Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Nash collected 19 disposals (11 kicks & 8 handballs), 5 marks, and one behind in a busy four-quarter effort for the Hawks.
In other news on this Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, punters across Australia downed 2.4 million pints with 13,000 kegs and more than 1.4 million cans of Guinness in pubs.
Record-breaking AFL crowds drank more than their fair share with a total of 413,405 supporters having attended all eight round one matches.