Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board

Whilst his hands and pace are great...

I'm a fan but I don't think he's fast.
It's just that much of the rest of the team are slow.

Reckon he'll get squeezed out by his brother Tyler.

He showed a lot more than I thought he was capable of. Well done him. If he continues to develop along the same trajectory then who knows; he can surprise us all. At times he became a last quarter specialist for us & was instrumental in assisting the team to win.
Just needs a little more poise when kicking for goal but good luck to him & lets hope he continues to do well & puts egg on the face of the naysayers.

Go Pies

thesoretoothsayer wrote: I'm a fan but I don't think he's fast.
It's just that much of the rest of the team are slow.

While his top end speed may not be what is typically considered fast (although I disagree with this), his acceleration is elite. You just have to watch how quickly he can get separation from a stoppage or with a change of direction. I'd say over 5-10m there'd be few quicker.

^
Good point. I hadn't considered that aspect.
I still feel, however, that pacy backlines expose his lack of genuine foot speed.

We used to have a thing called a Collingwood six footer. A term for someone who wasn't quite 6ft. Perhaps we can call Callum a Collingwood sprinter?

^^^ Isn't that the temptingly talented but perpetually injured aka Sean Rusling?

Rusling - so much potential.
It hurts to think about what could've been.

Been looking through the Pies’ YouTube files for video of Callum Brown. Some interesting stuff to look back on after Brown’s first few years.

Derek Hine gave an interview on Brown’s prospects at the time he was recruited back in 2016. Hine said that over time Brown will play more as a midfielder. Is that time 2020? As others have said, he would have to push his way in. Unless an older midfielder makes way by being moved to another position. Brown’s got more meat on his bones these days and could make it as an inside mid. Be looking for clues when the pre-season program gets underway.
‘Hine's take: Callum Brown’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Za893KoS3c (why does Hine always remind me of a beached walrus?)

Interview with his parents before his debut game, Queens Birthday 2017.
‘A dream come true for him’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NEUxdBTGHw (his mum’s a hottie).

And to bring things up to date, his highlights reel for 2019.
‘2019 Highlights: Callum Brown’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8NCBDaZVb0 (some big tackle’s for a little bloke).

thesoretoothsayer wrote: I'm a fan but I don't think he's fast.
It's just that much of the rest of the team are slow.

Pendlebury ( i think) was interviewed about other players and when asked who was the fastest said Stevo followed by Brown and qualified it as first 20 meters

This is perhaps a case where the numbers tell you more than general play. It's difficult to track those acts casually while watching a game, especially when the brain is primed to look for grabs and goals up forward.

It's no secret that Callum Brown has become a player that many supporters have preferred not to see at AFL level.

I am a little bit sick of seeing him clean it up at VFL level and then either being the sub, or coming in for little impact at AFL level. I've also noticed that he can come in a do one or two really good things at an important time of the game, but then undoes it all with a back kick or bad shot at goal.

Fine. He cant kick 50. He shouldn't need to be doing that. I dont think his place is in the forward line.

From this point, what does he have to do for you to say, yes lets keep him around, or lets put him and keep him in the side regularly?

Presti35 wrote:It's no secret that Callum Brown has become a player that many supporters have preferred not to see at AFL level.

I am a little bit sick of seeing him clean it up at VFL level and then either being the sub, or coming in for little impact at AFL level. I've also noticed that he can come in a do one or two really good things at an important time of the game, but then undoes it all with a back kick or bad shot at goal.

Fine. He cant kick 50. He shouldn't need to be doing that. I dont think his place is in the forward line.

From this point, what does he have to do for you to say, yes lets keep him around, or lets put him and keep him in the side regularly?

The only role I can see for him is the centre-extractor role currently occupied by Adams. But I am not sure he has the core strength to make it even there. It is a pity, as I loved his old man’s football and really want him to make it, but time looks to be up…

Good question. I like the kid, he's shown some ticker.

His best year 2019 I thought was going to be his making and he played all 22 games. Averaged 15 touches, 3 marks and kicked 11 goals for the season. A more than serviceable season. He won the 2019 Gavin Brown Award (pressure) after winning the Harry Collier Trophy for the Magpies’ best first-year player in 2017.

Since then, there hasn't been a great deal to get excited about. Others have passed him buy.
What Callum needs to hope for is another opportunity and to give it the best he can. look at Cox and Cameron with the opening that happened for them.
If he doesn't show something over the next few months, I think his days are numbered. I hope he gets that chance.

Unfortunately if you are a small player, then you need to have some really special qualities to compensate. Callum is a tenacious and courageous player, but his ordinary disposal skills and decision-making become exposed at senior level, where the speed and physicality is exponentially greater. At this stage I really can't see him or his brother Tyler getting another contract at Collingwood.

I think that Callum Brown has untapped potential, however, to reach his upper limits he needs to:

* develop more pace and endurance- it will require an enormous amount of effort and sacrifice.
* add meterage and accuracy to his foot skills- again, that is far easier said than done- it requires enormous work.
* develop his reflexes and handball capacities under elite pressure.

The lad is clearly better than VFL standards, but somewhat short of what is required at the highest level.

I would keep him on the list ahead of, say, a Bianco or a few of the other shorter players on our list.

Put simply, we have invested an enormous amount of resources in Callum Brown- would be a shame if he went to the next level at another club...