Why losing Ben Brown was a “bit of a disaster” for North Melbourne

Australian football Legend Malcolm Blight has labelled North Melbourne’s decision to let go of Ben Brown a “disaster”.

It comes as Brown will play his first game for Melbourne in Round 7, coincidentally against the Kangaroos.

The 28-year-old missed most of the 2020 season and the start of 2021 with a knee issue, but has shown strong form in the VFL across the last fortnight.

Blight believes the Kangaroos needed to keep Brown as part of developing young forwards Nick Larkey and Cam Zurhaar.

“Zurhaar and Larkey were my two pinup boys 18 months ago and I thought they were going to develop nicely,” Blight told SEN’s Whateley.

“What they needed was Ben Brown to stay.

“You’ve always got to say, he’s a good kid, but unless he’s a freak and they come along rarely, you just need that older body around to help you go through it.

“You can see most teams do that and are good at it.

“They’ll be alright, but they need another key forward.

“Losing Ben Brown was a bit of a disaster for them. I don’t know how it happened. The decision has been made and he’s gone.

“You do need a bigger body there. There might be someone who might not be the best player, but they might just take some heat off those two younger ones.”

Larkey has kicked 8.1 so far this season for the winless Kangaroos, averaging eight disposals per game.

Zurhaar meanwhile is averaging 11 disposals per game and hasn’t kicked a goal this year, but has missed time with a concussion.

The Roos and Dees meet on Sunday at Blundstone Arena in Hobart.

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