For draft hopefuls, their stint with the Bushrangers could be as long as three years, but Brown’s decade-long tenure as a Murray stalwart will close its curtains at season’s end.
A time frame over triple the length of the fortunate pathway footballers still flew by just as fast though, the head coach said.
Brown began his time at the Bushies in 2015 as a development coach, was an assistant coach in Murray’s run to the grand final in 2016 and has been at the helm since 2019.
In his time at the Talent League side, Brown has coached numerous eventual draftees, including the likes of projected 2025 All-Australian Lachie Ash, North Melbourne skipper Jy Simpkin and Adelaide livewire forward Josh Rachele.
But with his mark left on the Murray pathway system, Brown is onto greener pastures in a role as AFL Talent Lead for NSW and Australian Capital Territory prospects.
The responsibilities include assisting the NSW AFL team academy pathways (Sydney Swans and GWS Giants) and community-based work to identify and flag potential talent coming through outside of the academies.
It’s an exciting role for the loyal Murray servant, but leaves a bittersweet final few weeks ahead for the Bushrangers coach.
“It’s been an exceptionally enjoyable decade,” Brown said.
“I couldn’t imagine a better job to be honest, to be employed to live and breathe football and help the best young kids coming through is a dream role and a role I’ve been privileged to have.
“We often tell the boys your time with the Murray Bushrangers will happen very quickly, and now I’ve got to live a bit of that now myself.
“From my perspective, it’s just making sure we take advantage of the games we have left in the season ... and the messaging is to the boys that you understand your time here is finite and you’ve got to take advantage of it.”
The Bushrangers secured their fourth win of the Coates Talent League season against the Western Jets on Saturday in blustery wind at DSV Stadium in Williamstown.
While it took some time to adapt to the conditions, the Bushies broke the game open in the first term with the breeze in hand, before matching the Jets in the second quarter to maintain a buffer at the half-time break.
The wind died down somewhat in the second half which made scoring at both ends more achievable, as Murray capitalised with four last quarter goals effectively against the gusty breeze.
Goulburn Valley products Harry Moon and Lincoln Brand returned from national championships duties to aid the Bushies to their first win since round nine.
“We had a lot of talent roll back in,” Brown said.
“Everyone played a really good brand of football, their ability to compete was first-rate.“
With two regular season games and a wildcard match left, Brown said the focus remained the same despite his time as coach inevitably approaching its end.
“Nothing changes for us, to be honest,” Brown said.
“Understanding that your time runs out quickly with us (as player or coach), you don’t want to waste a minute.”
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