Ashlin Brown is thriving in his role as Western Jets’ captain. 79072 Picture: EMILY LANE
By LIAM TWOMEY
WESTERN Jet’s Ashlin Brown is a swingman.
Hailing from the Hoppers Crossing Football Club, weighing in at 86 kilos and standing at 186 centimetres, the 18-year-old can handle any situation.
In the final year of his TAC Cup career, Brown splits his time between big grabs on the forward line and tough contests in the backline.
His busy schedule also includes training with the Vic Metro squad and it starts to become clear that Brown is one of the most promising young players in the western suburbs.
Mature beyond his years, he was selected to captain the Western Jets this season, something he was honoured to do.
“Last year I was in the leadership group so I was just hoping to further expand on that by getting the captaincy and just being a real focal point for the group and try to be a good motivator,” he said.
“It was just a bonus to get the title because I would have tried to play that role anyway. I’m loving it (being captain).
“It’s a great experience to lead such a top side and the boys really get around me and support me, so it’s good.”
A natural born leader, Brown credits former Jets’ captain and team mate Adam Kennedy for setting a great example last year. He said the three draftees from the class of 2011 (Kennedy, Elliott Kavanagh and Will Hoskin- Elliott) demonstrated exactly just how far hard work and commitment could take a player.
Brown is following a similar path to the exciting trio after being selected in the 40 man Vic Metro squad last month.
“Training with Metro is going really well.
“We have four boys down there at the moment from the Jets and we are all enjoying it. The training is a lot different to what the Jets do, but I welcome new challenges and I am really enjoying it,” he said.
“It is just like learning different drills and getting used to new structures, which are great for my footy. “My goal is to play a Vic Metro game this year. Hopefully I can continue to push towards that.”
There are no prizes for guessing his second goal with a place on an AFL list high in his hopes
Despite the Jets’ tough start to the season, Brown is confident the club will turn its form around sooner rather than later with last week’s trip to Tasmania the perfect launching pad for team building.
“Training with Metro is going really well. We have four boys down there at the moment from the Jets and we are all enjoying it.
“The training is a lot different to what the Jets do, but I welcome new challenges and I am really enjoying it,” he said. “It is just like learning different drills and getting used to new structures, which are great for my footy.
“My goal is to play a Vic Metro game this year. Hopefully I can continue to push towards that.”
There are no prizes for guessing his second goal with a place on an AFL list high in his hopes.
Despite the Jets’ tough start to the season, Brown is confident the club will turn its form around sooner rather than later with last week’s trip to Tasmania the perfect launching pad for team building.
“The boys are really good at the moment because there have been a lot of positives to come out of the games especially the last two weeks.
“We are really starting to play four quarters, which is a good sign and it’s good that the boys are continuing to push up until the last siren, which is a really promising sign,” he said.
“I think that when we find the right mix we will really gel as a team because maybe just in the first couple of weeks we haven’t quite come together yet but I’m really confident that we can repeat what happened last year and have a really good finish to the season.”
