By Jonty Ralphsmith
A senior debut at local level in round two on 13 April to a VFL berth for Collingwood on Saturday.
Beaconsfield’s Hayden Brown has enjoyed a meteoric rise throughout 2024, showing off his versatility at senior level in the Eastern Football Netball League Division 1 competition.
Having trained with Collingwood across preseason and earned a spot on the Pies’ VFL supplementary list, he was called up to debut against North Melbourne on Sunday.
Brown kicked a clean goal over his shoulder with his first kick at VFL level and showed glimpses of strong footy, particularly in the second half of Collingwood’s 12.7 79 to 18.12 120 loss.
The emerging talent was part of Beaconsfield’s under-19s premiership in 2024 and despite being squeezed out of the Eagles’ round 1 lineup due to the availability of several VFL players, was always part of coach Mick Fogarty’s plans for 2024.
“He’s an inside and outside mid, his balance is really strong in that area, he knows when to hunt the footy and when to be on the outside and he makes really good decisions and his execution by foot is at the level,” said Beacy coach Mick Fogarty.
“He’s adapted very quckly to senior footy playing against men and he’s worked hard for it.
We were rapt for him to get the opportunity.
“We love seeing our Beacy kids go to VFL, boys who have come through our system and their talent allows them to get looked at.”
Brown is a product of Haileybury College, coached by First XXVII coach Matthew Lloyd as a schoolboy prior to his strong form at local level.
Doveton’s Deakyn Smith was in action against Brown and finished with 14 touches in a tidy performance.
