Apples and trees

You know the old aphorism? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Well, this weekend, Campbell Brown confirmed the truth of the aphorism, for the Brown clan at least, if such confirmation was ever in doubt.

 

Campbell’s father, Malcolm, was a bear of a man and played his football on the edge — of sanity and controversy. “Big bad Mal” was bigger and badder than Barry Hall has ever dreamt of being and was on a permanent hair trigger when he crossed the white line. Not that Mal wasn’t a gifted athlete and footballer. He was both and didn’t need to throw his weight around to be very effective, but he seemed to know no other way.

 

It would have been surprising therefore had Mal’s boy Campbell not been at least a little hyper-aggressive.

 

There’s never been any question of Campbell’s disdain for physical danger, but his whiteline fever has certainly had more than a little of his father about it.

 

There was a very good article under Campbell’s byline in the Age on Saturday discussing the development and expectations of the Suns. The same person — apparently — then said on television on Sunday, after elbowing Bulldog Callum Ward to the face twenty or more metres off the ball,

 

''That's the way I play and if I didn't play that way, I wouldn't be playing AFL footy. . . I don't think I've got anything to apologise for. . .”

 

It’s hard to imagine that the Suns’ hierarchy isn’t regretting the decision to recruit Brown. Aggression at the ball is one thing — a cold-blooded strike behind the play is quite another.

 

We feel sorry for the Suns players who felt obliged to support Brown when other Bulldogs players remonstrated with him after the incident. AussieRulesBlog, in those Suns players’ place, would have stood back and applauded any Bulldog player who managed to thump Brown.

 

It is crystal clear to all but Brown that there is no place in football in 2011 for him.