Collingwood’s backline is only going to get better as tall defenders Nathan Brown, Ben Reid and Chris Tarrant get some continuity playing together.
That is the opinion of the injury-plagued Brown, who will line up for his sixth AFL game of the season as the third-placed Magpies host competition leaders West Coast at the MCG on Saturday.
It will be the first time Tarrant, Brown and his 2010 premiership teammate Reid have played in the same Collingwood side.
And the stakes are high for the Magpies, who are desperate to avoid a trip to Perth to play the Eagles in the finals series.
“It’s exciting. I played my first game with ‘Taz’ (Tarrant) last week and that was fantastic,” said Brown, who missed the 2011 season with knee problems.
“You train so much with these guys and you just want to play with them.
“The more games we can play with each other and get to know each other, the better.”
The Magpies boast a 9-2 record despite a series of injuries to key players, although this week they welcome back defenders Reid, Heath Shaw and Alan Toovey.
Collingwood’s following four assignments are Fremantle, Carlton, Geelong and Hawthorn.
“It’s just going to set us up for the season and put us (under) a real good test to see where we are,” Brown said.
Brown backed Darren Jolly and Chris Dawes to break even in the ruck against West Coast’s Dean Cox and the athletic Nic Naitanui.
“He (Naitanui) is a one-of-a-kind player,” Brown enthused.
“We’ll have to take note that in the wet he’s going to be pretty good.
“We take confidence in our guys every day of the week.
“They don’t have to do anything special tomorrow.
“It’s going to be a (wet) day like this so they’ve just got to hit hard and make them hurt.
“We’re going to come up against them (Eagles) in the final series.”
Ballarat product Brown, 23, will come up against his twin brother Mitch for just the second time.
He says his parents fully support both boys, although dad’s a Magpies supporter and mum goes for the Eagles.
“Hopefully I’ll come across him out on the field,” Nathan Brown said.
“As much as I want to beat West Coast, I hope Mitch has a great game.”