WHILE he admits he was happy with his first taste of AFL, Ben Brown knows he's still got a lot of work to do.
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The 21-year-old, originally from Devonport, who also spent time at Glenorchy before attracting North Melbourne's attention with strong performances for one of their VFL affiliates Werribee, got his first outing as a Kangaroo in North's win over Melbourne on Sunday night.
The 200-centimetre, 99-kilogram forward-ruckman played mainly in attack with Lynden Dunn and James Frawley as opponents. He kicked 1.0 and had four score involvements from eight disposals and five marks and looked comfortable at the level.
``I think I did well, but there's still a lot more work to go,'' Brown told The Examiner.
``I wouldn't give myself a pass mark, as there is areas I do need to improve on, including my positioning as I was outmuscled at some marking contests.
``You can't change your whole game in one week, you to pick out little things at a time, but my first goal is to try to fit into the forward structure better than I did last week.
``The feedback I got from (Drew) Petrie, (Aaron) Black and (forward coach) Shane Watson and they were all happy how I played, but it could have been better, especially some of my running patterns.
``I can only control what I can control, and at that moment that is ensuring I continue to learn and make sure I'm training well.''
The one thing he won't be changing in a hurry is his longer than the norm run-up, already getting being labelled Michael Holding-esque.
``I did have a few comments about it when I arrived at the club, and they've straightened it out a bit and made it look a little less mechanic,'' Brown said.
``But it is all about comfort. If I had a different run-up, I don't think I would have kicked that goal.''
The 47th selection in last year's national draft found out about his selection at about 10am Saturday, when his name came up on the big screen during the Roos' prematch meeting, coming in late for Robbie Tarrant.
It was a delayed start after foot and knee problems had hampered him earlier in the season.
Then at 4.40pm Sunday, he set foot on to the MCG for the first time, admitting the first 10 or 15 minutes were played on ``nervous energy''.
The emotional high for him came in at the 21-minute mark of the third quarter, after kicking his first AFL goal from a set shot 15 metres out from goal, he pointed to the sky in tribute to his late grandfather Jim Manson, the former Glenorchy Football Club great and the father of Collingwood 1990 premiership player James Manson.
``That tribute was just in the moment,'' Brown said.
``My grandad was the only member of my family not to be there, so I told my grandma I would dedicate it to him somehow, and that's how I did.''
Brown was overlooked in three national and three rookie drafts before getting his chance, saying he had a feeling of ``relief and emotion''.
``It was just a really good feeling as it had been a few years in the making,'' he said.