News

From Herald Sun
Reported by Geoff Poulter

RICHMOND forward Nathan Brown took another significant step along the comeback trail with a steady performance in the Coburg Tigers' 29-point loss to Sandringham yesterday.

Brown, returning after complications to a broken leg, had 12 disposals and kicked two goals in about 60 minutes of game time at Coburg City Oval. He was rested for the last quarter.

He looked lively and used the ball well but is expected to line up again with Coburg in Round 10 on Sunday against Frankston.

"To step up after last week (50 minutes in Coburg reserves) was good," Brown said.

"I slipped over a couple of times but I was pretty happy with it.

"I'm not sure what the program is. I will speak to the coach and fitness staff and see what they think."

Brown said he felt no soreness in his right leg.

"It feels good . . . taken a long time so I hope it pulls up well tomorrow and we can keep going forward," Brown said.

"I got a couple of kicks early, should be good for the run. A little bit of extra fitness, and I'll do some fitness work over the next couple of weeks and get back in there. I will be guided by what the fitness coaches tell me."

Sandringham coach Mark Williams praised the performance of forward Brad Miller, who booted six goals to lift the Zebras back to top place.

"He had something like eight contested marks, he was big and strong contesting," Williams said.

Sandy fielded an ultra-tall attack and prolific goalkicker Nick Sautner was kept goal-less by Coburg's close-checking Jarrod Silvester. Melbourne utility Byron Pickett made a couple of dashes but was generally quiet.

Essendon's Adam Ramanauskas starred in the Bendigo Bombers' 62-point win at home against Box Hill Hawks yesterday.

Ramanauskas, recovering from illness and injury, played about 85 minutes and had 30 disposals, playing a mixture of wing and running back.

"His ball use was spot on. He created and made it easier for his teammates," Bendigo coach Matthew Knights said.

Bendigo forged clear with a 9.1 to 2.2 last term after outscoring the Hawks against a breeze in the third.

"It was pretty even to halftime. Their tackling was good," Knights said. "We have won our past three, but because we had such a slow start there is still plenty to do yet. We have a break and then play Casey Scorpions up here."

Bendigo's Richard Cole (striking) and Box Hill's Mitch Thorpe (charging) were reported.