“(When it happened) I was furious,” Brown said.
“I knew pretty much straight away that I had collapsed my cheekbone and eye socket, and I just couldn’t believe it had happened again.”
While the injury wasn’t nearly as severe as those suffered in 2011, Brown still required surgery and had a further four plates inserted in his face.
But the latest setback obviously hasn’t affected his sense of humour, with the three-time Club Champion suggesting that he might be able to secure a role in the next Terminator movie once his career is over.
“It was nothing compared to last year, this is something that I’d probably put in the ‘minor’ category,” he said.
“(But) it was the only good part of my face that was left.”
Brown notched his third facial surgery in 12 months down to just another stroke of bad luck, and said that team-mate Matt Maguire - who ultimately inflicted the injury - was simply doing his job.
“Leading up to the situation, we had been a bit short on match practice because there had been so much rain up in Queensland, so Vossy had been trying to give us a few spurts of match practice every now and then at training when it was dry,” Brown said.
“He gave us a 15-minute hitout under full match rules and ‘Goose’ just came back with the flight of the ball."
“Big ‘Goose’ Maguire has copped a bit of flack over it, but it was under full game rules so you had the play properly and it was just one of those accidents that can happen.”
Brown also revealed that he might have had to consider re-thinking his AFL playing career had he suffered more severe head injuries and required another full facial reconstruction.
“You probably would (have to reassess your place in the game), not from a confidence point of view, but I’d have to go through the weight loss thing again. After the last one I dropped about 10 kilos and, to be honest, it’s been a really tough battle to get my weight back on,” he said.
“I’ve never naturally been a really big bloke, I’ve always had to work hard in the gym.”
“I’ve only just started to get back to my playing weight from two or three years ago, (so) you’d have to think seriously about it.”
“At no stage was I dazed or lose consciousness in this latest incident. If (the incident against Geelong last year) kept happening again, then the girls in my life would certainly start to get very concerned.”
“But they understand it’s just been bad luck, and I certainly don’t want to be a poster-boy for head injuries as some of the media have made out to be over the last few weeks. My head is fine.”
So Lions fans can be rest assured that their inspirational skipper will return to field, as determined as ever, early in the 2012 season.
“I love the game too much and I feel like we’re just starting to get a reasonable list together,” he said.
“Hopefully I’ve still got a few good years left in the tank because I’ve been disappointed about not playing much footy for a couple of years with everything that’s happened.”
Victorian fans can meet Jonathan Brown and the travelling team this weekend at Visy Park surrounding the Lions' NAB Cup match against Essendon. Brown will appear at the Club's membership marquee (located outside Gate 5) between 2:30pm - 3:15pm. CLICK HERE for more details.
