FROM cancellations and injury to a premiership and now further confirmation the Greater Western Sydney Giants see his potential - an at times tough 2020 season has had a bright ending for Scott Brown.
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The talented Bathurst teenager began the year hopeful of making an impact for the GWS Giants' under 18s Academy side in the NAB League.
He had worked hard training in the off-season as he looked to build on what he had done since first entering in the Giants' system two years earlier.
But the COVID-19 pandemic saw the NAB League, which had games across New South Wales and Victoria scheduled, get cancelled.
While the Giants 18s were later able to play some games within the state to give emerging talents such as Brown a platform to showcase their skills, injury meant he only participated in one.
"I played one game in Canberra and then that was it because I did my groin in one of the Bushrangers' rounds," he said.
"I obviously worked really hard on my rehab ... then towards the end of the academy stuff they told us they wanted us to focus on club footy. The academy wasn't really going anywhere with COVID being around."
Focus on club football was exactly what Brown did. He played six games in the AFL Central West men's tier one competition for the Bathurst Bushrangers.
He was part of the grand final winning outfit and benefited from playing alongside some of the region's best.
"I was a bit on and off in my opinion, I didn't always play my best, but you can't be expected to play 100 percent of the time perfectly, that's just not how football works," he said.
"But in our grand final I thought I had a reasonably good game, I thought I impacted the game really well.
"Bill Watterson and Matt Archer, they've been big role models of mine since I even started playing junior football, I've always looked up to them, so it's been an honour to play alongside them this year."
As the season progressed Brown was hopeful he'd be able to continue on in the Giants' system and further pursue his football dream as part of the under 19s academy.
So when his name was listed to take part in phase one of pre-season training with the under 19s academy squad - he was one of just four players from the Western Sydney region named - Brown was delighted.
"Every year it just seems to get a little bit tougher, every year there's people who get dropped just because they are only allowed to keep a certain amount of people," he said.
"So it's a little bit nerve-wracking, but you always feel elated when you see your name in the squad."
