Collingwood legend Gavin Brown sees shades of daughter Tarni every time he goes to watch the Collingwood AFLW young gun play.

It’s immediate when he sees her dashing past her opponents in the black and white stripes just like he did, but some of the other similarities are found upon closer inspection.

Tarni adopted the Number 26 made famous by her Dad upon arriving at the Club, while many of her matches are at Victoria Park – the ground Gavin played so many of his 254 games for the Pies at.

For Tarni, it’s this immediate connection between the AFLW program and the Club’s history that makes Victoria Park so special, while the Number 26 is just another layer of the pair’s father-daughter relationship.

“I’m the only one who followed Dad’s legacy and took his number on, so I think it’s important as well because with the girls it’s almost like it’s more connected,” she said.

“I play where Dad played and I’m wearing his number at the same club so it’s almost like we have that connection a little bit more.

“I actually didn’t realise that Victoria Park was their home ground until I started at Collingwood but every time I run out onto the ground it’s something I think about so it’s very special to me.”

The ground has held significance for Gavin ever since he was a kid, where as a Collingwood supporter he would come to watch the Pies.

Now after having forged a career at the venue, he gets to reminisce on his playing days while watching Tarni run around, as he will on Sunday when the Pies host Fremantle for their first home game of the season

“It’s certainly changed a lot since I played there but the ground is still there and some of the stands,” he said.

“But it’s nice, it’s good to go down there when [the AFLW team] play’s and you find yourself reminiscing every now and again from time to time.

“If it’s quarter time or something you might have a bit of a look around and remember back to some of the days that I had there but I enjoy going to Vic Park and watching her play it’s pretty special.”

The AFLW side are making the ground a fortress, having won 11 out of their 14 games at Vic Park since it became their home ground at the start of 2021.

That success has reminded Gavin of how tough his teams made it for their opponents throughout his career, saying it’s a competitive advantage still to this day.

“There were so many supporters that went [to Victoria Park], it probably only held 27 or 28,000 but I swear there was 30 or 31,000 there cramped in every single week, it didn’t matter who you were playing,” he said.

“There would have been 25,000 Collingwood supporters and I imagine 5,000 opposition and it just made it a real cauldron and a real fortress and a real advantage for us.

“The tradition and the ground is still there, it’s in the same place and all those things it just looks a little bit different.”

Tarni and her teammates will be looking for their first win of the season when they take on the Dockers on Sunday afternoon.

Now in her fourth season, the 21-year-old is poised to become one of the stars of the competition, something that wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t given up a promising basketball career.

“At the start I didn’t actually play footy so dad was more there for my basketball days,” she said.

“He was just supportive as soon as I got into footy, I think he loved it secretly over the basketball.

“Once I found the opportunity to play footy that tied us all in together and it’s something we all have in common which is really nice.”

Gavin follows her wherever she goes, offering advice here and there, but letting Tarni continue the Brown legacy her own way.

“I’ve probably been to nearly every game, certainly every game in Melbourne,” he said.

“I follow her religiously, I always talk to her after the game to see how she went and give her some advice whenever I can but not too much advice.

“I’m very proud of her, I’m very proud of all my kids but she’s forging her way in an AFLW competition which is probably only six or seven years old now.

“She’s a great person, she’s her own person and she loves coming to training with the girls and she’s very competitive as well.”

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