CAMPBELL Brown turns 27 on Saturday and the birthday boy knows just what it will take to make his big day special.

Battling the minor premier Magpies for a home final might not be many people’s idea of a great birthday bash, but Brown can’t wait. 

“It’d be just about the perfect birthday present if we could get out there, play really well, get through unscathed and come away with the four points,” Brown says of the looming clash at the MCG.

“I think it’s a perfect opportunity, in round 22 leading into the finals, to play the best side in the competition. We’ll really know where we’re at for the following week.

“There is a [possible home final] on the line, but that’s really the last thing on our minds. We just want to go into the game with a bit of that momentum that we built up against Fremantle and hopefully get out there and play really well."

The Hawks had their biggest loss of the season when they last came up against Collingwood in round four, but Brown says a lot has changed since then.

“Collingwood killed us in round four and they’ve gone on and played really good footy all year so they’re going to be tough to beat, but we think the improvement we’ve found will be a little bit of a difference,” Brown says.

“We’ve definitely changed some of the personnel on the park and the way we’ve gone about it a little bit since last time we played them. We’re really looking forward to taking them on.

“We’ve fought really hard to resurrect our season after that slow start. A lot of people wrote us off and didn’t think we’d play finals, but we’re really proud of the way we’ve gone about it.”

Brown’s year has been a little different in that his form has been a bit at odds with that of his team.

He played some defensive forward roles with aplomb in the first half of the season while the side was struggling and had to deal with suspension and injury issues while the Hawks were fighting their way back into finals contention.

The fan favourite is confident his and the team’s fortunes are tracking side by side now though.
 
“I’d never really had a knee injury before and I missed four weeks,” he says of the PCL strain he sustained in round 10 against the Swans.

“I came back and was feeling pretty good, but it was still hindering me a bit... then the suspension came which might have even been a bit of a blessing in disguise.

“If I’d kept on plugging away I might have still been able to play, but I wouldn’t have been able to have that rest and get back my zip and spring and a few other things that the knee injury took away.

“I feel fantastic now, the knee is good and I’m pretty excited to hit September at full speed and hopefully really have an impact for the team.”

The rumoured interest from Gold Coast so often talked about in the media this year has occupied the thoughts of many in the football world, but Brown asserts it hasn’t been an issue for him.

“It has been brought up ad nauseum all year, but it really hasn’t played on my mind at all,” he says.

“I said a few weeks ago when Hawthorn made an offer that my management and I thought it would be the right decision to put it on hold and wait to make an educated decision at the end of the year.

“That’s about as far as that’s going to go [for now], but in terms of a distraction? Absolutely not.”

Brown is equally emphatic about the chances of his team in a premiership race that many have whittled down to just three runners.

“I think it’s one of the most even seasons that we’ve had in a long time,” he says. “You look at the top eight and the way most sides are playing they’re in with a chance. The Swans have been going fantastically, obviously the top four are all legitimate chances and we’d like to think that we’re not just making up the numbers.

“If we can take in some of the good footy that we’ve played through the middle of the year then there’s no reason why we can’t give it a bit of a shake."