THE choice of Jonathan Brown as captain of Victoria was a masterstroke by the AFL. Having failed to outsmart the logistical obstacles to produce a state-of-origin clash that actually meant something, the league had to ensure that the exhibition game it compromised upon would prove a crowd-pleaser.

Not only should the prospect of the strapping champion forward from Warrnambool coming home to lead his state prove enough to lure football fans to the MCG, but a Big V-clad Brown should also help attract enough good players worthy of the jumper to push aside club concerns and join him.

Brown is a natural leader. This is no disrespect to Simon Black, Nigel Lappin or Luke Power but it still seems bizarre that Brown was not given the chance to take over the captaincy seamlessly from Michael Voss.

The word "brand" has become a tediously overused word in football, largely the fault of the image-conscious AFL. Teams no longer play good football but a "good brand of football". But it is true that if you were to brand the Brisbane Lions, you would tattoo their logo with Brown's face and mark the Gabba with his giant footprint.

And the club has been as great for Brown as he has for the club. Which is why he will never leave despite all the talk that no doubt will prevail until the 26-year-old signs yet another massive contract.

Certainly, every Victorian club would love to have him but I do not believe it will ever happen. The time for such a radical move was at the end of 2005, the year that Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and his then chief executive Greg Swann flew to Sydney to meet Brown's adviser Glenn Warry and speculate what the economic and social future might hold for Brown in a Magpie guernsey.

Back then, the talk was $1 million a year plus.

Being the plain-speaking no-nonsense clubman that he is, the player quickly killed off the story by committing to Brisbane. It seemed then — and still does — like the end of the story. Several weeks ago, Brown was interviewed by Channel Nine's The Footy Show and listening to his refusal to rule out leaving Brisbane was excruciating.

Brown's old-fashioned attractive demeanour does not include a poker face and you could tell his heart, despite his hip pocket, was not in it.

I suspect, given his back-ended contract, that he is the highest-paid player in the AFL this season, earning at least $1 million. The Lions are quite capable of matching money with any other club and the fact that Brown is engaged and building a dream home up north would also indicate he is not going anywhere.

Remember how Daniel Kerr became suspicious when fellow Eagle Chris Judd remained in his relatively modest house in his final year in Perth?

It is all very well to speculate that Brown will not commit to the club unless he believes it is capable of another premiership but who is to say that, for example, Collingwood is any closer than the Lions? Geelong could not fit him in its salary cap without massive and ridiculous sacrifice and Hawthorn has Buddy Franklin, who Lions coach Leigh Matthews rates at least alongside Brown and probably ahead of Brown in natural athleticism.

Brown's age might suggest he is capable of a tempting five-year contract offer but his body does not. There seem few signs that he is taking his on-field life any easier and the wear and tear must be comparable to that which contributed to the dramatic downward curve that accompanied the final seasons of Dermott Brereton and Wayne Carey.

The club and Brown's management — a company that intriguingly boasts Voss as a director — refuse to discuss his future but the Lions seem supremely confident of retaining him. If he agrees to a two-year deal, there will be speculation Brown could consider twilight time on the Gold Coast but again, why would he leave Brisbane for any other reason than to return to his home state?

Because Brown is a legacy of a gentler and kinder father-son rule era, he came to the Lions as a link with Fitzroy, where his father Brian managed just over 50 games. Not only does that symbolism add value to his relationship with Brisbane, but his rich western Victorian football pedigree has helped bridge the cultural divide with relative newcomer Queensland.

For Brown to take his three premiership medals and leave Queensland now would be a terrible setback for the game in that state at a crucial time, devastating for the Lions and in the end likely to hurt Brown's valuable legacy.

As tantalising as it will be to watch him run onto the MCG turf as a Victorian, that should be the closest Brown ever comes to leaving Brisbane.