Brown made his debut for Collingwood in Round 1 of the 2008 season against Fremantle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 45,000 fans. He immediately made impressions with speed and great defensive attributes against Matthew Pavlich, who is recognised as one of the best forwards in the game, holding him to only one goal. He would follow up immediately, playing on one of the competition's best players, Jonathan Brown of the Brisbane Lions, and Matthew Richardson of Richmond in the next fortnight, holding each to two and one goal(s) respectively.