Oscar Brown will have a story to tell.
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The newborn son of Jets midfielder Wayne Brown announced his arrival when mum Natalie’s waters broke during the first half of Newcastle’s 3-2 win over the Roar in Brisbane on Saturday.
Natalie called a Jets staff member at Suncorp Stadium and Wayne left the ground at half-time, jumped in a cab and flew home on a 7pm flight. He ran through Newcastle Airport still wearing his playing shorts.
Maintaining a sense for the dramatic, and perhaps mirroring the Jets’ own late heroics on the field, little Oscar arrived at one minute to midnight the following day at John Hunter Hospital.
Brown was back at training on Tuesday after the story ended well for both club and family.
“Everyone’s well. Mummy and baby are home now. We had our first night there last night and he had a good sleep and settled in nice,” the Englishman said.
“I said to her the day before I left, ‘Just hold out for this game and afterwards we’re home to Perth’, and then her parents will be out in a week’s time, so we would have got through it.
“I had a feeling on the morning it was going to be that day, and I told the missus to message [the club] to get a flight ready.
“I was planning to play the whole game, and at half-time they said they’d had a phone call, and that was it. I got the shoes off as quick as possible and straight into the cab.
“If she would have left it any later I would have been struggling to get back, but luckily I got there [the airport] just in time.”
Brown, whose family also includes son Orlando, said his wife had been unflustered throughout the ordeal, despite having contractions on Saturday night.
“I was messaging her and she was pretty calm. She wasn’t like, ‘It’s going to come now. Come back as soon as possible.’
“There was a little bit of a delay on the plane so I was a little bit worried, would we get there in time, but as soon as I got off the plane I was running, and luckily I had Benny [club media manager Ben O’Neill] to take me.”
Brown said he and Natalie were “loving it” in Australia after three years in Finland, but for the immediate future he would be juggling training and playing with helping out at home.
“I’ll be on daddy duty when I get back. The missus is tired. We’ll be chilling out for a week and then hopefully her mum and dad are here to take the reins and we can enjoy the beach.”
On the field, Brown has been enjoying a return to form and the Jets’ climb up the table after a spate of injuries to key players disrupted a promising start to the season.
“I dropped off for a few games when we lost a few games, but the last five or six games I’ve been really happy, chipping in and making chances for the team.
“I’ve been enjoying it in that No.10 spot and getting on the half-turn and putting some key passes through. Hopefully I can chip in with a few more goals, but I’m happy with my performances recently.”
Newcastle have accumulated 10 points and 11 goals in their past five games, scoring at least twice in each, to climb into the top six before Sunday’s home game against fifth-placed Perth.
Brown, who extended his two-year contract by another season in November, said the Jets had found a “winning mentality and drive to keep going regardless of any situation” and now fancied themselves against the best teams in the competition.
“We’ve got them players back from injury, which is vital for us. Obviously that was a sticky patch for us. I think it was expected with six key players out. But we’re gelling now and scoring goals, and we just need to cut out a few defensively.
“It’s been a rough six seasons for the Jets, so it’s going to take time. The aim for this season is to progress and try to finish in the top six. It’s still going to be a tough ask, but we’re looking good at the moment.”
The 28-year-old has fond memories of the last time Newcastle met Perth, when the Jets played the Glory off the park in a 2-1 win at NIB Stadium.
“That was, for me, the best performance of the season and the most enjoyable game this season,” he said. “If we can do the stuff we did that day, then hopefully we can get the three points and push on again.”
