DARREN Jolly's recent criticism of Neale Daniher's coaching style at Melbourne has obscured the fact that the Demons were very successful on the field under his guidance.

During Daniher's time in charge, between 1998 and the middle of the 2007 season, Melbourne played in the finals six times and made a Grand Final in 2000.

One of the most underrated players during this era was dashing defender Nathan Brown, who is profiled in the latest episode of AFL.com.au's weekly series, Life After Footy.

After arriving at the club as a naïve pony-tailed youngster from the South Australian town of Pinaroo, Brown went on to play 146 games for the Demons.

But his great regret is that he wasn't able to take part in the 2000 finals series during which Melbourne scored brilliant wins over Carlton and the Kangaroos.

The reason Brown was sidelined had nothing to do with his form. Instead, it was an issue that dogged him during much of his career: injuries.

Brown was knocked out when Fremantle forward Clive Waterhouse accidentally kneed him in the head during the Demons' 83-point win at the MCG in round 20 of the 2000 home and away season.

"My brain hit the front of my skull," recalled Brown, who lay prostrate on the ground for a number of minutes after the collision.

"Unfortunately … I wasn't allowed to play for 12 weeks, and so I missed all the good stuff and ultimately the Grand Final against Essendon.

"It didn't go our way, but speaking to the boys, they absolutely loved it."

These days Brown is a manager at the Rialto Tower in Melbourne.

"There's 55 floors; there's 65 different tenants," the 35-year-old explained.

"I make sure all the servicing, the cleaning and the goods lifts are running properly for the tenants."

Brown also remains heavily involved in footy. After stint in the SANFL with West Adelaide, he played for Victorian grassroots clubs Shepparton Swans and Cheltenham.

This year he's the non-playing coach of Old Melburnians, who play in B-Grade of Melbourne's amateur competition.