Cranbourne defender Brandon Osborne has emerged as a key to the Eagles backline in 2010.CRANBOURNE was desperate to find a key defender after the departure of Daniel Watson last season, but they had one waiting in the wings with the emergence of 17 year-old Brandon Osborne.
Osborne has not looked back since being elevated to the senior side after the first round, joining his older brother Glen in the line up.
He has played on and beaten star forwards, including Adam Jago and Luke McGuinness over the past two weeks and that has earned him the third nomination for the Gazette Casey Cardinia League Young Gun award of 2010.
Osborne is a product of the club’s junior arm, having started with the under 11s as a forward and then cementing himself as a centre half back, playing in grand finals in the under 15s and under 16s before moving up to play with the Eagles under 18s last year.
He set himself to push for a senior berth at some stage this season but admitted that the quick elevation this year had surprised him.
“I played a couple of practice matches with the seniors and then got selected for them after round one. It was a bit of a shock I suppose, but it’s been great,” he said.
Osborne , who is nicknamed ‘Yossy’ (for young Ossy), credited all his coaches with having a major influence on his football, but he did single one out for special mention. “My first coach Ross Anderson, who coached me in under 11s and under 12s, was probably the biggest,” he said.
Osborne said he enjoyed playing and learning from Cranbourne coaches Doug Koop and Bill King and his teammates in the senior, and he intends continuing his development.
“I’m not looking at anything else at this stage, but in future years I’d like to take my footy as far as I can.
“It’s good fun with Cranny at the moment and I’m playing with a lot of mates that I have come through the juniors with,” Osborne said.
