Brown had become a swingman during his final year or so with the Hawks, deployed forward or back by coach Alastair Clarkson depending on need and circumstance.
Suns coach Guy McKenna offered him the chance to settle back in defence and he grabbed that opportunity with both hands, but two years later, things have changed again and he now sees himself as a forward.
Since his return to the Gold Coast side after a six-match suspension he has kicked six goals – three against both Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs – and has brought much-needed pressure and strength to the Suns' forward line.
"I'm now a forward," he told AFL.com.au. "I came here to re-establish myself as a backman and I thought I would finish there."
"But the way the game has changed, with the high intensity efforts it now requires, I think I'm better suited as forward.
"You can have a rest and you can pick and choose when you go and when you don’t."
The Suns have yet to lose since Brown's return to the side and the last fortnight has been groundbreaking for the club with the first win at the MCG and the first two-match unbeaten streak.
"Four and four a good spot to be in. We knew we had a lot of winnable games at the start of the year, but we had to go out and do it.
"The first win on the MCG was a good milestone then to back it up against Dogs was fantastic," he said.
Brown credits the Suns good form to the development of players such as key defender Rory Thompson and first-year wunderkind on-baller Jaeger O'Meara, who many believe already plays with the poise and class of a 100-game player.
The last debutant Brown played alongside who made such an impact was Cyril Rioli at Hawthorn in 2008.
"Jaeger is certainly doing everything right and playing good footy, but Rioli played every game for the season including the finals and made an impact on a side that won the flag."
Brown faces up to his former club at the MCG on Sunday, which will be followed by a visit to Geelong for the first game under lights at Simonds Stadium.
"I'm really excited for the next couple of weeks," he said. "The reason you play is to play against the best and obviously Hawthorn and Geelong are fantastic footy sides.
"It will be a really good gauge of how far we come. We don't get too many games at the 'G so to get the Hawks there will be really good for the group."
One of his best mates at Hawthorn was All Australian half-back Grant Birchall and while the Suns have yet to finalise their planning for Sunday, Brown took note of Greater Western Sydney's Rhys Palmer's fine lockdown job on Birchall last Sunday.
"Old mate 'Birch'… we haven’t deployed too many defensive forwards, so it might be worthwhile and something we consider," he said.
Ashley Browne is an AFL Media senior writer. @afl_hashbrowne
