The former Silver Ferns shooter and Steel captain shifted to wing attack for the crucial clash against the Central Pulse in Dunedin on Monday night.
The move caught everyone outside the camp completely by surprise, and perhaps even left a few fans gobsmacked.
Brown's passing game proved up to the demands of the new position, but her absence from the shooting circle proved costly for the Steel, which slumped to its fifth consecutive loss - a 58-50 defeat to the Central Pulse.
Brown's combination with Donna Wilkins in the shooting circle has been the Steel's single greatest strength this season, so why change?
Brown said the decision to split the pair had been a big call.
"It is our strongest shooting combination and it has been working for us and it has been a strength," Brown said.
"But we needed to try something new. We keep talking about our starts, which have not been good. So the decision to start at wing attack was something we knew we would trial and, if it wasn't working, we knew we could go back to a combination that worked.
"And you have to give the younger ones an opportunity to get out there, because they are not going to get any better if they don't play.
"Obviously, it didn't work in terms of the combination. The little things let us down. Te Paea's [Selby-Rickit] court play was good. She was really strong and a good target in there for us, but I think she was a little nervous in terms of her shooting.
"She had four or five misses in the first quarter and if those goals had gone in we could have been even or even up."
However, while the move to wing attack was not immediately successful, Brown said the Steel may experiment with it again soon.
"I'd like to think we'll see more of it because I think Te Paea has been training really well ... and I'd like to see her step up and show us what she is capable of. So I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bath water. The combination started to come through in the second quarter and I found my feet a little bit."
The Steel practised with Brown at wing attack and she does have some experience in the position at international level.
During the 2003 world championships, Brown slotted in at wing attack during pool play to rest regular midcourters Temepara George and Anna Rowberry, who were both carrying niggly injuries. But that was a long time ago and Brown is the first to acknowledge she does not have much experience in the bib.
But there are some similarities between goal attack, where she has played most of her career, and wing attack.
"It is a lot like goal attack, except you're not allowed in the circle and you've got to make sure you up your goal assists and centre pass receives."
Brown rated Monday's loss to the Pulse as one of its worst performances this season.
"We let ourselves down in every way and I think we took a huge step backwards. We went away from what we've been doing.
"We've been losing games but playing really well but [on Monday] night we played like crap. It wasn't what we strive for and we are just disappointed more than anything."
