As a league player and long-time watcher (and to non-league watchers, some stuff in this post that assumes basic knowledge of the game...)
Brown would make an ideal ball-playing second rower in the mould of David Taylor or Paul Gallen. Would a league club ever actually do it? I doubt it, because of how he would revolutionise the game completely, and introduce a new skill set the code is not prepared for (See below for explanation)
Bear in mind that Dally Messenger originally played AFL before playing union and league, with his ability to kick with both feet and his all-round tactical play revolutionising both rugby codes at the time.
A disclaimer - Brown would need a good pre-season in the gym to strengthen bones and build muscle. His tackling technique would need a lot of work as well - attack would be his strength and defence his weakness.
For those who don't know what I mean about Dave Taylor, he is 187cm & 122kg. In top form, he forms a key part of the South Sydney attacking line, doing incredible things for a man his size. Flick passes to his outside centre Greg Inglis, grubber kicks through (forwards don't normally kick at all), leaping over packs to catch and score, busting tackles, and pulling off big hits. But... he rarely plays more than 60 minutes in a match.
Now imagine Jonathan Brown 10kgs heavier, at right second-row for the Broncos, with Justin Hodges & Jharal Yow Yeh outside him. It could lead to the most revolutionary changes in the history of the modern game of rugby league. By this I mean - a big man with the capacity to pick up the moving ball off the deck and bust through defenders from a low body position as well as leap over defenders and catch and score or tap back to the centre or winger to score. At present, most attacking kicks are directed to the right or left centre/wing, with a small minority in the direction of the second-rower and centre just outside the posts. With a player like Brown in the team, attacking kicks would no longer be to the edges of play, but would instead target the area around the goal posts, where a confident leaping Brown would crash a pack of nervous forwards waiting under the ball or leaping haphazardly to catch and score, or catch and tap wide to the centre from the air. The threat of this happening would also increase the likelihood of opposition centres/wingers moving to midfield to defend attacking kicks, opening up new ball-running attacking plays on the outside edge. In league, an attacking kick is generally one close to the try line, usually as a grubber, chip kick, bomb or cross-field kick. Could Brown easily adapt his AFL kicking skills to execute the latter 3 very effectively? I believe so. So now, to add to hard-running, committed attack, aerial dominance, and ground-level work, imagine an extra kicking option close to the line. From 30 metres out, with the opposition expecting him as most second-rowers do to run the line or pass, Brown kicks high across-field with pinpoint accuracy to a flying fullback or winger. Then add the component of the best defensive kicker from inside his own half in the competition with the capacity to accurately drop punt the ball 60 plus metres into space, and you have a lethal combination.
That's why I think a club really wouldn't do it, unless they had been struggling for a significant period of time and wanted a real shakeup to the status quo and a major competitive advantage. Could other clubs combat it? Sure. By moving their best centres into the second row (Idris, Inglis, Hodges - none of whom could kick anything like Brown), they might be able to compete in the air and on the ground. Would they then get run over by sides with bigger, stronger second-rows when not competing against the team with Brown in it?
Rugby league does not like change, even when it is change for the better, change for more exciting, attractive play. That means we are unlikely to see a real AFL superstar in the NRL anytime soon.
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