Nathan Buckley's men had to do it the hard way in this encounter as Brown was subbed out at quarter-time during after coming down hard in a massive marking contest that saw Nic Naitanui hit the pack hard.
MORE: Jack Riewoldt kicks 11 goals as Richmond makes mess of GWS | Collingwood overrun West Coast Eagles in MCG thriller
Collingwood were further weakened late in the second term when Brown's fellow defender Jack Frost was forced off with concussion, leaving the Magpies a man down against a West Coast side running rampant.
But Collingwood's re-jigged defence managed to hold firm and while West Coast got out to an 18-point lead midway through the third term, the Magpies responded with eight of the next 12 goals to win a classic contest.
However, the result is tempered somewhat by the fact Brown scans next week will determine whether Brown is facing surgery after reinjuring the same shoulder he dislocated during the club's Round 2 win over Sydney.
"Any time you dislocate your shoulder you are potentially looking at [surgery]," Buckley told reporters in his post-match press conference.
"He got through the 2010 season with a dislocated shoulder early in the year and then was able to play the year out; it is just a matter of understanding the damage and then making decisions based on the facts."
While Brown will be replaced by Lachlan Keeffe after the young defender was dropped for this clash following a poor performance against Adelaide, Frost is also no certainty of facing St Kilda next Friday as he was still lying down and recuperating after the final siren.
Despite the losses to their defence, the Magpies compensated and repelled attack after attack from the Eagles as former skipper Nick Maxwell produced one of the best spoiling performances of his career, while Tyson Goldsack was swung back there to great effect.
And, having seen the side go three-goals down, the makeshift defence held firm for almost a quarter, keeping the Eagles goalless during an extended period either side of three-quarter time as Collingwood made their move.
"I thought our midfield as a collective stood up for the most part of the day, we had 66 inside-50s so the supply was there, we just couldn't capitalise," said West Coast coach Adam Simpson. "Their defenders were really good.
"We didn't deserve to win in the end. They stayed in the game just as much as we did.
"I wouldn’t say it was one that got away."
One opportunity the Eagles did miss, though, occurred just before half-time when Shannon Hurn produced an exquisite 55-metre pass to pick out Elliot Yeo on his own 30 metres out.
Yeo, however, spilled the mark and adding insult to injury then found himself losing two teeth as he attempted to tackled a rampaging Jarrod Witts and copped an accidental shoulder to the mouth.
"I think he rates himself too with the looks, so he's going to get himself fixed pretty quick," declared Simpson.