Brisbane Lions
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- For the soccer club that played in the NSL from 1977-1988, see Brisbane Lions SC
| Image:2006 AFL Brisbane Lions.jpg | |
| Full name | Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club |
| Nickname | The Lions |
| Strip | Maroon and blue Guernsey with gold lion, maroon shorts, maroon socks |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| League | Australian Football League |
| Ground | The Gabba |
| Club song | The Pride of Brisbane Town |
| President/Chair | Tony Kelly |
| Coach | Leigh Matthews |
| Captain | TBA |
| 2006 | 13th of 16 |
The Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club (the trading name for the Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club) are an Australian Football League club based in Brisbane, Queensland.
The Lions are the only AFL club permanently based in Queensland.
Contents |
[edit] Club history
The club was formed from the post-1996 merger of the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy, and is known as the Brisbane Lions. The side plays its home games at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (also known as the Gabba).
[edit] Background to the merger
Fitzroy was formed on the 26th of September 1883 at the Brunswick Hotel and was a founding member of the VFL. They wore blue shorts and their jersey and socks were maroon. Brunswick Street Oval in Fitzroy became the club’s home ground.
Formed on the 6th of October 1986, the Brisbane Bears were a young club and during the club’s short ten year history the Bears were unable to win any Premierships. With Peter Knights as the club’s first coach, the Bears home ground became Carrara at the Gold Coast and being the first Queensland club in the VFL, this code was only just beginning. But in 1993 the Bears moved permanently to Brisbane, The Gabba.
On the 4th of July 1996 the Australian Football League (AFL) approved the first ever club merger in Victorian Football League (VFL) and AFL history, between the Fitzroy Lions and the Brisbane Bears.
The combination of the two clubs led to the creation of a great team. The Bears had unluckily lost the Preliminary final to the Kangaroos in 1996, and although Fitzroy had finished as wooden spooner during its last two seasons, the club did contain a number of promising young players. On the 4th of July 1996 it was decided that the Brisbane Lions would be created. The Brisbane Lions were officially launched on the 1st of November 1996, joining the national competition in 1997.
[edit] Post Merger
In their first year as the Brisbane Lions they made the finals but despite a talented playing list, the club finished last the following year, resulting in the sacking of coach John Northey with eight rounds of the season remaining. Over the summer, the club replaced Northey with Leigh Matthews, who in 1990 delivered Collingwood its only premiership since 1958.
Matthews, voted the player of the century in 2000, played his entire career with Hawthorn during the club's most successful period and brought many of the Hawthorn disciplines to the Lions game. Within a season he lead them from the bottom of the ladder to 4th, losing to the eventual premiers the Kangaroos in the preliminary final, before placing 5th in 2000.
[edit] 2001 - First premiership
The club won its first league premiership in 2001, by defeating Essendon in the grand final. The final score of the 2001 AFL Grand Final being Essendon 12.10.82 to Brisbane 15.18.108. Lions utility player Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith medal as best player on the ground and the match saw the Lions heavily supported by the neutral fans at the ground. On the morning after winning the flag, the club took the premiership cup to the Brunswick Street football ground, the original home of the Fitzroy football club. It was an important way of connecting with the traditional Lions fans and many of those disaffected when one of the foundations clubs was forced into a merger could truly see the way in which the new entity was honouring the history of its Melbourne based component. Then the premiership cup made its historic first trip to what had historically been a rugby league focussed state.
In the same year, Brisbane Lion (and former Bear) Jason Akermanis won the league's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal.
[edit] 2002 - Back-to-back premierships
In 2002, the Lions repeated as premiers, defeating Collingwood in the 2002 AFL Grand Final 10.15.75 to 9.12.66 in freezing, wet conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Early in the contest the Lions lost both ruckman Beau McDonald and utility player Martin Pike (who had already amassed 9 possessions in the first quarter) to injury and had to complete the match with a limited substitute's bench. Despite not scoring a goal in the first quarter, the undermanned Lions overcame a spirited Collingwood in the tightest premiership decider in 15 years. Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley won the Norm Smith medal which was decided 20 minutes before the conclusion of the match. However, Lions captain Michael Voss, in an inspiring performance made the difference between the two clubs during that final phase of the match and it is now widely believed that he was the best on the ground that day.
Brisbane Lion Simon Black won the Brownlow.
In 2002, former Brisbane lawyer, Michael Bowers became Chief Executive Officer, as part of as move to turnaround the Club's problematic finances.
[edit] 2003 - Three peat
In 2003, the Brisbane Lions became the first Grand Final participant in AFL history to have three Brownlow Medallists in its lineup, the third being 1996 winner Michael Voss. With a number of players under an injury cloud, and having lost to Collingwood in an earlier final that year, the Lions went into the game as underdogs. However they stamped their greatness on the competition by inflicting a humiliating thrashing upon the Magpies. At one stage in the final quarter the lions lead by almost 80 points before relaxing when the match was well and truly won and allowing Collingwood to score the last 4 goals. The final score of 20.14.134 to 12.12.84, saw the club become the first in the AFL to win three consecutive Premierships since Melbourne in 1957. Simon Black claimed the Norm Smith Medal with a compelling and dominant 39 possession match, which has been reported as the most possessions ever gathered by someone in a grand final.
[edit] 2004
In 2004, the Lions fell just short in its quest for a fourth consecutive flag, losing to Port Adelaide in the 2004 AFL Grand Final. At the twenty minute mark of the third quarter, the Lions led, but were over-run by a fresher Port Adelaide which had two additional days to prepare for the match as a result of playing their preliminary final on a Friday night.
Despite requests for fair treatment, the Lions were forced to play its preliminary final against Geelong in Melbourne on the following evening, despite the club having fairly earned the right to stage a home final. This resulted in Brisbane travelling home to prepare for the grand final on the Sunday morning while their grand final opponents Port Adelaide were into their second recovery day. It became a telling factor during the final 30 minutes of the premiership decider.
During this four year period, the Brisbane Lions became the most dominant team of the modern era. Many purists have argued that in the time of salary cap and a player draft specifically designed to assist the weaker clubs, not to mention the travel demands of modern football, the performance of the Brisbane Lions during this period is unequalled by any club in history including the great Collingwood side to claim four consecutive flags in the late 1920s.
[edit] 2005
The Lions had an inconsistent season in 2005, and fell away badly towards the end, losing many games by very large margins. They finished a disappointing eleventh - out of the finals for only the second time in the club's history. When able to field its strongest lineup, the Lions produced some strong performance reminiscent of its triple premiership days however, injuries to Justin Leppitsch, Jonathan Brown, Nigel Lappin, and the retirements of premiership players such as Marcus Ashcroft, Alastair Lynch, Martin Pike, Shaun Hart and Craig McRae had taken its toll and the club played more first year players than any other side in the competition.
[edit] 2006
Lions began the 2006 season optimistically, but injuries again plagued the club, whose players recorded an AFL record total of 200 matches lost to injury for the season.
Justin Leppitsch was forced to retire through injury and with season ending injuries to prominent players Nigel Lappin, Chris Scott, Ashley McGrath, Richard Hadley, Anthony Corrie and key ruckman Jamie Charman, coach Leigh Matthews was forced to debut an unprecendented number of youngsters and rookies and due to this, the club experienced inconsistent results. While many of the new youngsters displayed great promise, and continued to attack the ball and tackle opponents in typical Brisbane Lions spirit, it became evident during the final few matches that the young Lions were clearly into rebuilding mode. With AFL Rising Star nominations to Michael Rischitelli, Cheynee Stiller and Matthew Moody and the emergence of rookie Jason Roe among others, the future looks promising, but the realists also know that the rebuilding phase will take a few years.
Despite the young team losing more home games than ever before, and reducing the Gabba's status as a fortress that intimidated opposition teams, the Lions still produced average crowds the equal of the Rugby League premiership winning Brisbane Broncos.
Justin Leppitsch and Brad Scott announced their retirements during the season. A controversial feud between the club and Jason Akermanis divided supporters of the club and received massive publicity, resulting in Akermanis being stood down for the last seven matches of the season by his senior playing peer group who felt that his loyalty to the club and playing group was compromised.
After the 2006 home and away season it was revealed that major sponsor AAPT would not be renewing their sponsorship. It was announced shortly after that Vodafone had signed a sponsorship deal with the club worth 5.4 million dollars over three years.
The Brisbane Lions team of the decade fullback Mal Michael announced his retirement from football on Thursday 5th October due to lack of motivation and desire to pursue other non-football related activities. He was one of the premier fullbacks in the AFL and was very unlucky not to receive an All-Australian honour, despite being one of the most consistent players in the AFL over many years. He represented his country in International Rules Football against Ireland in 2004, playing as a Goal-keeper, was a pivotal figure at the Brisbane Lions and played a significant role in each of the grand finals contested as, along with Justin Leppitsch and Chris Johnson he led the defence in limiting the output of the opposition's best forwards.
Inspirational Skipper Michael Voss also announced his retirement from football on Friday 6th October due to the stress placed on his body from years of football and a chronic knee injury. He was the co-captain of the team from 1997 to 2000 with Alistair Lynch before leading the side for the remainder of his career, including the historic three straight premierships. In his final season of football, Voss still played 21 out of a possible 22 games, missing one game through knee soreness which turned out to be the same knee which led to his retirement.
At the completion of the 2006 season Chris Johnson remains as the last ever representative of the Fitzroy Football Club to be playing senior AFL football.
[edit] Team of the Decade
The first AAPT Brisbane Lions Team of the Decade was unveiled at the club’s gala 10 year anniversary black tie ball before 800 people at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Thursday, 22 June 2006.
Backs: Chris Johnson, Mal Michael, Darryl White
Half-Backs: Marcus Ashcroft, Justin Leppitsch, Chris Scott
Centres: Nigel Lappin, Michael Voss (c), Brad Scott
Half-Forwards: Jason Akermanis, Jonathan Brown, Craig McRae
Forwards: Luke Power, Alastair Lynch, Daniel Bradshaw
Rucks: Clark Keating, Simon Black, Shaun Hart
Interchange: Martin Pike, Tim Notting, Jamie Charman, Richard Champion
Coach: Leigh Matthews
[edit] Membership base
| Year | Members | Finishing position² | Average crowd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 16,679 | 8th | 19,550 |
| 1998 | 16,108 | 16th | 16,675 |
| 1999 | 16,931 | 4th | 21,936 |
| 2000 | 20,295 | 5th | 27,406 |
| 2001 | 18,330 | 1st | 27,313 |
| 2002 | 22,288 | 1st | 26,904 |
| 2003 | 25,578 | 1st | 31,462 |
| 2004 | 30,941 | 2nd | 33,574 |
| 2005 | 30,027 | 11th | 33,101 |
| 2006 | 26,459 | 13th | 28,305¹ |
¹(as at 20 August, 2006)
²following finals matches
[edit] 2001 Grand Final
| Image:2001gf2.jpg | |||
| 2001 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| Image:BrisbaneLionsDesign.jpg Brisbane Lions | 15 | 18 | 108 |
| Image:EssendonDesign.jpg Essendon | 12 | 10 | 82 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 91,482 | ||
[edit] 2002 Grand Final
| Image:Australian Football League.svg | |||
| 2002 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| Image:BrisbaneLionsDesign.jpg Brisbane Lions | 10 | 15 | 75 |
| Image:CollingwoodDesign.jpg Collingwood | 9 | 12 | 66 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 91,817 | ||
[edit] 2003 Grand Final
| Image:2003AFLGrandFinal.png | |||
| 2003 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| Image:BrisbaneLionsDesign.jpg Brisbane Lions | 20 | 14 | 134 |
| Image:CollingwoodDesign.jpg Collingwood | 12 | 12 | 84 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 79,451 | ||
[edit] 2004 Grand Final
| Image:2004GrandFinal.png | |||
| 2004 Toyota AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| Image:PortAdelaideDesign.jpg Port Adelaide | 17 | 11 | 113 |
| Image:BrisbaneLionsDesign.jpg Brisbane Lions | 10 | 13 | 73 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 77,671 | ||
[edit] 2006 Season
| Rnd | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Gee | Ess | StK | Ric | WCE | Syd | Haw | PA | Fre | Col | Ade | WB | Car | Mel | Kan | Haw | Ess | Gee | Ric | WCE | Syd | StK |
| Venue | SS | G | TD | G | S | G | C | AS | G | MCG | G | G | G | G | TD | G | TD | G | TD | G | TS | G |
| Result | L | W | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| Margin | 77 | 18 | 37 | 14 | 59 | 32 | 40 | 69 | 68 | 26 | 15 | 42 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 37 | 17 | 82 | 62 | 57 | 51 |
[edit] Sponsors
[edit] Guernsey Manufacturers
| Manufacturer | Years |
|---|---|
| Puma AG | 1996-2000 |
| Russell Athletic | 2001-2006 |
| Puma AG | 2007-Onwards |
[edit] Major Sponsors
| Sponsor | Years |
|---|---|
| Carlton & United Breweries | 1996-2000 (As Co-Sponsor with Coca-Cola) |
| AAPT | 2001-2006 |
| Vodafone | 2007-Onwards |
[edit] Individual awards
[edit] Best and Fairest
[edit] Brownlow Medal winners
- Jason Akermanis - 2001
- Simon Black - 2002
[edit] Leigh Matthews Trophy winners
- Michael Voss - 2002 (with Luke Darcy), 2003
[edit] Norm Smith medal winners
- Shaun Hart - 2001
- Simon Black - 2003
[edit] Mark of the Year winners
- Jonathan Brown - 2002
[edit] Goal of the Year winners
- Jason Akermanis - 2002
[edit] All-Australian players
- Jason Akermanis - 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004
- Chris Johnson - 2002, 2004
- Nigel Lappin - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
- Simon Black - 2001, 2002, 2004
- Justin Leppitsch - 1999, 2002, 2003
- Michael Voss - 1999, 2001, 2002 (captain), 2003 (captain)
- Luke Power - 2004
[edit] National team representatives (since 1999)
- Craig McRae - 1999
- Marcus Ashcroft - 1999
- Jason Akermanis - 1999, 2000
- Justin Leppitsch - 1999, 2000
- Simon Black - 2001
- Nigel Lappin - 2001
- Darryl White - 2001
- Chris Scott - 2001
- Brad Scott - 2002
- Luke Power - 2000, 2003
- Mal Michael - 2004
- Chris Johnson - 2002, 2003, 2005
- Michael Voss - 2006
- Justin Sherman - 2006
[edit] Club facts
[edit] Premierships
[edit] Grand Finalists/Runners Up
[edit] Wooden Spoon
[edit] Coaches
- John Northey - 1997-1998
- Roger Merrett - 1998
- Leigh Matthews - 1999-current
[edit] Captains
- Michael Voss (co-captain: 1997-2000; captain: 2000-2006)
- Alastair Lynch (co-captain: 1997-2000)
[edit] Biggest home crowds
| Rank | Crowd | Round/Season | Result | Opponent | Brisbane Lions | Opposition | Margin | Venue | Day/Night/Twilight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37,224 | 15/2005 | Win | Collingwood | 19.19 (133) | 7.13 (55) | +78 | The Gabba | Night |
| 2 | 36,467 | 3/2004 | Win | Collingwood | 21.11 (137) | 12.5 (77) | +60 | The Gabba | Night |
| 3 | 36,197 | 1/2003 | Win | Essendon | 14.20 (104) | 8.13 (61) | +43 | The Gabba | Night |
| 4 | 36,149 | 10/2001 | Win | Essendon | 15.12 (102) | 10.14 (74) | +28 | The Gabba | Night |
| 5 | 36,077 | 17/2005 | Win | Essendon | 17.12 (114) | 14.17 (101) | +13 | The Gabba | Night |
[edit] Current sqaud
As of October 13, 2006:
[edit] Rookies
| No. | Name | Debut | Games with this club | Total Games | Avg. Games per year | Goals | Avg. Goals per year | Previous Clubs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | William Hamill | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mt Gravatt (QLD) |
| 46 | Colm Begley | 2006 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Laois (IRE) |
| 48 | Lenny Clark | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | West Adelaide (SA) |
[edit] Notable past players
| Last No. worn | Name | Games with this club | Total Games | Goals | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Marcus Ashcroft | 318 | 318 | 318 | retired after the 2003 AFL season after the Brisbane Lions' 3rd successive premiership |
| 12 | Jason Akermanis | 248 | 248 | 307 | traded to Western Bulldogs for the 2007 AFL season |
| 1 | Richard Champion | TBD | TBD | TBD | retired after the 2000 season |
| 1 | Blake Caracella | 33 | 187 | 218 | traded to the Lions for 2003-2004 seasons by Essendon for Damian Cupido, drafted by Collingwood for the start of the 2005 season, but retired after the 2006 season due to a back-related problem |
| 1 | Des Headland | 52 | 129 | 128 | traded to the Fremantle Dockers for the start of 2003 |
| 27 | Clark Keating | 139 | 139 | 83 | delisted after 2006 after his career was shattered by injuries |
| 41 | Matthew Kennedy | TBD | TBD | TBD | retired before the 2001 AFL Grand Final |
| 23 | Justin Leppitsch | 227 | 227 | 194 | forced to retire after a back-related injury in 2006 |
| 11 | Alastair Lynch | 186 | 306 | 633 | never recorded a stat in the 2004 AFL Grand Final, and retired just days later |
| 4 | Craig McRae | 195 | 195 | 232 | retired after the 2004 season |
| 15 | Mal Michael | 140 | 201 | 28 | retired after the 2006 season after he lost his passion to play AFL, Brisbane Lions furious that he is coming out of retirement to play for Essendon only months afer retiring. |
| 13 | Martin Pike | 106 | 247 | 126 | retired late in 2005 after being placed on the long-term injury list with a groin complaint |
| 33 | Darryl White | 268 | 268 | 165 | retired at the end of 2005 |
| 3 | Michael Voss | 289 | 289 | 245 | called it quits after 2006 because of a knee injury |
| 5 | Bradley Scott | 146 | 168 | 45 | retired after the 2006 AFL season |
[edit] Club jumpers
Home
|
Clash
|
These are the jumper designs used in the 2006 season. The club's current major sponsor is now Vodafone.
- The clash jumper is used against teams (often Essendon or Melbourne) with similar designs/colour to the club's home jumper.
- The player who curently wears the number 22 jumper is Chris Scott.
[edit] See also
- Australian rules football in Queensland
- Merrett-Murray Medal
- List of prominent Brisbane Lions supporters
- Wikipedia listing of Brisbane Lions players
[edit] Sources
- "Arrested Development", The Sunday Mail', July 15, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
- "Canberra fans get a free kick in the guts after AFL drops the ball", The Canberra Times, July 14, 2006. Retrieved July 16, 2006
- "Crows No. 1", Australian Football League website, retrieved 20 July, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Official Website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club
- The Brisbane Lions - an Overview - Official AFL website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club]
- myAFL.com Brisbane Lions Forum
- Lions United (Brisbane Lions Forum)
- Full Points Footy History of the Brisbane Football Club
- Aussie Rules in Brisbane from OurBrisbane.com
| Governing Body | |
| Professional Clubs |
Brisbane Lions (AFL) |
| Metropolitan Leagues | |
| Regional Leagues |
Bundaberg-Wide Bay | Cairns | Capricornia | Darling Downs | Mackay | Mt Isa | Townsville |
| Junior Leagues |
Brisbane | Gold Coast | Cairns | Sunshine Coast | Darling Downs | Independent Schools |
| Women's Leagues | |
| Masters Leagues | |
| Principal Venues | |
