Travis Johnstone

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Travis Johnstone
Personal information
Full name	Travis Johnstone
Date of Birth	July 17, 1980 (1980-07-17) (age 27)
Place of Birth
Recruited from	Chelsea/Dandenong Stingrays U18
Draft	1st overall, 1997 Melbourne
Height/Weight	184cm / 83kg
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Brisbane Lions
Number	4
Playing Career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1998-2007 2008-	Melbourne Brisbane Lions Totals	160 (111) 10 (12) 170 (123)
¹ Club statistics to end of Round 11, 2008 season
² Representative statistics to end of Career highlights AFL Equal 4th in the Brownlow Medal 2002 #1 draft pick in the 1997 AFL Draft Rising Star Nomination 1998 Melbourne Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal 2005 Melbourne's Most Consistent Player 2005 Played in the 2000 AFL Grand Final

Travis Johnstone (born July 17, 1980) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Brisbane Lions.

[edit] AFL career at Melbourne

Johnstone was the #1 selection in the 1997 AFL Draft and made his debut in the 1998 season.

Johnstone took time to develop into a star player for Melbourne, and for some time was criticised in the football media for underachieving as a #1 draft selection.

In 2002 he finished equal fourth in Brownlow Medal voting, and in 2005 he won his first Melbourne Best and Fairest Award, the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal, and he led the AFL in total kicks.

Johnstone has since developed into a midfielder possessing terrific vision and skill who in 2006 led the team for the second year in a row in the Brownlow Medal, with 11 votes. During the year he accumulated 469 disposals at 21 an outing, which included first for inside 50's (87) and third for rebounds from 50 (55). Was also 5th in tackles (77). However, he has been criticised for his unwillingness to go in for the hard ball and often plays a running receiver role.

In 2007 Johnstone struggled to capture his best form and wasn't helped by an achilles injury holding him to only 15 games. Johnstone produced a career-high 42 disposals in what would be his final game for the Demons in round 22 against Carlton.

Throughout his career at Melbourne, Travis Johnstone was recognised as one of the AFL's most dangerous and talented midfielders; however he often struggled for consistency, and finished in the Truscott Medal top ten only twice.[1]

[edit] Trade to the Brisbane Lions

On the 11th of October 2007 it was confirmed that the Brisbane Lions had acquired the 27 year old midfielder from Melbourne for draft pick #14 in the 2007 national draft, which the Lions had received from Collingwood in a trade for young ruckman Cameron Wood. This came after weeks of speculation over Johnstone's future with the club. New coach Dean Bailey was openly looking for high draft picks and Johnstone was considered a more expendable, yet of decent value. After the clubs confirmed Johnstone was now a Lion, the Melbourne Football Club was bombarded with phone calls from angry supporters who were furious that Johnstone was traded, proving that Johnstone was a very popular player among fans.^[1] In his debut for the Lions in Round 1, he amassed 20 Possessions off the Bench in their loss to the West Coast Eagles. The Week after, Johnstone managed 22 disposals in Brisbane's nailbiting 2 point win against the Collingwood Magpies. Arguably his finest game for Brisbane to date came in the Lions' Round 8, 2008 win over Carlton where Johnstone amassed 32 possessions, six tackles and three goals.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

• Travis Johnstone profile on the Official AFL Website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club
• Travis Johnstone's statistics from AFL Tables

• Template:Http://lions.com.au/Season2008/Statistics/tabid/5099/Default.aspx