Brisbane Lions

Brisbane Lions
Names
Full name Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club
Nickname(s) The Lions
Season 2008
Top Goalkicker Daniel Bradshaw
Best & Fairest Jonathan Brown (incumbent)
Club Details
Founded 1996
Colours Maroon    , Gold     and Blue    

(Red is worn instead of maroon when playing in Victoria. This is done to represent Fitzroy Football Club)
Competition Australian Football League
Chairman Tony Kelly
Coach Michael Voss
Captain(s) Jonathan Brown
Ground(s) Brisbane Cricket Ground (GABBA) (Capacity: 42,000)
Other information
Official website www.lions.com.au

Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club (the trading name for the Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club) is an Australian Football League club based in Brisbane, Queensland. They are the most successful AFL team this century, having won three consecutive Grand Finals, and appeared in a fourth.

The Lions are the only AFL club permanently based in Queensland.

Contents

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).

Background to the merger

Further information: Fitzroy Football Club and Brisbane Bears

On 4 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 were on the rise and had lost the Preliminary final to the eventual Premiers, North Melbourne in 1996, while Fitzroy, despite having finished as wooden spooner two seasons running, contained a number of promising young players. On 4 July 1996 it was decided that the Brisbane Lions would be created. The Brisbane Lions were officially launched on 1 November 1996, joining the national competition in 1997. The push for the team was made mostly by a local Brisbane resident, Peter Ferrante.

Post Merger

Lions players in training

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 hired 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 led 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.

2001 - First premiership

The club won its first AFL premiership by defeating Essendon 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82) in the 2001 AFL Grand Final. Lions utility player Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in the Grand Final. On the morning after winning the flag, the club took the premiership cup to the Brunswick Street Oval in Fitzroy, the original home of the Fitzroy Football Club. It was an important way of connecting with Melbourne-based Lions fans, many of whom had previously supported Fitzroy, and of winning over disaffected Fitzroy fans who had not started supporting the Brisbane Lions post-merger by honouring the history of the club. The Premiership Cup then made its historic first trip to Brisbane, a traditionally rugby league focused city.

In the same year, Brisbane Lion (and former Bear) midfielder Jason Akermanis won the league's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal.

2002 - Back-to-back premierships

In 2002, the Lions won back-to-back premierships when they defeated Collingwood 9.12.66 to 10.15.75 in the 2002 AFL Grand Final in cold and wet conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 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 bench. Despite not scoring a goal in the first quarter, the undermanned Lions overcame a spirited Collingwood in the closest Grand Final in 15 years. Controversy surrounded the awarding of the Norm Smith medal for best player in the Grand Final to Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley. The voting panel cast its votes 20 minutes before the conclusion of the match. However, Lions captain Michael Voss was dominant in the final quarter to lead his team to victory and many speculated that, had voting taken place at the final siren, Voss may have won the award over Buckley. The voting procedure was changed for subsequent Grand Finals.

In the same year, Brisbane Lion midfielder Simon Black won the Brownlow Medal for best and fairest player of the 2002 season.

In 2002, former Brisbane lawyer, Michael Bowers became Chief Executive Officer, as part of a move to turn around the Club's problematic finances.

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 3 being 1996 winner Michael Voss, 2001 winner Jason Akermanis and 2002 winner Simon Black.

With a number of players under an injury cloud, and having lost to Collingwood in a semi-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground two weeks previously, the Lions went into the game as underdogs. However, they sealed their place in history as an AFL dynasty by thrashing the Magpies in cool but sunny conditions. At one stage in the final quarter the Lions led 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 only the third in AFL history to win three consecutive Premierships and the first to do so since Melbourne in 1957. Simon Black claimed the Norm Smith Medal with a dominant 39 possession match, the most possessions ever gathered by a player in a Grand Final.

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 at the MCG 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, a team which in fact had earned the two extra days preparation because of their finishing minor premiers, were into their second recovery day. That may have 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 Collingwood side which claimed four consecutive flags in the late 1920s, and the Melbourne side which won 5 out of 6 premierships from 1955-1960.

2005

Rnd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Opp StK PA Syd Haw WCE Ess WB Ade Ric Col Kan Fre Car Gee Mel Col WCE Ess WB Syd PA StK
Venue G AS G MCG G TD G AS G G SO TD G G G SO G TD G TS G TS
Result W L L L L W L W L L W W W W W L W L W L L L
Margin 23 2 6 46 59 73 23 9 4 19 33 58 69 74 78 23 13 28 41 84 30 139

The Lions had an inconsistent season in 2005, and fell away badly towards the end, losing many games by very large margins. This culminated in a record 139-point defeat at the hands of the St Kilda, whom they previously defeated in round one in a controversial encounter. 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.

2006

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

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 unprecedented 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 5 October due to lack of motivation and desire to pursue other non-football related activities. While at the Lions he was one of the premier fullbacks in the AFL and was very unlucky not to receive an All-Australian honour and was a pivotal figure at the Brisbane Lions and played a significant role in each of the grand finals contested. In highly controversial circumstances, a contract loophole enabled Mal to sign with the Essendon Bombers and continue his career there.

Inspirational Skipper Michael Voss also announced his retirement from football on Friday 6 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.

2007

Rnd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Opp Haw StK Syd Kan Car Fre Ade Ess Col Ric WB Gee PA WCE Mel Car Col Kan Haw Syd Ade Gee
Venue G G SCG GC TD G G TD G TD G SS G SO G G MCG G MCG G AS G
Result W W L L W W L L L D L L L W W W W W L D L L
Margin 25 52 27 24 12 45 31 64 33 0 23 50 7 27 44 117 93 37 24 0 26 42
Ladder 1 1 3 7 6 3 6 11 12 11 12 13 13 13 12 12 11 8 8 9 10 10

The Brisbane Lions finished runner up in the NAB pre-season cup, and then went on to create history by being the first team in the history of the AFL to have 5 co-captains. They started the season with a convincing 25-point win over Hawthorn, 9.15.(69) to 6.8.(44) and a massive win, after tributes to former captain, Michael Voss, against the St. Kilda Football Club, with a 52 point margin.

On Sat 12 May, the Lions marked Leigh Matthews' 200th game in charge of the team against the Crows

On Saturday 19 May, against Mal Michael's new team, the Essendon Bombers, the Lions began confidently, but eventually succumbed to their biggest loss in season 2007, by a margin of 64 points. The Lions lost to Collingwood by 33 points at the Gabba in Round 9 and drew with Richmond at Telstra Dome with the final scores 10.13 (73)-apiece.

On Thursday 7 June Lions co-captain Simon Black and former Lions captain Michael Voss were charged an assault that allegedly took place on the eve of the 2006 AFL Grand Final.[1] Against Jason Akermanis' new side, the Western Bulldogs, in Round 11, the Lions yet again began confidently, kicking the first two goals of the game before being overrun. The Lions did failed to score a goal in the second quarter but came back in the last to reduce the margin to 23 points, holding the Bulldogs goalless in the final term. Akermanis kicked two consecutive goals in the first quarter to take the margin out to 15 and 21 points respectively.

At a rainy Skilled Stadium two weeks later, the Lions failed to score a goal in the first half and never looked like coming back, going down to their second biggest loss of the season so far. On 30 June, Brisbane faced Port Adelaide and led by seven points at quarter time before being overrun in the second, the Power booting 7 goals to 2 to led by 19 points at half-time. At three-quarter time, the Lions were down by 28 points and 40 points a few minutes early into the final term before they fought back to level the scores at 105-all courtesy of a Jonathan Brown from a free kick. A minute later, a 50-metre penalty gifted Port Adelaide's Brett Ebert a goal and managed to hold on for a 7-point win.

The Lions then took on West Coast at Subiaco Oval. The Lions started off well but West Coast took a 10-point lead at quarter time and seven at half time. The Lions clicked into gear in the third term, kicking five goals to two to take an unlikely 11-point lead at three-quarter time. They kicked 3 goals to 1 in the final quarter to create the year's biggest upset with a 27-point win. Brisbane followed that up a week later with a convincing 44-point win over Melbourne at The Gabba.

On 22 July, the Lions faced a struggling Carlton Blues side who were on the back of a 62-point thrashing to Sydney the previous week. Brisbane kicked 8.5-0.3 in the last quarter, the final margin being 117 points, Brisbane's biggest ever win over Carlton, bettering their 103-point loss to Carlton in Round 10, 1987. Also, gun forward Jonathan Brown became the first player in Brisbane Lions/Brisbane Bears history to kick 10 goals in a match, beating Brad Hardie (1989) and Daniel Bradshaw (2005) who both kicked nine goals. This resulted in the sacking of the opposition coach after a run of poor results.

In Round 17, the Lions celebrated their return to the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a 93 point defeat of Collingwood. Jared Brennan played the best game in his 54 game career, scoring 7 goals and 5 behinds. The Lions played second-placed Kangaroos the following week in a scrappy contest at the Gabba, holding the Roos goalless in the first quarter before eventually going on to win 10.17 (77) to 5.10 (40), lifting them into the top eight for the first time since round 7. The Lions got off to a good start against Hawthorn the following week, leading by 15 points before trailing by five points thanks to a Tim Boyle goal after the quarter time siren. Jonathan Brown kicked Brisbane's only four goals in the second quarter before a Lance Franklin goal after the half-time siren reduced the Lions' lead to just five points before the Hawks broke away to a 28-point three-quarter time time lead. The Lions just couldn't come back and lost by 24 points.

Rhan Hooper received a 3 match ban for striking Hawthorn's Rick Ladson, Joel Macdonald and Troy Selwood missed the must-win clash against Sydney. Brisbane started off well with Richard Hadley booting the first goal of the game but poor kicking and too many turnovers saw them trail by 10 points at quarter-time before Jonathan Brown evened the scores at 24-all at half-time. The Lions failed to score a goal in the third time-scoring 0.3 to the Swans' 3.5. However, they jumped straight out of the blocks in the first 3 minutes, with Jonathan Brown putting the Lions in front with his second for the night. But with less than four minutes remaining, Brett Kirk thought he'd won the game for Sydney only for Jonathan Brown to kick a 55-metre goal just before the full-time siren to secure a 9.9 (63) to 8.15 (63) draw.

The Lions failed to make the finals for a third successive year and lost Chris Johnson and Chris Scott to retirement. Youngster Cameron Wood was traded to Collingwood in exchange for Pick 14, which the Lions gave to Melbourne for Travis Johnstone. On the last day of the 2007 trade week, Richard Hadley was traded to Carlton for pick #52.

2008

Main article: Brisbane Lions season 2008
Rnd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Opp WCE Col Syd PA Haw Mel Gee Car StK NM Fre WB Ade Mel Ess WCE Ric NM Haw WB Car Syd
Venue SO G G AS G G SS TD G G G MCG G MCG TD G TD GC AUS G G SCG
Result L W L W L W L W W W W L W L L W L L L W L L
Margin 16 2 17 20 12 52 27 33 46 31 22 63 13 1 37 46 3 8 69 11 6 61
Ladder 12 10 11 9 10 8 10 8 8 7 7 7 6 7 7 6 8 9 9 9 10 10

The Lions began the 2008 NAB Cup shakily, losing to Essendon by 27 points. The 2008 home and away campaign started with a game against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval, in which the Lions lost by 16 points. In their second match at home at the Gabba, the Lions wrestled with an in form Collingwood and eventually triumphed by two points. Jed Adcock scored the winning goal for the Lions. After a 17-point loss to the Sydney Swans the next week (Rivalry Round), the Lions managed a record breaking comeback against Port Adelaide after turning around a 47-point deficit half way through the third quarter, to come out winners by 20 points by the final siren. The Lions were then defeated by Hawthorn by 12 points followed by a sound victory over Melbourne by 52 points. They suffered another defeat to Geelong by 27 points followed by the Lions' first consecutive wins for the season with wins over Carlton by 33 points and Saint Kilda by 46 points. This was followed up by wins over North by 31 points and Fremantle by 22 points. The winning streak would eventually be snapped by a defeat from the Bulldogs by 63 points. The team struggled for the rest of the season and missed out on the finals with a 10-12 record, losing 3 games despite having at least 5 more scoring shots in each of those games. Coach Leigh Matthews resigned at the end of the season after 10 seasons and 3 premierships with the club.

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

Corporate

Membership base

Crowds for Brisbane Lions matches have declined steadily since 2004. The signing of seven additional members in 2008 stemmed a corresponding fall in memberships (see table below).

Brisbane lions membership and attendance.jpg
Year Members Finishing position1 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
2004 30,941 2nd 33,574
2005 30,027 11th 33,101
2006 26,459 13th 28,448
2007 23,072 [2] 10th 28,336²
2008 23,079 10th 28,128
  1. following finals matches

Due to their merger with Fitzroy, approximately 6,700 of Lions members are based in Melbourne.

Vodafone are currently the main sponsors of the Brisbane Lions, having taken over from AAPT in 2006. Minor sponsors include radio stations Triple M Brisbane and Nova 106.9.

Grand Final Performances

Main article: 2001 AFL Grand Final
2001 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final G B Total
Brisbane Lions 15 18 108
Essendon 12 10 82
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Crowd: 91,482
Main article: 2002 AFL Grand Final
2002 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final G B Total
Brisbane Lions 10 15 75
Collingwood 9 12 66
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Crowd: 91,817
Main article: 2003 AFL Grand Final
2003 Carlton & United Breweries AFL Grand Final G B Total
Brisbane Lions 20 14 134
Collingwood 12 12 84
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Crowd: 79,451
Main article: 2004 AFL Grand Final
2004 Toyota AFL Grand Final G B Total
Brisbane Lions 10 13 73
Port Adelaide 17 11 113
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Crowd: 77,671

Individual awards

Best and Fairest Merrett-Murray Medal

Year Player(s)
2008 Jonathan Brown
2007 Jonathan Brown
2006 Simon Black
2005 Jason Akermanis
2004 Nigel Lappin
2003 Michael Voss
2002 Simon Black
2001 Simon Black & Michael Voss
2000 Michael Voss
1999 Jason Akermanis & Justin Leppitsch
1998 Chris Scott
1997 Matthew Clarke

Brownlow Medal winners

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

Norm Smith medal winners

Mark of the Year winners

Goal of the Year winners

Coleman Medal winners

All-Australian players

National team representatives (since 1999)

Jim Stynes Medallists (best player national team)

Club facts

Premierships

Grand Finalists/Runners Up

Pre-Season Grand Finalists

AFLQ Premierships

Coaches

Captains

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 37,032 PF/2001 Win Richmond 20.16 (136) 10.8 (68) +68 The Gabba Night
3 36,803 4/2003 Win Collingwood 14.11 (95) 11.15 (81) +14 The Gabba Night
4 36,467 3/2004 Win Collingwood 21.11 (137) 12.5 (77) +60 The Gabba Night
5 36,197 1/2003 Win Essendon 14.20 (104) 8.13 (61) +43 The Gabba Night
6 36,149 10/2001 Win Essendon 15.12 (102) 10.14 (74) +28 The Gabba Night
7 36,077 17/2005 Win Essendon 17.12 (114) 14.17 (101) +13 The Gabba Night
8 34,327 21/2008 Loss Carlton 16.13 (109) 18.7 (115) -6 The Gabba Night
9 33,867 2/2008 Win Collingwood 13.18 (96) 13.16 (94) +2 The Gabba Night

Current senior squad

As of December 6 2008:

  • 1 Mitch Clark
  • 2 Albert Proud
  • 3 Sam Sheldon
  • 4 Travis Johnstone
  • 5 Scott Harding
  • 6 Luke Power
  • 7 Jed Adcock
  • 8 Tim Notting
  • 9 Ashley McGrath
  • 11 Justin Sherman
  • 12 James Hawksley
  • 14 Lachlan Henderson
  • 15 Matthew Tyler
  • 16 Jonathan Brown (captain)
  • 17 Jared Brennan
  
  • 19 Jamie Charman
  • 20 Simon Black
  • 21 Daniel Merrett
  • 22 Tom Collier
  • 23 Matthew Leuenberger
  • 24 Joel Patfull
  • 26 Joel Macdonald
  • 28 Troy Selwood
  • 29 Jason Roe
  • 31 James Polkinghorne
  • 32 Cheynee Stiller
  • 33 Rhan Hooper
  • 34 Bradd Dalziell
  • 35 Michael Rischitelli
  • 36 Daniel Bradshaw
  
  • 37 Matthew Austin
  • 39 Josh Drummond
  • 41 Scott Clouston

Rookies:

  • 27 Patrick Garner
  • 42 Pearce Hanley

Draft:

  • 10 Daniel Rich
  • 13 Kieran King
  • 18 Todd Banfield
  • 25 Bart McCulloch
  • 30 Jack Redden
  • 44 Aaron Cornelius

Notable past players

Last No. worn Name Games with this club Total Games Goals Notes
10 Marcus Ashcroft 318 318 145 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 183 183 80 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 neck-related problem
1 Des Headland 52 129 128 traded to the Fremantle Dockers for the start of 2003
2 Chris L. Johnson 205 264 171 retired after the 2007 season and has taken up a job as a development coach for the Brisbane Lions.
27 Clark Keating 139 139 83 delisted after 2006 after his career was shattered by injuries, he has since retired from Australian Football. He has now become the Lions' new ruck coach
41 Matthew Kennedy 188 188 30 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 one of the club's leading goalscorers, retired after the 2004 Grand Final.
4 Craig McRae 195 195 232 retired after the 2004 season and is now an assistant coach with the Richmond Tigers
15 Mal Michael Flag of Papua New Guinea 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 after 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 and has taken up an assistant coaching position with the Collingwood Magpies
22 Chris M. Scott 159 214 79 retired after the 2007 season He is now an assistant coach with the Fremantle Dockers]
14 Richard Hadley 41 41 10 Traded to Carlton for the 2008 season
43 Beau McDonald 91 91 19 retired because his body could no longer support his footy skills.
44 Nigel Lappin 218 279 178 Retired midway through 2008 due to an achilles injury. He is now and assistant coach with Geelong.

Club jumpers

Home
The main jumper is maroon, blue and gold. Used in the majority of games.(left) The clash jumper has a significantly different design than the main. (right)

These are the jumper designs used in the 2007 season. The club's current major sponsor is now Vodafone.

Club Mascot

Bernie Gabba Vegas

The Lion's Mascot Manor representative and club mascot is Bernie "Gabba" Vegas, a caricature of a lion dressed in Brisbane Lions jumper, sunglasses, wide lapels and flares, designed to resemble Elvis Presley.

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ Voss, Black and Gehrig face court - AFL - Sport - brisbanetimes.com.au
  2. ↑ Member Milestones from lions.com.au

External links

Preceded by
Essendon		 AFL Premiers
2001 - 2002 - 2003		 Succeeded by
Port Adelaide
Brisbane Lions
Club History  • Premierships & Records  • Players  • Awards
 • Captain: Jonathan Brown  • Vice captains: Simon Black, Luke Power, Jed Adcock, Daniel Merrett  • Coach: Michael Voss
Stadiums
The Gabba
Premierships
3 (2001  • 2002  • 2003)
Seasons
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Clubs in the Australian Football League
Clubs
Adelaide  · Brisbane Lions  · Carlton  · Collingwood  · Essendon  · Fremantle  · Geelong  · Hawthorn  · Melbourne  · North Melbourne  · Port Adelaide  · Richmond  · St Kilda  · Sydney  · West Coast  · Western Bulldogs
Former clubs
Brisbane Bears  · Fitzroy  · University
Proposed future clubs
Gold Coast  · Western Sydney
Australian rules football in Queensland
Governing Body
AFL Queensland
Professional Clubs
Brisbane Lions (AFL)
Metropolitan Leagues
AFLQ State League · AFLQ State Association
Regional Leagues
Bundaberg-Wide Bay · Cairns · Capricornia · Darling Downs · Mackay · Mt Isa · Townsville
Women's Leagues
AFL Queensland Women's · Cairns · Townsville · AFL Queensland Youth Girls Competition
Principal Venues
Brisbane Cricket Ground · Cazaly's Stadium