Brisbane Lions

Brisbane Lions

Names
Full name	Brisbane Lions Football Club
Nickname(s)	Lions
Season 2010
Club Details
Founded	1996
Colours	Maroon      Blue      Gold (Red is used instead of maroon for some away games to represent the late Fitzroy Football Club)
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Tony Kelly
Coach	Michael Voss
Captain(s)	Jonathan Brown
Premierships	2001, 2002, 2003
Ground(s)	The Gabba (Capacity: 42,000)
Other information
Official website	www.lions.com.au
Guernsey:
Current season: Brisbane Lions season 2010

Brisbane Lions, is an Australian rules football club that plays in the AFL. The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is the most successful AFL team during the last decade (2000–2009), having appeared in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals between 2001 to 2004, winning three (2001, 2002 and 2003).

History

On 4 July 1996 the Australian Football League (AFL) approved the first ever club merger in Victorian Football League (VFL) and AFL history. The Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions combined to form the Brisbane Lions. The merged entity was to play its home games at The Gabba.

Prior to the merge the Brisbane Bears had enjoyed a successful season, losing the Preliminary Final to the eventual Premiers, North Melbourne. In contrast, Fitzroy had finished in last place for two successive seasons, although they contained a number of promising young players.

The Brisbane Lions were officially launched on 1 November 1996, joining the national competition in 1997.

The Lions: 1997–2000

Brisbane Lions logo from 2001–2009

In their first year in the AFL the Lions made the finals, finishing in eighth position. The following year, however, they finished in last position, despite boasting a talented playing list. Accordingly, inaugural coach John Northey was sacked with eight rounds remaining in the season. During the off-season the club hired Leigh Matthews, who in 1990 had delivered Collingwood its first premiership since 1958.

Matthews, who was voted "Player of the Century" in 2000, played his entire career with Hawthorn and brought many of the Hawthorn disciplines to the Lions. Within a season the Lions rose from the bottom of the ladder to 4th, before losing to the eventual Premiers the Kangaroos in the Preliminary Final.

Triple premiership success: 2001–2003

The club won its first AFL Premiership by defeating Essendon 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82) in the 2001 AFL Grand Final.^[1] Lions utility player Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in the Grand Final.^[2]:521 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.^[2]:508[3]

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.^[2]:508

In 2002 former Brisbane lawyer Michael Bowers became Chief Executive Officer as part of a move to turn around the club's problematic finances.^[2]:51

In 2003, the Brisbane Lions became the first Grand Finalist in AFL history to have three Brownlow Medallists in its lineup, the 3 being 1996 winner Michael Voss,^[2]:508 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, allowing Collingwood to score the last 4 goals. The final score of 20.14 (134) to 12.12 (84),^[2]:860 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.

Failed quest: 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 overran by Port Adelaide.

Finals misses: 2005–2008

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 1 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.

The 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 NRL Premiership team Brisbane Broncos.

Justin Leppitsch and Brad Scott announced their retirements during the season. A controversial and high-profile 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 AU$5.4 million 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 somewhat unlucky not to receive an All-Australian honour and was a pivotal figure at the Brisbane Lions, playing 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 Alastair 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.

The Brisbane Lions finished runner up in the NAB 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 Saturday 12 May, the Lions marked Leigh Matthews' 200th game in charge of the team against the Crows

One week later 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 (now Etihad Stadium) 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.^[4] 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.

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.

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.

Luke Power, Simon Black and Jonathan Brown are three of the Lions' Premiership players still playing at the club

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.

Voss arrival: 2009–present

The Lions made a good start in the 2009 NAB Cup under new senior coach Micahel Voss by registering a 9 point win over St Kilda. However this was followed by a series of losses in the pre-season to Essendon, Melbourne and Richmond. The Lions then began the Premiership season well with wins against the West Coast Eagles and hoodoo rivals, the Sydney Swans. However, lost their strong form over Carlton with a loss of 19 points.

Brendan Fevola became the 1^st Coleman Medallist to win the medal at a club and be traded to another the following year. He originally came from Carlton

Corporate

Membership base and sponsorship

Crowds and memberships for the Brisbane Lions grew dramatically during the four seasons in which they made the AFL Grand Final. Since then, with the team being less successful, attendances have declined, but have remained stable over the past three seasons. In 2009 the Lions found it so difficult to sell corporate boxes that they resorted to doing so on a game-by-game basis.^[5]

Year	Members	Change from previous season	Finishing position1	Average home crowd (excluding finals)[6]	Major Sponsor
1997	16,679	—	8th	19,550	Carlton & United Breweries
1998	16,108	571	16th	16,675	Carlton & United Breweries
1999	16,931	823	Preliminary Finalist	21,890	AAPT
2000	20,295	3364	Semi Finalist	27,406	AAPT
2001	18,330	1965	Premiers	27,638	AAPT
2002	22,288	3958	Premiers	26,895	AAPT
2003	25,578	3290	Premiers	31,717	AAPT
2004	30,941	5363	Grand Finalist	33,619	AAPT
2005	30,027	914	11th	33,267	AAPT
2006	26,459	3568	13th	28,630	AAPT
2007	23,072[7]	3387	10th	28,848	Vodafone
2008	23,079	7	10th	28,128	Vodafone
2009	26,324[8]	3245	Semi Finalist	29,172	Vodafone
2010	29,014	2,690	13th	29,908	Bank of Queensland, Conergy

1. following finals matches

Financial performance

In 2008 the Brisbane Lions recorded a loss of $2,200,200.^[9] CEO Michael Bowers was reported to be "buoyed" when 2009 membership exceeded its 2008 total by 8 April 2009.^[10] In 2009 the Brisbane Lions recorded a further loss of $603,207.^[11]

Awards

Team Awards

• AFL Grand Final Appearances

Premierships: 3 (2001, 2002, 2003)

Runners-Up: 1 (2004)

• Pre-Season Grand Final Appearances

Runners-Up: 2 (2001, 2007)

• Wooden Spoons: 1 (1998)

Individual awards

Club Song

The music of the team song is the same as that of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

We are the pride of Brisbane town
We wear maroon, blue and gold
We will always fight for victory
Like Fitzroy and Bears of old
All for one and one for all
We will answer to the call
Go Lions, Brisbane Lions
We’ll kick the winning score
You’ll hear our mighty roar!^[12]

Club facts

Premierships

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003

Grand Finalists

• 2004

Coaches

• John Northey – 1997–1998
• Roger Merrett – 1998
• Leigh Matthews – 1999–2008
• Michael Voss – 2009–present

Captains

• Michael Voss (co-captain: 1997–2000; captain: 2000–2006)
• Alastair Lynch (co-captain: 1997–2000)
• Chris L. Johnson (co-captain: 2007)
• Nigel Lappin (co-captain: 2007–2008)
• Simon Black (co-captain: 2007–2008)
• Luke Power (co-captain: 2007–2008)
• Jonathan Brown (co-captain: 2007–2008; captain: 2009–present)

Biggest home crowds

Current squad

As of 9 October 2009:

Notable past players

Guernsey types

Home guernsey (top), away guernsey (middle), clash guernsey (bottom)

The three types of guernsey are:

• Home guernsey (worn since 2010): Maroon and blue based guernsey with a lion, coloured gold and maroon. Bank of Queensland sponsor on front and Conergy sponsor on back (home pants worn in home games and away pants worn in away games not played in Victoria).

• Away guernsey (Worn since 2010): Red and blue based guernsey with a lion, coloured gold and red. Conergy sponsor on front and Bank of Queensland sponsor on back (away pants worn).

• Clash guernsey (Worn since 2010): Maroon, white and blue based guernsey with a lion, coloured gold and maroon. Conergy sponsor on front and Bank of Queensland sponsor on back (away pants worn).

Bernie Gabba Vegas

Club mascot

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

• Australian rules football in Queensland
• Merrett-Murray Medal
• Wikipedia listing of Brisbane Lions players

Notes

References

Bibliography

• "Arrested Development", The Sunday Mail', 15 July 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2006, no longer available.
• "Canberra fans get a free kick in the guts after AFL drops the ball", The Canberra Times, 14 July 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2006
• "Crows No. 1", Australian Football League website, retrieved 20 July 2006.
• "Eagles grab victory over Lions", Herald Sun website, Retrieved 24 March 2008.

External links

• Official Website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club
• The Brisbane Lions – an Overview – Official AFL website of the Brisbane Lions Football Club]