Brisbane Lions

Brisbane Lions
Names
Full name	Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club Limited, Trading as Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club[1]
Nickname(s)	Lions
2016 season
Home-and-away season	17th
Leading goalkicker	Dayne Zorko / Josh Walker (23)
Best and fairest	Dayne Zorko
Club details
Founded	1996
Colours	Maroon,      blue, and      gold
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Bob Sharpless
CEO	Greg Swann
Coach	Chris Fagan
Captain(s)	Dayne Beams
Premierships	3:[2] 2001, 2002, 2003
Ground(s)	The Gabba (capacity: 42,000)
Training ground(s)	The Gabba
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
Other information
Official website	www.lions.com.au

The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club was formed in 1996 from the merger of the Fitzroy Lions and the Brisbane Bears. The Lions are one of the most successful AFL clubs of the 21st century, having appeared in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals from 2001 to 2004 and winning three premierships (2001, 2002 and 2003).

The club is based at the Gabba. The team is captained by Dayne Beams and coached by Chris Fagan.

History: Start of a new era

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

Beginnings: 1997–2000

In their first year as a combined club the Lions made the finals, finishing in eighth position after being defeated by the St Kilda Football Club in a qualifying final. The following year, however, they finished in last position, despite boasting a talented playing list.

Triple premiership success: 2001–2003

As the Brisbane Lions, the club won its first AFL premiership in the 2001 AFL Grand Final, defeating Essendon 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82).^[3] Lions utility player Shaun Hart won the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in the Grand Final.^[4]:521

In 2002, the Lions won back-to-back premierships when they again 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 had nine possessions in the first quarter) to injury and had to complete the match with a limited bench.

With a number of players under an injury cloud – and having lost to Collingwood in a qualifying final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground three 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 four goals. The final score of 20.14 (134) to 12.12 (84)^[4]:860 saw the club become only the fourth in VFL/AFL history to win three consecutive premierships and the first since the creation of the AFL. 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.^[5]

The 2004 season saw Brisbane remain in the top portion of the ladder for most of the season. Reaching the finals in second position, Brisbane controversially had to travel to Melbourne to play against Geelong in the preliminary final, due to a contract between the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the Australian Football League (AFL) that required one preliminary final to be played each year at the MCG.^[6] Port Adelaide had finished on top of the ladder and hosted the other preliminary final in Adelaide. Despite this setback, Brisbane beat Geelong and reached the AFL Grand Final for the fourth consecutive year. Their opponents, Port Adelaide, playing in their first ever grand final, were too good on the day and recorded a 40-point win.^[7]

Rebuild of the Lions' second generation: 2005–2008

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.

The Brisbane Lions finished runner up in the 2007 NAB Cup and then went on to create history by being the first team in the history of the AFL to have five co-captains. That year, the Lions failed to make the finals for a third successive year in 2007.

The Lions began the 2008 NAB Cup shakily, losing to Essendon by 27 points. The team struggled for 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.

Michael Voss: 2009–2013

The Lions made a good start in the 2009 NAB Cup under new senior coach Michael 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. Their season ended with a 51-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.

The 2009/2010 off-season was dominated by the arrival of Brendan Fevola from Carlton, and the hype was focused on Fevola and Jonathan Brown in the sense that the Lions could capitalise on their strong 2009 season. Indeed, the Lions won their first four matches of the 2010 season to be top of the ladder after four rounds, but they would only win three more games after that to crash to a lowly finish by season's end. One of those wins however, was against eventual premiers Collingwood.

The Lions' 2010/2011 off-season was disrupted by the sacking of Fevola after just one season at the Lions, following repeated off-field indiscretions which included getting drunk in the Brisbane streets during New Year's Eve celebrations. On the field, the Lions won only four games for the year, but only one against any Victorian team, and that was North Melbourne, in Round 9. Despite their worst season since 1998, coach Michael Voss was granted a contract extension after the board recommended that Voss was the best man to take the club forward into the future. Leading into season 2012, only two players from the triple-premiership winning team of 2001–2003 remained: Simon Black and Jonathan Brown.

The 2013 season started well for Brisbane, defeating Carlton in the final of the NAB Cup, with Daniel Rich winning the Michael Tuck Medal for best on ground and Aaron Cornelius showing some good form. However, things began to decline from then, with losses to the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide. However, in the 5th QClash match against Gold Coast, the Lions won by two points, with Jonathan Brown winning the Marcus Ashcroft Medal. Injuries were beginning to take a toll, with young players Claye Beams and Jared Polec suffering severe injuries. In Round 13, Brisbane defeated second-placed Geelong, coming from 52 points down late in the third quarter to win by 5 points due to an Ash McGrath goal after the siren in his 200th match.

On 13 August 2013, coach Michael Voss was told that his contract would not be renewed.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Playing under Justin Leppitsch: 2014–2016

On 25 August 2013, former premiership player of the Lions, Justin Leppitsch, was confirmed to be the senior coach of the Lions for the next 3 seasons starting in 2014

On 18 October 2013, Brisbane Lions legend Simon Black announced his retirement.

During round 13, 2014 Lions captain Jonathan Brown was the victim of a facial injury in a clash between the Lions and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. He collided with Tomas Bugg's knee and was taken off the ground. He suffered a concussion, which caused his retirement from football. Along with the retirement of Ashley McGrath in August 2014, no active players remain from any of the club's triple-premiership winning sides.^[12]

On 29 August 2016, Leppitsch was sacked as coach of the Lions.^[13]

Chris Fagan era: 2017–

On 4 October 2016, Chris Fagan was announced as the Lions' coach from the 2017 season onwards.^[14]

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.^[15] 2011 saw the Brisbane Lions suffer their worst ever drop in support, as memberships decreased by 28%. 2017 memberships are the lowest the club has had since 2012.

Year	Members	Change from previous season	Finishing position1	Average home crowd [16]	Profit (loss)	Kit sponsor	Major sponsor/s
1997	19,550	N/A	Qualifying Finalist (8th)	24,468		Puma	Carlton & United Breweries
1998	16,674	2,876	Wooden spoon (16th)	19,913
1999	16,931	257	Preliminary Finalist (3rd)	21,890			AAPT
2000	20,295	3,364	Semi-finalist (6th)	27,406
2001	18,330	1,965	Premiers (2nd)	27,637	($845,000)[17]	Russell Athletic
2002	22,288	3,958	Premiers (2nd)	26,894
2003	25,578	3,290	Premiers (3rd)	31,717	$2,200,000[18]
2004	30,941	5,363	Grand Finalist (2nd)	33,619
2005	30,027	914	11th	33,266
2006	26,459	3,568	13th	28,629
2007	23,072[19]	3,387	10th	28,847	$1,058,000[20]	Puma	Vodafone
2008	23,079	7	10th	28,127	($2,200,030)[21]
2009	26,324[22]	3,245	Semi-finalist (6th)	29,172	($603,207)[23]
2010	29,014	2,690	13th	29,933	($2,713,848)[24]		Bank of Queensland, Conergy
2011	20,792[25]	8,222	15th	20,461	($1,855,926)[26]	BLK
2012	20,762[27]	30	13th	20,343	($2,513,262)[28]
2013	24,130[29]	3,368	12th	21,083	($1,574,762)[30]		National Storage, Vero Insurance
2014	23,930	200	15th	19,735	($3,543,138)[31]
2015	25,408	1,478	17th	18,810	($681,053)[32]
2016	23,286	2,122	17th	17,074	($1,780,000)		Camperdown Dairy International, Vero Insurance
2017	21,203*					Majestic Athletic

Statistics highlighted in bold denote the best season for Brisbane in that category
Statistics highlighted in italic denote the worst season for Brisbane in that category
¹ following finals matches

Non-playing/coaching staff

Name	Position
Greg Swann	Chief Executive Officer
Bob Sharpless	Chairman
Andrew Wellington	Deputy Chairman
Cyril Jinks	Directors
Sarah Kelly
Leigh Matthews
Peter McGregor
Mick Power
Cathie Reid
Ross Thornton
David Noble	General Manager of Football
Dom Abrogio	List manager
Craig Lambert	Strategy and Retention Manager
Melissa Lambert	Player Welfare Manager
Andrew Crowell	Head of Welfare and Wellbeing
Matthew Francis	Football Manager
Damien Austin	High Performance Manager
Stephen Conole	Senior Recruiting Manager
Leon Harris	Recruitment Consultant
Andrew Farrell	Victoria and South Australia Recruiting Manager

Club symbols

Guernseys

The three types of guernsey are:

• Home guernsey (worn since 2015): Maroon and blue based guernsey with original Fitzroy lion, coloured gold and maroon. Vero Insurance is the sponsor on the front and Camperdown Dairy International is the sponsor on the back (home shorts worn in home games and away shorts worn in away games not played in Victoria). The Lions also wore this jumper from 1997-2009 before switching to a more 'modern' lion.
• Away guernsey (Worn since 2015): Red and blue based guernsey with original Fitzroy lion, coloured gold and red. Camperdown Dairy International is the sponsor on the front and Vero Insurance is the sponsor on the back (away shorts worn). The Lions also wore this jumper from 2008-2009 before switching to a more 'modern' lion.
• Clash guernsey (Worn since 2017): Reminiscent of the Bears’ final guernsey, this guernsey features maroon, yellow and white with original Fitzroy lion, coloured maroon and gold. Camperdown Dairy International is the sponsor on the front and Vero Insurance is the sponsor on the back (away shorts worn).

Mascot

As of 2016 the lions new mascot 'Roy' was introduced. 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.

Song

The club's team song, "The Pride of Brisbane Town", is based on the Fitzroy club song, and is sung to the music of "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem:^[33]

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!

Rivalries

The Brisbane Lions have three main rivals, Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Gold Coast.

Collingwood

The biggest rival for the Lions is Collingwood, having built up plenty of history in the relatively short existence as a merged club. Pre-merger Fitzroy was a neighbouring suburb to Collingwood, with the boundary being based on Smith Street,^[34] along with the fact that Fitzroy and Collingwood topped the VFL/AFL premiership tally during the early decades of the VFL competition. The Brisbane Bears also had a bit of history with the Magpies as Nathan Buckley famously deflected to Collingwood after one season on the Bears list, citing that he wanted to win premierships, ironically retiring at the end of the 2007 season without a premiership as a player in the AFL.^[35] The Bears also lost their final regular season match in their final season to the Magpies, costing the Bears the minor premiership that season.^[36] However the rivalry between the Lions and the Magpies has been properly ignited post-merger, starting in late 1999 when Collingwood played their last ever VFL/AFL game at their spiritual home ground, Victoria Park with the Lions emerging 42 point victors that day and consigning the Magpies to their second wooden spoon, to the dissatisfaction of the Collingwood supporters.^[37] The rivalry between the two clubs went to the next level as the clubs played off in two consecutive Grand Finals in 2002 and 2003, with the Lions emerging victors on both occasions.^[38][39] These grand final results further fueled the bitterness that Collingwood supporters and their president Eddie McGuire still have towards the Brisbane Lions to this day, despite the Lions having a poor decade on the field after their golden era. Due to many Collingwood supporters migrating up to Queensland and many Brisbane Lions supporters residing in Victoria (many of which were ex-Fitzroy supporters), along with the on-field history between the two clubs, many Lions supporters consider a Brisbane Lions v Collingwood match-up to be their derby, despite the clubs being over 1700 km apart and the fact that there are many clubs in the competition that are geographically closer to each other.

Port Adelaide

The third biggest rival of the Lions is Port Adelaide, with the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy merging to become the Brisbane Lions in order to allow Port Adelaide to enter the AFL competition. This created some dissatisfaction between old Bears and Fitzroy supporters who have felt that they have lost their clubs. In their first season in the AFL, the Lions narrowly made the finals at the expense of Port Adelaide, with the Power narrowly missing out on percentage.^[40] However the rivalry was properly ignited during the early 2000s, as both clubs fielded strong teams during that period. In 2001 the Lions defeated the Power in the Qualifying final en route to their first of three consecutive premierships,^[41] with Port bowing out in straight sets that year. In 2002 Port defeated Brisbane by 6 points in the final regular season game to narrowly claim the minor premiership,^[42] however Brisbane would eliminate Port in the Preliminary Final that year to claim their second premiership out of their hat-trick of premierships.^[43] In 2003 Port would claim their second consecutive minor premiership, however they would go on to lose their qualifying and preliminary finals again, as the Lions would claim their hat-trick of premierships that season. However, in 2004 Port Adelaide would finally break through and win their first AFL premiership, defeating the Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final and preventing them from what would have been a historic four premierships in a row.^[44] In adding further insult to injury for Lions fans, it meant that their biggest rivals, Collingwood, would remain the only team in the VFL/AFL to win four-in-a-row. The rivalry between the two clubs has cooled down since the early 2000s, however, there are a few Lions supporters that still consider Port Adelaide to be a bigger rival than Collingwood.

Gold Coast

The introduction of the Gold Coast Suns into the competition in 2011 saw a rivalry within Queensland Football for the first time ever. The Lions and Suns play each other two times a year. The best player on the ground is awarded the Marcus Ashcroft Medal. Gold Coast won the first Q Clash by 8 points in Round 7, 2011.

Honours

Club

• Australian Football League
  • Premierships (3): 2001, 2002, 2003
  • Runners-up (1): 2004
• Pre-Season Grand Final Appearances
  • Premierships (1): 2013
  • Runners-up (2): 2001, 2007

Reserves

• North East Australian Football League (3): 2001, 2012, 2013
• Wooden Spoons (1): 1998

Individual

Club facts

Premierships

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003

Runners Up

• 2004

Coaches

• John Northey: 1997–1998
• Roger Merrett: 1998 (caretaker)
• Leigh Matthews: 1999–2008
• John Blakey: 2005 (caretaker)
• Michael Voss: 2009–2013
• Mark Harvey: 2013 (caretaker)
• Justin Leppitsch: 2014–2016
• Chris Fagan: 2017–present

Captains

• Michael Voss (co-captain: 1997–2000; captain: 2000–2006)
• Alastair Lynch (co-captain: 1997–2000)
• Chris 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, 2013; captain: 2009–2012)
• Jed Adcock (co-captain: 2013; captain: 2014)
• Tom Rockliff (captain: 2015–2016)
• Dayne Beams (captain: 2017–present)

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	PF2, 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	36,780	2, 2010	Win	Carlton	16.11 (107)	12.16 (88)	+19	The Gabba	Night
5	36,467	3, 2004	Win	Collingwood	21.11 (137)	12.5 (77)	+60	The Gabba	Night
6	36,197	1, 2003	Win	Essendon	14.20 (104)	8.13 (61)	+43	The Gabba	Night
7	36,149	10, 2001	Win	Essendon	15.12 (102)	10.14 (74)	+28	The Gabba	Night
8	36,077	17, 2005	Win	Essendon	17.12 (114)	14.17 (101)	+13	The Gabba	Night
9	35,898	3, 2002	Win	Essendon	17.15 (117)	9.13 (67)	+50	The Gabba	Night
10	35,823	21, 2004	Win	St Kilda	20.10 (130)	13.7 (85)	+45	The Gabba	Day

Players

Current squad

Brisbane Lions
Senior list						Rookie list		Coaching staff
1 Ben Keays  2 Ryan Harwood  3 Allen Christensen  4 Ryan Bastinac  5 Mitch Robinson  6 Hugh McCluggage  7 Tom Bell  8 Rohan Bewick  9 Dayne Beams (c) 10 Daniel Rich 12 Stefan Martin 13 Jarrod Berry 14 Josh Walker 15 Dayne Zorko (vc) 16 Jarrad Jansen 17 Claye Beams 18 Nick Robertson 19 Josh Clayton 20 Cedric Cox 21 Sam Skinner		22 Marco Paparone 23 Josh Schache 24 Liam Dawson 25 Daniel McStay 26 Tom Cutler 27 Darcy Gardiner 28 Lewis Taylor 29 Alex Witherden 30 Eric Hipwood 31 Harris Andrews 32 Sam Mayes 33 Michael Close 34 Jonathan Freeman 35 Ryan Lester 36 Rhys Mathieson 37 Jacob Allison 38 Tom Rockliff (vc) 39 Corey Lyons 44 Archie Smith 45 Jack Frost				11 Cian Hanley (B) 40 Matthew Hammelmann 41 Matt Eagles (B) 42 Mitchell Hinge 43 Jake Barrett 46 Oscar McInerney 47 Reuben William 48 Blake Grewar (B)		Head coach Chris Fagan Assistant coaches Dale Tapping (midfield) Murray Davis (backline) Ben Hudson (forwards and ruck) Jed Adcock (assistant midfield) Danny Daly (football strategy) Scott Borlace (head of development) Paul Henriksen (development) Zane Littlejohn (development) Mitch Hahn (NEAFL coach) Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain Injury list Upgraded rookie(s) (B) Category B rookie Updated: 25 May 2017 Source(s): Senior list, Rookie list, Coaching staff

Reserves team

The Brisbane Lions have entered a reserves team in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) competition since 2011. The club had previously entered a reserves team in the local Queensland Australian Football League in 1998, known as the Lion Cubs but became the Suncoast Lions Football Club in 2004 and were based on the Sunshine Coast. They would win their first premiership in 2001 when they defeated the Southport Sharks in the QAFL Grand Final. A stand-alone Brisbane Lions reserves team was created in 2011 and began playing in the Northern Conference of the North East Australian Football League. In 2012, the Lions won the Northern Conference and overall NEAFL premierships, a feat which was repeated in 2013. The Lions reserves play home games at the South Pine Sports Complex in Brendale, a facility opened in 2016.

Premierships

Premierships (3)
Year	Competition	Opponent	Score	Venue
2001	QAFL	Southport Sharks	13.20 (98) – 13.8 (86)	Giffin Park
2012	NEAFL	Queanbeyan Tigers	22.12 (144) – 11.9 (75)	Manuka Oval
2013	NEAFL	Sydney Swans	12.9 (81) – 10.13 (73)	Graham Rd Oval

Season summaries

Season	Competition	W-L-D	Ladder position	Finals result
2010	QAFL	6–12–0	8th	DNQ
2011	NEAFL (Northern Conference)	4–13–1	10th (Wooden spoon)	DNQ
2012	NEAFL (Northern Conference)	14–4–0	2nd	Premiers
2013	NEAFL (Northern Conference)	16–2–0	1st (Minor premiership)	Premiers
2014	NEAFL	6–12–0	9th	DNQ
2015	NEAFL	2–16–0	10th	DNQ
2016	NEAFL	3–15–0	10th (Wooden spoon)	DNQ

Coaches

• 1998: Roger Merrett
• 1999–2000: Justin Leppitsch
• 2001–2005: Craig Brittain
• 2006: John Blakey/Daryn Cresswell
• 2007: Craig Brittain
• 2007: Justin Leppitsch (caretaker)
• 2008: Paul Hudson
• 2008: Justin Leppitsch (caretaker)
• 2009: Craig Brittain
• 2010: Craig McRae
• 2011–2012: Nathan Clarke
• 2013–2014: Leigh Harding
• 2015–2016: Shane Woewodin^[45]
• 2017–: Mitch Hahn

AFL Women's team

In May 2016, the club launched a bid to enter a team in the inaugural AFL Women's season in 2017.^[46] The Brisbane Lions were granted a license on 15 June 2016, becoming one of eight teams to compete in the league's first season.^[47] Former AFL Queensland employee Breeanna Brock was appointed to the position of Women’s CEO the following day.^[47]

Tayla Harris and Sabrina Frederick-Traub were the club's first signings, unveiled along with the league's other 14 marquee players on 27 July 2016.^[48] A further 23 senior players and two rookie players were added to the club's inaugural list in the league's drafting and signing period. Emma Zielke will captain the team for their inaugural season.^[49]

Former Collingwood and Brisbane Bears player and AFL Queensland coach Craig Starcevich was appointed the team's inaugural head coach in June 2016.^[50] The rest of the coaching team was announced on 8 November 2016 as David Lake as the midfield coach, Daniel Merrett as the backline coach and Brent Staker as the forward coach.^[51]

Existing club sponsor Hyundai, along with Epic Pharmacy, will sponsor the team in 2017.^[52]

The team plays its home games at the South Pine Sports Complex in Brendale.

Current squad

Brisbane Lions (AFL Women's)
Senior list								Coaching staff
1 Emily Bates  3 Breanna Koenen  4 Sharni Webb  5 Sam Virgo  6 Megan Hunt  8 Emma Zielke (c)  9 Kate McCarthy 10 Kaitlyn Ashmore 11 Leah Kaslar 13 Kate Lutkins		14 Sabrina Frederick-Traub 16 Tahlia Randall 17 Jamie Stanton 18 Alexandra Anderson 20 Shannon Campbell 22 Nicole Hildebrand 23 Jessica Wuetschner 25 Brittany Gibson Isabella Ayre Nat Exon						Head coach Craig Starcevich Assistant coaches David Lake (midfield) Daniel Merrett (backline) Brent Staker (forwards) Legend: (c) Captain (vc) Vice captain Updated: 25 May 2017 Source(s): Players, Coaches

Best and fairest winners

Season	Recipient	Ref.
2017	Emily Bates	[53]

See also

• Wikipedia listing of Brisbane Lions players
• Merrett–Murray Medal
• Australian rules football in Queensland
• Sport in Queensland
• Sport in Australia
• Brisbane Broncos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brisbane Lions.

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