John Gastev is a long-time Brisbane favourite. A dual club champion in the Bears days who will be firmly in the Lions camp this week despite starting his AFL career with West Coast.

And ahead of Saturday’s game between his two clubs at the Gabba he will be the envy of a lot of ex-teammates and supporters alike after he’s landed into a business space that many might consider the dream job.

Now 58, married 26 years to Queenslander Karen and father to two daughters and a son, he is brewing beer for a living back in Perth. Or at least running the family business – “Whitlakes Brewing”.

Best known for its ‘Dingo Lager’, the brewery has been operating five years, has been recognised nationally and internationally, was named best medium brewery in WA and is soon to enter the Queensland market.

“I’ve always been in hospitality so it was a natural progression,” Gastev said of his career change. “Plus I like a beer. We’re in the craft brewing space, we’re lucky we’ve got a great brewer in Sean Symons, who used to be Swan Brewery, and we’re going really well.”

Gastev has been a regular visitor to the Brisbane rooms whenever the Lions play in Perth over the years and follows the fortunes of the club closely, but hasn’t been to the football in Perth since Covid.

Originally from WAFL club West Perth, former home of current Brisbane players Jaxon Prior and Marcus Adams, ‘Gas’ is one of the game’s nice guys. He will always have a prominent place in Brisbane Football Club history after playing 113 games with the Bears from 1989-94 after 30 games with West Coast in 1987-88.

He was one of only nine 100-gamers in the Bears era, alongside Roger Merrett (164), Marcus Ashcroft (152), Scott McIvor (138), Richard Champion (119), Matthew Kennedy (113), Martin Leslie (107), Shaun Hart (102) and Brad Hardie (101).

He was club champion in 1989 and 1992 – the club’s first dual winner - represented WA at State of Origin level, and played for Australia alongside Bears teammates David Bain and Matthew Campbell in the 1990 International Rules series against Ireland.

Having started at Brisbane in jumper #45 after joining the club via the Pre-Season Draft, he later wore #4 through the majority of his career. His 94 games in #4 remains second-highest in club history behind Craig McRae’s 195 games from 1994-2004.

Gastev was Brisbane’s second #4 after Geoff Raines (59 games), and was followed by McRae, Tom Logan (3), Ben Fixter (27),  Travis Johnstone (49), Jared Polec (16), James Aish (32), Ryan Bastinac (43) and the current #4 Callum AhChee (63).

Gastev is one of 11 common players between Brisbane and West Coast. He, Alex Ishchenko and Mark Zanotti were the first three when they joined the Bears in 1989, and was followed by Kevin Caton and Peter Davidson (1990) and Paul Peos (1993).

Bradd Dalziell, who had 32 possessions on debut for the Lions in 2008, was the first player to head the opposite way when he joined the Eagles in 2010 – the same year Brett Staker joined the Lions.

Elliot Yeo, a West Australian drafted by Brisbane with pick #30 in 2011, returned home to the Eagles in 2014, before Jack Redden, who holds the Brisbane record of 112 consecutive games from debut, followed in 2016 and Alex Witherden likewise in 2021.

Gastev, always slightly built and not much heavier now than his playing weight, is remembered for kicking  a career-best seven goals for the Bears against the Swans at Carrara in his second game for the club – all in the second half.

He was also on the receiving end of one of the most brutal hits of the modern era, when he was cleaned up by Gary Ablett Snr at Geelong in Round 11 1994. In a pointer to how much things have changed, he played the following week and in the last 10 games of the season but was never quite the same and retired over the following summer.

These days he is in regular contact with Zanotti, who also spent time at Fitzroy, and Mike Richardson, another ex-West Perth product who was a member of the first Bears side.