Don’t ask Craig Lambert which team he’ll be barracking for at the Gabba on Saturday night .. it’s not a fair question. He’s strongly aligned to Brisbane and Richmond, having split his 219-game career between the two clubs and won a best & fairest at both. He even polled in the Browlow Medal for both clubs against the other.

So when the now 55-year-old ex-midfielder and wife Melissa sit in the stands to watch the Lions and the Tigers do battle for the fictitious ‘Lambert Cup’ he’ll have a foot in each camp.

Truth be known their loyalties are split three ways, with the couple having also played a key off-field role in the early years of the GWS Giants, helping to build a strong off-field culture as head of the welfare department while also doing some development coaching.

“If I’m really pushed I’d probably say Richmond because they gave me a chance. Without them there wouldn’t have been time at Brisbane or GWS. But really our loyalty is more to individuals than clubs, and we are so fortunate to have great friends at all three.”

The Lamberts, one of most formidable husband and wife duos in Brisbane Football Club history, are now firmly entrenched back in the Queensland capital after two stints with the Giants in Sydney.

It’s not only home now - it’s the birthplace of each of their four children – daughter Brylee (28), who lives in Brisbane with grandson #1  Oaklen, and sons Billy (26), Bailey (25) and Bodey (22), who live in Melbourne.

The Lamberts, married almost 30 years, are still working together, now for Lions sponsor and board member Mick Power at BMD.

‘Lamby’, as he is known throughout the football world, goes by the title of Employee Engagement & Retention Manager, with Mel a member of his staff. But he concedes they come as a package.

“We’re doing here exactly what we did at the Giants … building better employment engagement and a culture that works for the betterment of everyone,” he said.

It’s a 24/7 partnership – they even drive to and from work together each day.

It could be said Craig is the boss at work and Mel is the boss at home … but anyone who knows them well knows that’s not right … Mel is the boss 24/7.

The story of Lambert’s move to Brisbane via the 1994 Pre-Season Draft is one of the best.

The then Brisbane Bears had been through football hell. They’d had 15 wins and a draw in 86 games from 1990-93, finishing last, last, second-last and third-last, but having moved from Carrara to Brisbane were primed to turn things around.

They’d pulled off a giant coup in snaring Alastair Lynch from Fitzroy on a 10-year contract, and had picked up Craig Starcevich and Troy Lehmann from Collingwood and (via the draft) Chris Scott in exchange for Nathan Buckley’s move to Collingwood. Plus, they drafted Nigel Lappin.

They’d also traded for Gilbert McAdam from St.Kilda and had a commitment from ex-Geelong captain Andrew Bews to join them via the Pre-Season Draft.

But CEO Andrew Ireland and football boss Scott Clayton were not finished. They had a ‘live’ pick in the Pre-Season Draft, which at the time was held in March, shortly before the start of the premiership, and were committed to maximise it.

Flying home from Melbourne to Brisbane after a pre-season game, they hatched a bold plan to land Lambert, who had quit Richmond over the summer and was strongly linked to North Melbourne.

In a bid to fend off other would-be suitors Lambert had put a price on his head. It was common knowledge in football circles … he was the $194,000 man. A lot of money in those days.

But before the plane had landed in Brisbane Ireland and Clayton had decided he was their man. And they’d worked out how they would fit him in the salary cap.

It was a simple philosophy … take the best talent. Lambert was far and away the best credentialled player in the pool.

The club chose not to speak with Lambert ahead of the draft for fear of showing their hand. It was like a football ambush.

The 25-year-old midfielder had played 123 games at Punt Road from 1988-93, winning the 1991 B&F and representing Victoria at State of Origin level seven times.

He’d quit the Tigers after the club tried to trade him to Fitzroy at the end of ’93 … as they’d done with ex-Tigers captain Jeff Hogg. He had privately committed to North and fully expected to get there.

There were no guarantees for Brisbane as, having picked up Lappin at #2 and Scott at #12 in the national draft, they went into the pre-season draft with effectively the fifth ‘live’ pick. St.Kilda had the first two picks before Sydney and Richmond.

Lambert’s high asking price actually worked in the Bears’ favour because to take him any club had to demonstrate the ability to fit his salary into the cap. 

On the day of the draft Lambert was sitting in Bridge Road, Richmond, having a coffee with Tigers teammate Barry Young, who was looking to move to Essendon. And did.

At the draft the Bears crew waited anxiously.  St Kilda took ex-Sydney and Fitzroy utility David Strooper and ex-Melbourne B&F winner Steven Stretch. Sydney chose ex-Essendon rover Peter Filandia, and Richmond went for Melbourne cast-off Haydn Robbins.

As the Bears camp celebrated the addition of another gun Lambert heard the news via the radio. “I was in shock … I couldn’t speak,” he recalled. “I was a fair-skinned Melbourne boy who hated the heat … I’d just got engaged and didn’t want to go to Brisbane.”

But he had no choice. Brisbane it was. After half a game in the final practice match at Southport he made his Bears debut in his customary long sleeves against Sydney at the Gabba in Round 1.

Closely tagged from the first bounce by the Swans’ Daryn Cresswell, he didn’t have a big day personally and trudged off the ground about 4kg lighter as the home side won by 10 points after trailing at every change. It was the last time he wore long sleeves at the Gabba.

And it was the beginning of a great relationship. He played 96 games with the Bears/Lions from 1994-2000, winning the Merrett/Murray Medal in his first season in Brisbane, finishing 9^th-3^rd-6^th in 1995-96-97, and added an All-Australian blazer to his wardrobe in 1996.

As much as he still says “they got me cheap” he begrudgingly admits it was a fantastic outcome.

Having polled one medal vote for Richmond against Brisbane at the MCG in 1989, he polled one  medal vote for Brisbane in his first game against Richmond at the Gabba in 1994, and was his side’s best in the club’s first final in 1995.

Ironically, he played his 150^th and 200^th games against Richmond. And after 26 possessions in a 77-point Gabba win for his 150^th in 1995 he had a self-confessed “stinker” in his 200^th at the MCG in 1999.

“I’d copped a big hit the week before and I was really sore. I’d made a decision to tell ‘Swoop’ (coach John Northey) at the last training session I couldn’t play. But before I could get to him he called the group together, told everyone that Vossy was no good, and that I was going to captain the club in my 200^th against my old side. What could I do?”

Sadly, just as the Lions super-side of 2001-02-03 was taking shape, Lambert was forced into retirement as his battle-scarred body, worn out after 13 years at the bottom of the pack, gave up.

But he was a key member of the Lions coaching staff under Leigh Matthews through the golden years, and later served in football administration during Justin Leppitsch’s time as coach.

One of nine players to play for Brisbane and Richmond, with the father/son pairing of Geoff and Andrew Raines, Phil Walsh, Luke McGuane, Trent Knobel, Rory Hilton, Shane Morrison and Luke Weller, Lambert now lives with the comfort of knowing he’s a much-loved and respected figure at three clubs.