In fact, more than 20% of the Lions’ list is made up from players recruited from country Victoria - which is a greater percentage than local Queenslanders.
Also, half of the Lions’ 2011 Leadership Group was made up by former country Victorians - including Captain Jonathan Brown (Warrnambool), Jed Adcock (Maryborough) and reigning Club Champion Tom Rockliff (Benalla).
So it came as no surprise to see three more country Victorians join the Club via the 2011 AFL National and Rookie Drafts.
Among those was Murray Bushrangers utility Jack Crisp, who slipped through to the Lions at Pick No.40 in the 2011 AFL Rookie Draft despite being highly-rated after he was named in the TAC Cup U18 Team of the Year and won the Bushrangers’ Best and Fairest award.
The comparison has already been drawn between Crisp’s situation and that of team-mate Rockliff, who was also overlooked in the AFL National Draft back in 2008, but worked hard to turn himself into a quality midfielder.
“When I found out that Tom Rockliff missed out on the Draft as well after the Bushrangers’ TAC Cup Premiership win, I took a bit of inspiration from that,” Crisp said.
“Now, after only his third year in the AFL, he has already won a Club Best & Fairest award.”
While Rockliff will no doubt be a source of motivation for Crisp, he can also take comfort from the fact that he has joined the Lions at the same time as a couple of familiar faces from back home.
He represented Victoria Country in the 2011 National U18 Championships alongside new team-mate Sam Docherty (who was drafted to the Lions from Gippsland Power), and has played plenty of football with Patrick Wearden in the TAC Cup competition.
“For the last two years I played with Patrick Wearden at the Bushrangers,” he said.
“It certainly made the transition a bit easier for me.”
Crisp will be hoping to continue the proud legacy at the Lions that has been built by successful country Victorian recruits.
Other Lions hailing from country Victoria include: Callum Bartlett (Geelong Falcons), Amon Buchanan (Geelong Falcons), Matt Maguire (Geelong Falcons) and Mitch Golby (Gippsland Power).
