Jamie Cooper might have played 26 games for Fitzroy in the successful mid-80s era, but he’s since become better known for his exceptional creative talents off the field.

Cooper is today widely recognised as Australia’s premier sporting artist, having completed some of the most iconic AFL paintings in existence - including the Fitzroy Team of the Century and Kings of the Pride pieces which are proudly on display at the Club.

His work has not been limited to Australian Rules either, will recent jobs with Major League Baseball in the USA and Manchester United in the UK helping spread the ‘Cooper’ name worldwide.

At this Saturday night’s inaugural Hall of Fame event in Melbourne, Cooper will officially unveil his latest Lions masterpiece, which features a select few of the outstanding individuals who are set to be inducted during the evening.

Entitled ‘Brothers in Arms’, the painting encapsulates the Club’s unique merged history by bringing Fitzroy, the Bears and the Brisbane Lions together as one family.

Cooper, who will be in attendance on the night along with many of his former Fitzroy team-mates, said that the painting was a “labour of love”.

“I can’t help but get a bit nostalgic when I stare at the colours and the old Fitzroy jumper. It makes it more a labour of love,” Cooper said.

“My brief for this painting was simply to bring players from each entity together, to symbolise the unification of the three into one and emphasise that all histories are connected and part of the same family.”

“It has taken around 170 solid hours to complete, so I’ve been literally working from 8am till 11pm for the past couple of weeks.”

Cooper is now looking forward to unveiling his work for the first time in front of 900 guests on Saturday night - and also catching up with some of his old mates.

“It should be a great night. There’s a whole bunch of us guys who played in the 80s coming along together,” he said.

“A lot of us are still good friends, which says a lot about the family spirit that was at the Club when we were there.”

A very exclusive print run of Jamie Cooper’s ‘Brothers in Arms’ piece will be available for sale through the Lions Shop at the Gabba from Monday 25 June, while the three-quarter life-size original painting will be auctioned off on the night of the Brisbane Lions’ Hall of Fame event at Crown Palladium.