Club records broken
The Brisbane Lions’ 2012 season featured some highs, and lows – many of which are now reflected on the Club’s official records
The following are some of the records that have been re-written over the past 12 months.
Check out the full list of Brisbane Lions records
Most Games
Simon Black currently sits in third place on the Club’s all-time games list after finishing the season with 314. He is now just four games behind Marcus Ashcroft (318 games) and only 19 away from reaching Kevin Murray’s long-standing record of 333 games.
Captain Jonathan Brown (230 games) has also moved up into 15th position overall, passing the likes of Norm Johnstone and Justin Leppitsch in recent months. However, Brown is probably another two full seasons away from cracking the top 10.
Most Goals
Although Brown’s 47 goals in 2012 took him to a career tally of 545, it wasn’t enough to see him move any higher on the Club’s all-time goals leaderboard.
He remains fourth on the all-time tally, but has edged closer to third-placed Bernie Quinlan (576 goals) whose record will be in Brown’s sights next season.
Alastair Lynch (633 goals) and Jack Moriarty (626 goals) are still probably at least another couple of seasons away from being reeled in the by the current Lions skipper.
Oldest Players
They probably won’t enjoy reading this, but Ben Hudson (33 years and 191 days) and Simon Black (33 years and 152 days) now rank third and fourth respectively as the oldest players to have ever represented the merged Brisbane Lions.
If both continue on next year, as expected, they could move even higher up the list with Andrew Bews only a couple of hundred days ahead.
But both will need to hang around for another four seasons if they’re any chance of catching Fitzroy’s Charlie Norris, who holds the all-time record as the Club’s oldest player, by playing his last match aged 37 years and 18 days.
Current Consecutive Games
Jack Redden has maintained his record of having played the most consecutive games of any current player.
Remarkably, Redden hasn’t missed a match since his senior debut in Round 15 2009, with his unbeaten streak reaching 76 games at the end of 2012. However, he’s still 94 games away from equalling Marcus Ashcroft’s amazing feat.
Congratulations also to Pearce Hanley, who brought up his 50th consecutive game back in Round 21 against the Crows.
Highest Second Quarter Total
The Lions’ eight-goal second quarter against the Western Bulldogs in their final game of the 2012 season was the Club’s equal third best since the 1997 merger.
Coincidentally, the total of 8.3 (51) equals the mark set against the Bulldogs back in 2000 at Etihad Stadium.
The merged Club’s best second quarter effort was a 10-goal blitz against Fremantle at the Gabba in 1999.
Most Goals Against GWS
Ok, so there was no existing record for this category at the beginning of 2012, but Daniel Merrett’s performance against the Giants will certainly take some beating.
The full-back enjoyed a day out up forward against the AFL’s newest franchise, booting seven goals - including five in the first quarter!
In the process, he also became just the fourth player at the Club - behind regular stars in front of the sticks Alastair Lynch, Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw - to boot seven goals in a match at the Gabba.
Worst Kicking For Goal
Unfortunately some of the Club’s more forgettable moments are now also etched in history. Like when the Lions scored just 4.17 (41) against Geelong at the Gabba in Simon Black’s 300th game.
The inaccurate score line, which was largely affected by the terrible conditions, was the team’s worst kicking for goal since the 1997 merger.
The team’s goal percentage of just 19% overtakes their previously inaccurate effort of 7.26 (21%) against Richmond in 1997.
Highest Score Against
The team’s heavy loss to West Coast at Patersons Stadium in Round 18 was Club’s second biggest loss in merged history. The 98-point margin was 41 points shy of the unenviable record set in 2005 against St Kilda.
The Eagles’ score of 28.7 (175) also proved the third highest score against the Lions.
Lowest Score
There was further pain at Patersons Stadium in Round 3, with the Lions managing a paltry 5.5 (35) against Fremantle.
It was the Lions’ equal second lowest total since the merger, and the equal third least amount of scoring shots in a game.
It probably comes as no surprise considering the Lions had an AFL record low 20 inside 50s on that afternoon Perth.
On a more positive note, the Lions’ defence conceded just 5.10 (40) against GWS in Round 8 at the Gabba - which was the equal lowest score against the Lions since 1997.
It equalled an identical opposition score line against the Kangaroos back in 2007.
Lowest Winning Score
The Lions’ unconvincing win over Gold Coast in QClash 4 was the Club’s lowest ever winning total as a merged entity. The Lions managed just 8.11 (59), yet still came home with the four points.
The previous ‘best’ was back in 2009 when the Lions defeated Fremantle in Perth despite scoring just 62 points.
Biggest Home Loss
Carlton’s 91-point win back in Round 2 was the Club’s biggest defeat at the Gabba - overtaking the 81-point defeat against Geelong from 2010.