Section 5
Norm Smith Medallist
- Nov 26, 2018
- 7,251
- 11,282
- AFL Club
- Brisbane Lions
When you talk about academy's it really should be about who actually got to play in the AFL. Thats the kids dream.I forgot about Kiddy, such a good player. And perhaps Eric. Not too worried about the rest. Although the extra development resources is important in the growth of talls like Payne, Chol and Ryan. The afl needs to find 200cm athletes wherever they can.
This shows the pathway is working and really is only 10 years in the making in what was/is a dominant NRL state.
A lot of youngsters just can't cope being a fulltime footballer.
All the players below are from the Lions academy and got to playout their dream. Of course, others missed out.
Some are good, others just establishing themselves and a lot below 20 games.
A lot of names won't be known from people interstate and quite a few will have been forgotten by Lions supporters.
The Lions Acadamy first picks started in 2013
2013 | Jordan Bourke, Isaac Conway, Jono Freeman |
Harris Andrews (212 AFL games), Eric Hipwood (177), Jack Payne (68), Jasper Fletcher (41) all premiership players.
Keidean Coleman (65), Shadow Brain (9), Bruce Reville (12) all still on the Lions 2025 list.
Ben Keays (136), Mabior Chol (84), Elliott Himmelberg (50), Josh Wagner (42), Cory Wagner (40), Noah Cumberland (25). Tom Fullarton (19), Liam Dawson (18), Archie Smith (16), Jon Freeman (14), Matt Hammelmann (12), Jacob Allison (10), Wylie Buzza (9), Samson Ryan (8), Jordon Bourke (6), Rueben William (3), Connor Ballenden (3), Will Martin (3)