With the 2012 AFL Dream Team season coming to a close last weekend, lions.com.au takes a look back at the Club's biggest achievers.

Check out the complete 2012 season statistics

MOST LIONS POINTS (OVERALL): Jack Redden

For the second consecutive season, Jack Redden has taken out the honour as the Lions’ top Dream Team performer.

Redden finished 2012 with 2,268 points - just 134 points shy of his record-breaking total last year - to finish clear of Tom Rockliff (2,057) and Pearce Hanley (1,816).

After a relatively slow start which saw him reach triple figures just once in the first five rounds, Redden proved one of the most consistent scoring midfielders in the competition.

He scored less than 100 just five times in his final 17 matches - and seven times topped 120 or more.

It is the second year in a row that Rockliff has finished Runner-Up to his good mate, while Hanley has risen two places from last year’s fifth placing.

LIONS MOST POINTS (OVERALL)
1. Jack Redden - 2,268
2. Tom Rockliff - 2,057
3. Pearce Hanley - 1,816
4. Jed Adcock - 1,704
4. Daniel Rich - 1,704

LIONS MOST POINTS (ROUND 23)
1. Daniel Rich - 126
2. Claye Beams - 114
3. Pearce Hanley - 109
4. Jack Redden - 104
5. Jonathan Brown - 92

BEST SCORING MIDFIELDER: Jack Redden

No surprises here considering Redden scored more points than any other Lions player.

BEST SCORING RUCKMAN: Ben Hudson

Ben Hudson proved to be one of the finds of the season for the Lions after being lured out of retirement. Hudson took on greater responsibility than he probably imagined after first choice ruckman Matthew Leuenberger hurt his Achilles in Round 3.

He ended up scoring more than 1,000 points more than the next best Lions Dream Team ruckman - draftee Billy Longer (293 points).

BEST SCORING DEFENDER: Pearce Hanley

Pearce Hanley showed that last year was no fluke, being the top ranked Lions defender for the second consecutive season.

BEST SCORING FORWARD: Jonathan Brown

Captain Jonathan Brown was the team’s highest scoring forward in 2012 - which makes sense considering he kicked a Club-high 47 goals this season.

However, he had some stiff competition in newcomer Dayne Zorko, who ranked second with 1,515 points despite playing four less games than his skipper.

MOST LIONS POINTS (AVERAGE): Jack Redden

Unlike last year when he was pipped for highest average by team-mate Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden gets the nod in 2012 after being the only Lions player to average over 100 points per game.

Remarkably, first-year player Dayne Zorko had the second best average of any Lions player with 94.69 - edging out Rockliff who rounded out the top three with 93.50.

In fact, Zorko had the 9th highest average of across all forwards in the competition!

No doubt the pint-sized Queenslander will be in the sights of Dream Teach coaches again next year,

HIGHEST AVERAGE
1. Jack Redden - 103.09
2. Dayne Zorko - 94.69
3. Tom Rockliff - 93.50
4. Daniel Rich - 85.20
5. Pearce Hanley - 82.55

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE: Daniel Merrett

Of all the big performances during the season, none were bigger than Daniel Merrett’s seven goal haul against Greater Western Sydney at the Gabba - at least not in terms of Dream Team points.

On that warm Sunday afternoon in Brisbane, the Lions full-back enjoyed a day out up forward, with 17 kicks, six handballs, 12 marks, and seven goals - five of which came in an outstanding first term.

Team-mate Jonathan Brown was a close second in the same game, after the skipper booted five goals and took 16 marks to monster the Giants.

Tom Rockliff features prominently in the top 15, although Jack Redden - the Club’s top Dream Team performer for 2012 - didn’t find a place in the top 10. It probably further points towards Redden’s supreme consistency.

Also interesting to note that Dayne Zorko’s two highest scores of 140 came against the teams that finished first and third respectively on the AFL ladder - proving he can match it against the best teams.

BIGGEST INDIVIDUAL SCORE
1. 149 points - Daniel Merrett v GWS (Rnd 8 @ The Gabba)
2. 146 points - Jonathan Brown v GWS (Rnd 8 @ The Gabba)
3. 143 points - Tom Rockliff v Gold Coast (Rnd 4 @ The Gabba)
4. 141 points - Tom Rockliff v Western Bulldogs (Rnd 13 @ ES)
5. 140 points - Dayne Zorko v Hawthorn (Rnd 12 @ MCG)
6. 140 points - Dayne Zorko v Sydney (Rnd 15 @ SCG)
7. 136 points - Tom Rockliff v Geelong (Rnd 5 @ The Gabba)
8. 134 points - Pearce Hanley v Western Bulldogs (Rnd 13 @ ES)
9. 130 points - Tom Rockliff v Melbourne (Rnd 1 @ MCG)
10. 130 points - Jonathan Brown v Melbourne (Rnd 14 @ The Gabba)
11. 128 points - Simon Black v Melbourne (Rnd 1 @ MCG)
12. 127 points - Jack Redden v West Coast (Rnd 10 @ The Gabba)
13. 127 points - Ryan Harwood v Melbourne (Rnd 14 @ The Gabba)
14. 126 points - Jack Redden v North Melbourne (Round 9 @ The Gabba)
15. 126 points - Daniel Rich v Western Bulldogs (Rnd 23 @ The Gabba)

BEST INVESTMENT: Dayne Zorko

Dayne Zorko was clearly the Lions’ most improved player in terms of Dream Team value, adding more than $300K to his bargain basement total at the start of the season.

This also made him the fourth most ‘improved’ player across the entire competition, behind North Melbourne’s Sam Gibson (up $354,500), and GWS pair Toby Greene (up $350,100) and Adam Treloar (up 323,000).

HIGHEST PRICE HIKE (FINAL PRICE IN BRACKETS)
1. Dayne Zorko - ↑$304,200 ($408,400)
2. Elliot Yeo - ↑$98,700 ($197,400)
3. Jack Crisp - ↑$97,300 ($183,100)
4. Mitch Golby - ↑$73,000 ($338,200)
5. Billy Longer - ↑$72,300 ($220,500)

MOST POPULAR PLAYER: Dayne Zorko

Zorko cleans up another Dream Team award as the most ‘picked’ Lions player - featuring in more than 110,000 teams.

Last year’s most popular player Jed Adcock placed second, ahead of Pearce Hanley, Tom Rockliff and Rookie Stephen Wrigley.

Interestingly, Jack Redden was only the 13th most selected Lions player (he featured in just over 8,000 teams), finishing behind rookies Sam Michael (9th) and Richard Newell (12th) in terms of Dream Team popularity.

MOST SELECTIONS
1. Dayne Zorko - 110,066 selections
2. Jed Adcock - 25,810 selections
3. Pearce Hanley - 18,751 selections
4. Tom Rockliff - 16,520 selections
5. Stephen Wrigley - 16,276 selections

THE POLKA SPECIALS

James Polkinghorne surprised many with his impressive first attempt at managing an AFL Dream Team.

Even though he got off to a slow start (and considered throwing in the towel by Round 6), he finished strongly - just like the Lions - to finish a respectable 223rd overall in the Lions’ League (out of a possible 514).

Great work Polks.

LIONS GROUP CHAMPION: ‘LeueyLongerCombo’ - coached by Luke

Congratulations to ‘LeueyLongerCombo’ for taking out the Lions’ AFL Dream Team competition for 2012.

They proved deserving winners having led for the entire second half of the season, and finishing more than 800 points clear of their nearest rival - TheyGoingGorillas.

Even while cruising to victory in the final weeks of the season, LeueyLongerCombo never took their foot off the pedal, and even managed the third highest score for Round 23!

Thanks again to all those Dream Teams who participated in the Lions’ competition this year. We hope to see you back again in 2013!

LIONS GROUP DREAM TEAM RANKINGS (FINAL)
1. LeueyLongerCombo (Luke) - 49,899
2. TheyGoingGorillas (Ben) - 49,058
3. PAUL ‘R’ BEARS (Paul) - 48,891
4. Ruck n Roll (Moana) - 48,804
5. Tough Guys (Cheyne) - 48,567

LIONS GROUP DREAM TEAM RANKINGS (ROUND 23)
1. Lionhearted (Jason) - 2,356
2. wolf pack (Arlene) - 2,337
3. LeueyLongerCombo (Luke) - 2,319
4. FATRATSTOSSBAG (Jason) - 2,308
5. Jumper Punches (Nathan) - 2,307