Stats

Playing Career
1994-1996 – Fitzroy
1997-2007 - Brisbane Lions

Games
264 (59 Fitzroy, 205 Lions)

Goals
172 (67 Fitzroy, 105 Lions)

Playing Honours
Lions Premiership Player – 2001, 2002, 2003
All Australian – 2002, 2004
Australian International Rules Representative (3 times)
Australian International Rules Captain - 2005
Lions Captain - 2007
Lions Life Member
Lions Team of the Decade (1997-2006)
Indigenous Team of the Century

Summary

Eight former Fitzroy players made their way to the Gabba in late 1996 following the club’s merger with the Brisbane Bears. And while each played their part in the establishment and development of the Brisbane Lions one member of the so-called ‘Chosen Eight’ made a singularly massive impact – Chris Johnson.

Arriving as a 20-year-old 59-gamer who had played predominantly as a goal-kicking small forward, he finished up a 31-year-old veteran of 264 games who established himself as one of the premier small defenders in the game’s history.

There were few more exciting sights in football than ‘Johnno’ dashing out of defence, taking a string of bounces and throwing in the occasional balk as he effortlessly weaved his way through the opposition before banging the ball deep inside the Lions scoring zone. He was an attacking weapon wherever he played, and an excitement machine of the highest order.

Originally from suburban Jacana in Melbourne and a product of the Northen Knights, he was initially reluctant to move north. But he quickly learned to love his adopted home just as the Brisbane fans adopted him as a huge favourite through a career in which he won three premierships, two All-Australian selections and a place in the Indigenous Team of the Century, and six times finished in the top 10 in the club championship. Lions co-captain in 2007 and a proud Life Member, he also skippered the Australian International Rules team, was a development coach at the Lions and coached the Indigenous All-Stars before joining the coaching staff of the Australian Institute of Sport.

A champion of the club, and a richly deserved addition to the Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame.