The Brisbane Lions are excited to confirm the Club has promoted Dale Morris to its AFL assistant coaching team.

Morris, a 2016 premiership defender with the Western Bulldogs, will take on the role as Brisbane’s backline coach following the departure of Jed Adcock.

The Hall of Fame Bulldog, who played 253 games at AFL level and was named All-Australian in 2008, joined the Lions as Development Coach for the 2023 season.

In his role as development coach, Morris worked closely with the AFL defenders and was backline coach with the Lions VFL team.

Brisbane Lions General Manager Football, Danny Daly said the Club was thrilled to have Morris step into the role.

“We’ve been fortunate to have Dale working with us at the Brisbane Lions for the last year and in that time, we’ve been super impressed with what he brings,” Daly said.

“His playing resume speaks for itself, but what we have seen is how professional he is and what a fantastic person he is in terms of his values and how he operates.

“This season he spent plenty of time working with our defenders and passing on his wealth of knowledge, so we see it being an almost seamless transition.”

Morris said he was rapt with his new role and was looking forward to returning to Brighton Homes Arena for preseason later next month.

“I am pumped to be taking on the role and just grateful for the opportunity to even be considered for by Fages (senior coach Chris Fagan), Danny (Daly) and the Club,” Morris said.

“Having spent the past 12 months with the Club, I feel it will really help me step into this role because of the relationships I have built and knowing the systems.

“While I feel I have a lot of knowledge that I have picked up over my own career that I can pass on, I am finding I can still learn plenty and want to keep doing so to become the best version of myself in my coaching journey.

“I am glad that I get to continue working with great people at the Brisbane Lions who have been fantastic to me, and I am excited by what is ahead.”