Mark Mickan has posted two big life milestones recently – he turned 65 last month and marked the 10^th anniversary of his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis – but has a place in Brisbane Football Club and AFL history that will outlast both.

Mickan was the first captain of the Brisbane Bears in 1987, and the first player in the modern era of the VFL/AFL to captain his side on debut.

It has happened only one other time when long-time South Australian stalwart Chris McDermott captained the Adelaide Crows in their first game in the national competition in 1991.

Mickan, a SA concession recruit to the fledgling Bears ahead of their entry to then VFL in ’87, was a surprise choice by inaugural Bears coach Peter Knights to skipper the new club.

He was preferred to the Bears’ first signing, Mark Williams, who had captained Collingwood from 1983-86. Williams was the inaugural vice-captain, with ex-Geelong defender Steve Reynoldson the inaugural deputy vice-captain.

Mickan, a 193cm ruckman from Renmark in country SA via SANFL club West Adelaide, led the Bears into their first game against North Melbourne at the MCG in Round 1 ’87, and earned two Brownlow Medal votes in a shock and unforgettable 33-point win after he had 18 possessions and 20 hit-outs.

Mickan, later to win the Crows’ first club championship in 1991, led the Bears 48 times from 1987-89 to begin a historical timeline which over now 40 years has seen 15 players officially appointed captain of the Bears/Lions through 899 games, 45 finals, seven grand finals and five premierships.

Voss, triple premiership captain in 2001-02-03 and is the youngest and longest-serving Brisbane skipper. He was 21 years 266 days in the first game post-merger in 1997.

Roger Merrett, who succeeded Mickan as Brisbane captain in 1990, was Brisbane’s first 100-game skipper and had enjoyed 125 games at the helm when he retired in 1996.

Voss and Alastair Lynch were the club’s first co-captains in 1997 when then coach John Northey chose to split the role.

Voss who had won the Brownlow Medal at 20 in ’96, and Lynch was a 28-year-old 153-gamer, having played 120 games at Fitzroy and 32 games with the Bears. They shared the role for four years before Lynch stood down.

In 2002, when the Lions won their second flag, Voss called Lynch to the dais to collect the premiership cup with him. He’d planned to do so in 2001 but in the breakthrough excitement of the moment he simply forgot.

After Voss’ retirement in 2006 coach Leigh Matthews made a surprise 2007 decision to split the job between five players who had shared in the triple premiership triumph. It is the biggest captaincy group in AFL history.

Jonathan Brown, at 25 a veteran of 118 games, was the youngest of a ‘team’ which included Simon Black (27/192), Luke Power (27/177), Chris Johnson (30/253) and Nigel Lappin (30/258).

Brown, Black, Lappin and Power shared the job in 2008 after Johnson’s 2007 retirement before Brown began a five-year stint as captain which ended with his injury-forced retirement in mid-2013.

Brown had shared the job in 2013 with Jed Adcock, who was sole captain in 2014. He was followed by Tom Rockliff (2015-16) and Dayne Beams (2017-18), who stepped down mid-18 following the passing of his father.

Dayne Zorko took charge in Round 10 2018, leading the side through to the end of 2022, before Harris Andrews and Lachie Neale were appointed co-captains in 2023.

Like Lynch in 2002, Zorko shared in a special moment in club history when in 2024 he joined coach Chris Fagan, Andrews and Neale on the dais for the cup presentation.

Games as Brisbane Captain

210 – Michael Voss
127 – Jonathan Brown
125 – Roger Merrett
104 – Dayne Zorko
84 – Harris Andrews
74 – Alastair Lynch
74 – Lachie Neale
48 – Mark Mickan
45 – Jed Adcock
44 – Simon Black
41 – Luke Power
40 – Dayne Beams
33 – Tom Rockliff
22 – Nigel Lappin
12 – Chris Johnson

Andrews, who will share the 2026 Brisbane captaincy with Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley following Neale’s resignation, is set to become the club’s fifth 100-game captain this year and potentially go past Zorko into fourth spot on the all-time list.

Two other members of the 360-man Bears/Lions playing list since 1987 were also club captains. Matthew Rendall led Fitzroy 49 times from 1983-85 before finishing his career with the Bears in 1992, and Brad Boyd was Fitzroy’s last captain in 1995-96, leading the club 35 times before heading the eight-player Fitzroy contingent who headed north via the merger.

Four players captained Fitzroy more than 100 times – Kevin Murray (159), Paul Roos (122), Allan Ruthven (110) and Fred Hughson (103).

Voss is one of just seven players in AFL history to captain his club more than 200 times, and 23 who have carried the (c) into battle 150 times.

245 – Joel Selwood (Geelong)
226 – Stephen Kernahan (Carlton)
224 – Dick Reynolds (Essendon)
221 – Nick Riewoldt (StKilda)
212 – Ted Whitten (W/Bulldogs)
210 – Michael Voss (Brisbane)
206 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
190 – Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
188 – John Nicholls (Carlton)
188 – Trent Cotchin (Richmond)
184 – Wayne Carey (North Melb)
182 – Paul Kelly (Sydney)
175 – David Neitz (Melbourne)
168 – Perc Bentley (Richmond)
165 – Bob Skilton (Sydney)
161 – Nathan Buckley (Collingwood)
160 – Jack Dyer (Richmond)
159 – Kevin Murray (Fitzroy)
157 – Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
157 – Callan Ward (GWS)
153 – Graham Arthur (Hawthorn)
151 – Syd Coventry (Collingwood)
150 – Wayne Schimmelbusch (North Melb)

Three players share the AFL record of most premierships as captain - Reynolds (1942-46-49-50), Hawthorn’s Michael Tuck (1986-88-89-91) and Collingwood’s Syd Coventry (1927-28-29-30).

Voss (2001-02-03) is one of five three-time premiership captains with Melbourne’s Allan LaFontaine (1939-40-41), Nicholls (1968-70-72), Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge (2013-14-15) and Richmond’s Trent Cotchin (2017-19-20), with Andrews hoping to join this group too.