In his ninth year as a Brisbane Lion Ryan “Froggy” Lester played nine AFL games and was an important member of the undefeated premiership NEAFL team.
Lester is a member of the Lions eight-man leadership group and although he has the capacity to play anywhere across the field, was most often found in the backline in both the senior and NEAFL teams.
His strongest performance for the Club was their Round 8 loss to the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat. That afternoon Lester had 13 disposals, three marks, six tackles, three spoils and 11 pressure acts.
He signed a one-year contract during the Lions off-season.
Midfield enforcer Rhys Mathieson played nine games for the Lions in 2019. His campaign started strongly with Round 1’s win over West Coast Eagles his best performance for the year. Against the reigning premiers he had 25 disposals (12 contested), three tackles and one goal.
He played the first five games of the season but was dropped after Round 5’s Easter Thursday loss to Collingwood. His final senior game for the year was Round 14’s win over St Kilda in Melbourne.
Mathieson’s NEAFL campaign was strong. In the Grand Final against Southport Sharks he had 27 disposals, 10 tackles, five marks and one goal.
Tom Fullarton’s first full season as a professional football player demonstrated his potential as a forward for the Lions.
In 2018 Fullarton swapped a promising NBL career for Aussie Rules, a game he had to give up at the age of 15 to pursue a full-time basketball career. The Lions took him on as a Category B rookie in 2018 and he played a few games in the NEAFL side that year.
Before taking to the field in 2019 his contract was extended until the end of 2021.
The 20-year-old started his year strongly on field as well. In his first NEAFL game he kicked four goals in Round 3’s win over Aspley.
He would go on to play 19 NEAFL games and is aiming to make his debut in 2020.
Toby Wooller’s second season was strong for the Lions NEAFL team. He played 19 games for the year and kicked 27 goals.
One of his strongest performances was Round 3’s win where he kicked four goals.
The 20-year-old will be aiming to make his AFL debut in 2020.
