2001-2006 (Brisbane Lions)

 

140

 

5

 

Lions Premiership Player - 2001-03

International Rules series - 2004 

Mal Michael is one of kind. Not just because he’s the only AFL star born in Papua New Guinea. And not just because he was the first rookie in AFL history. But because he was the strongest, most miserly and hard-to-play-on key defender in the AFL era through the Brisbane Lions golden era.

 

From Port Moresby via Brisbane’s western suburbs and rival club Collingwood, Michael found his way ‘home’ to the Brisbane Lions in 2001 to become a three-time AFL premiership player.

 

He’d always wanted to play for Brisbane, but it hadn’t worked out .. until it did. And then it was special. He played 97 of 101 games in 2001-02-03-04 and finished 8th-6th-10th-6th in the coveted Merrett/Murray Medal. He was a star. But in 13 finals through the special times only Simon Black and Nigel Lappin polled higher. He was a superstar.

 

A 238-game veteran with Collingwood, Brisbane and Essendon, one of the very best fullbacks of the modern era, and now a member of the Brisbane Lions Hall of Famer.