THE BRISBANE Lions have further strengthened ties with Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears by announcing an inaugural Hall of Fame celebration to be held in Melbourne on June 23.

The announcement was made simultaneously in Brisbane and Melbourne via video-link on Tuesday.

Lions chairman Angus Johnson, CEO Malcolm Holmes, coach Michael Voss and midfielder Simon Black were joined via link from Melbourne by former Fitzroy captain Garry Wilson, former Fitzroy player and Lions and Bears coach Robert Walls and triple-premiership winning Lions defender Chris Johnson.

The Lions' Hall of Fame will honour the greatest players, coaches and administrators in the club’s history.

Melbourne’s Crown Palladium will host the first induction.

The judging committee is comprised of Walls, retired director and former chairman Graeme Downie, former Lions media manager Peter Blucher and historian Arthur Wilson.
 
Walls said 15 inductees would be announced on the night.

"It's not going to be easy," Walls said.

"I've had a good look at it. If I'm thinking 15, I've already got about 25 names there and obviously we've got to cull that.

"I'd like to think it would be a combination of Fitzroy greats from the past, the Brisbane Bears and you've got to look very closely at the triple premiership players of the Brisbane Lions.

"I think it's exciting. We're talking 126 years of history."

There are a number of obvious candidates that will come into consideration including Kevin Murray, Garry Wilson, Bernie Quinlan, Paul Roos, Leigh Matthews, and Voss himself.

The current Lions coach was beaming when asked about the tradition of the club.

"This seems like a natural step to be able to formalize, as we already have, the Fitzroy part, the Brisbane Bears and now as the merged club, the Brisbane Lions," Voss said.

"It's a pretty historic day I think to acknowledge the traditions from our football club. It's hard to put a value on tradition and history, it's your blood, your DNA, that's what we're talking about."

Johnson said the Hall of Fame was more than just an event - it formed part of who the Lions were as a united club.
 
"This is another progressive step in this club’s desire to recognise all of our greats under the one banner," Johnson said.
 
“The Lions have a unique past steeped in history and the Hall of Fame selection committee will no doubt have a difficult job in recommending our inaugural inductees.”

Best and fairests, longevity, premierships and Brownlow medals will all be factored into selection.

Players must be retired for three years before they can be considered.

Brisbane will host the next Hall of Fame induction with the club set to hold the event every second year.
 
Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting

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