A significant slice of Club history was among the crowd last Sunday as the Brisbane Lions hosted around 200 past players and officials at their Round 9 match against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
The guest list included a range individuals who made significant contributions to Fitzroy, the Bears and the merged Lions - including Brownlow Medallist Kevin Murray, triple Premiership player Chris Johnson, three-time Best and Fairest winner Norm Brown and plenty more.
Geoff Raines (former Bears player) and Brian Brown (former Fitzroy player) - respective fathers of Andrew and Jonathan - were also in attendance to watch their sons in action.
Senior Coach Michael Voss - a former Bear and Lion himself - addressed the room before the game to convey the importance of the past players’ legacy on the current Lions team.
“It’s such a wonderful initiative and the Club has been really taken aback by the numbers we’ve had over the past couple of years,” Voss told his fellow past players.
“Tradition is something that is held very dearly to our Club, and it’s important that we continue honouring that proud tradition.”
“For our current players, it’s great for us to remind them all about what it means for them to be part of this great Club and the history they share.”
One tradition that has been implemented at the Lions in recent years involves getting a former Club great to present a debut player with their first ever guernsey.
This took place again last Saturday, when Chris Johnson spoke prior to the team’s training session in Melbourne about his own pride in the jumper, before handing Elliot Yeo his Number 26 guernsey.
A host of past players and officials will get together again next month for the Lions' inaugural Hall of Fame event at Melbourne's Crown Palladium.
