Sam Lonergan (born 26 March 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted from the

Launceston Football Club The Launceston Football Club, nicknamed ''The Blues'', is an Australian rules football club, located in the West Tamar suburb of Riverside, seven kilometres north of the Launceston CBD and currently play in the Tasmanian State League in Tasman ...

, via the

Tassie Mariners The Tassie Mariners is an under-18 Australian rules football club representing the state of Tasmania. They currently play in the AFL Under 18 Championships and also played in the Victorian statewide under-18s competition (then known as the TAC Cu ...

U18s and the

Tasmanian Devils The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island states and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania, but it has be ...

, with selection 50 in the 2005 Draft. Lonergan captained the Allies (a composite team drawn from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

), against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

during Grand Final week. In that game, he kicked five goals and was the leading possession winner on the ground. He also became the first player in the history of the

U18s to win successive best and fairest awards. He also played eight games in 2005 for the Tasmanian Devils Football Club in the VFL competition. Lonergan was chosen as Tasmania's most valuable player at the under-18 championships in 2005, and won the Tassie Mariners U18 Best & Fairest award that same year. He was also chosen in the under-18 All-Australian side. After a 2012 season where he played 14 games and infamously broke the shoulder blade of

Andrew Carrazzo Andrew Carrazzo (born 15 December 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Junior career Carrazzo played junior football with the St Simons F ...

; he was delisted by the Essendon Football Club on 30 October 2012. '' Lonergan was picked up by Richmond in the 2012 Rookie draft, played two games for the club in 2013 and retired at the end of that year. Lonergan also supported Richmond while growing up. In October 2015, Sam was appointed Senior Playing Coach of the

returning to his home state and his junior club, where he played the majority of his junior football. Sam's original junior club – Tamar Cats – were based near his home town of Beauty Point. Lonergan, along with 33 other Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance-enhancing substance,

thymosin beta-4 Thymosin beta-4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TMSB4X'' gene. Recommended INN (International Nonproprietary Name) for thymosin beta-4 is 'timbetasin', as published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The protein consists (in ...

, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his teammates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016; as a result, he served approximately fourteen months of his suspension and missed the entire 2016 TSL season. He returned to Launceston as playing coach after his suspension. In 2020 Lonergan became an assistant coach at the Richmond Football Club focusing on midfield development for 1-4 year players. He is the uncle of

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

's Jesse Lonergan.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to end of 2012 season'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , , , 36 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 2 , , 2 , , 4 , , 1 , , 5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 5.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2007 , , , 36 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , , 36 , , 19 , , 9 , , 6 , , 134 , , 149 , , 283 , , 41 , , 73 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 7.0 , , 7.8 , , 14.9 , , 2.2 , , 3.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2009 , , , 14 , , 17 , , 10 , , 11 , , 103 , , 143 , , 246 , , 57 , , 62 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 6.1 , , 8.4 , , 14.5 , , 3.4 , , 3.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2010 , , , 14 , , 16 , , 10 , , 7 , , 107 , , 134 , , 241 , , 31 , , 68 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 6.7 , , 8.4 , , 15.1 , , 1.9 , , 4.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2011 , , , 14 , , 12 , , 4 , , 1 , , 125 , , 85 , , 210 , , 20 , , 39 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 10.4 , , 7.1 , , 17.5 , , 1.7 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, , , 14 , , 14 , , 6 , , 2 , , 107 , , 103 , , 210 , , 29 , , 74 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 7.6 , , 7.4 , , 15.0 , , 2.1 , , 5.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 79 ! 39 ! 27 ! 578 ! 616 ! 1194 ! 179 ! 321 ! 0.5 ! 0.3 ! 7.3 ! 7.8 ! 15.1 ! 2.3 ! 4.1

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonergan, Sam 1987 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Launceston, Tasmania Australian sportspeople in doping cases Bendigo Football Club players Essendon Football Club players Launceston Football Club coaches Launceston Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Tassie Mariners players Tasmanian Devils Football Club players