Justin Leppitsch (born 1 October 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and the former coach of the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Leppitsch was raised in

Berwick, Victoria Berwick () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Casey local government area. Berwick recorded a population of 50,298 at the 2021 census. It was nam ...

. In 1992, he played in the newly established VSFL Under-18 competition (later known as the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Vict ...

) with Southern Stingrays, where he was runner-up for the

Morrish Medal The Morrish Medal is an Australian rules football award. Formerly awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Under-19 competition (known as the Thirds prior to 1959), since 1992 the award has been given to the best player in the Victori ...

, and caught the attention of

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/ ...

talent scouts. He was selected by Brisbane at pick 4 in the 1992 AFL Draft.

AFL career

He made his debut in 1993 for the Bears as a 17-year-old, but was then dropped back to play for West Brisbane where he hurt his knee and required a complete knee reconstruction. He was unable to play football for 15 months. His breakout season was in 1999 under new coach

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

, when he won the Brisbane Best and Fairest award, was selected as All-Australian for the first time and represented Australia in International Rules. Under Matthews, Leppitsch became a key component of the Lions spine, playing centre half back in the club's three premiership sides from 2001 to 2003 and earned All-Australian status three times. Late in his career, Leppitsch battled a chronic hamstring-related back injury which inevitably ended his career due to the resulting calf muscle wastage. He announced his immediate retirement from the AFL on 5 June 2006. He was inducted into the Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame in 2012.

Coaching career

Assistant coaching roles

In October 2006, Leppitsch had accepted a position as an assistant coach with the Brisbane Lions. He later signed with Richmond to be an assistant coach in September 2009.

Brisbane Lions senior coach (2014-2016)

In September 2013, Leppitsch signed a three-year contract to be the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions. Leppitsch replaced Brisbane Lions caretaker senior coach

Mark Harvey Mark Harvey (born 11 June 1965) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played over 200 games during fourteen seasons with the Essendon Football Club, winning three premierships, and was senior coach of Fremantle from 2007 t ...

, who replaced

Michael Voss Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears/Lions and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Voss was a triple premiersh ...

after Voss stepped down during the 2013 season, after Voss was told that he would not receive a contract renewal as Brisbane Lions senior coach for the 2014 season. In Leppitsch's first season as Brisbane Lions senior coach in the 2014 season, the club under Leppitsch finished fifteenth (third-last) on the ladder with seven wins and fifteen losses. In the 2015 season, The Lions under Leppitsch, finished seventeenth (second-last) on the ladder with four wins and eighteen losses. In the 2016 season, The Lions under Leppitsch, finished seventeenth (second-last) on the ladder again for the second straight year in a row, this time with three wins and nineteen losses. Leppitsch coached Brisbane Lions to a total of 66 games with 14 wins and 52 losses to a winning percentage of 22 percent. On 29 August 2016, Leppitsch was sacked by the Lions as senior coach after three seasons with the club, at the end of the 2016 season. This occurred, despite being granted a one-year contract extension at the start of the year which would have seen him remain at the club until the end of the 2017 season. He was replaced by Chris Fagan as Brisbane Lions senior coach.

Return to Assistant coaching roles (2016-present)

Richmond Football Club

On 6 October 2016, Leppitsch returned to Richmond as an assistant coach. Twelve months after being sacked as senior coach of the Brisbane Lions, he played a major role in the club's 2017 AFL premiership win, coaching the forwards. He was also an assistant coach during Richmond's 2019 and 2020 premierships. Leppitsch announced that he would leave Richmond as an assistant coach at the end of the 2020 season.

Collingwood Football Club

In September 2021, Leppitsch joined the Collingwood Football Club in an assistant coaching role as Head of Strategy and defence under senior coach

Craig McRae Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club. Playing career Originally from South Australian National Football League club Glenelg, McRae was draf ...

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 4 , , 4 , , 2 , , 27 , , 12 , , 39 , , 3 , , 5 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 6.8 , , 3.0 , , 9.8 , , 0.8 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 4 , , 5 , , 4 , , 19 , , 5 , , 24 , , 5 , , 1 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 4.8 , , 1.3 , , 6.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 17 , , 4 , , 8 , , 96 , , 54 , , 150 , , 48 , , 17 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 5.6 , , 3.2 , , 8.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 19 , , 45 , , 23 , , 152 , , 49 , , 201 , , 57 , , 18 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , 8.0 , , 2.6 , , 10.6 , , 3.0 , , 0.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 50 , , 38 , , 186 , , 63 , , 249 , , 97 , , 20 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , 8.5 , , 2.9 , , 11.3 , , 4.4 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 16 , , 26 , , 17 , , 145 , , 52 , , 197 , , 64 , , 19 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , 9.1 , , 3.3 , , 12.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 25 , , 14 , , 12 , , 242 , , 86 , , 328 , , 129 , , 30 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 9.7 , , 3.4 , , 13.1 , , 5.2 , , 1.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 11 , , 12 , , 207 , , 127 , , 334 , , 125 , , 29 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 9.4 , , 5.8 , , 15.2 , , 5.7 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 11 , , 6 , , 3 , , 69 , , 35 , , 104 , , 43 , , 4 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 6.3 , , 3.2 , , 9.5 , , 3.9 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2002 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 23 , , 12 , , 10 , , 208 , , 82 , , 290 , , 115 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 9.0 , , 3.6 , , 12.6 , , 5.0 , , 1.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 10 , , 3 , , 193 , , 105 , , 298 , , 126 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 8.8 , , 4.8 , , 13.5 , , 5.7 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 24 , , 6 , , 2 , , 173 , , 110 , , 283 , , 108 , , 40 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 7.2 , , 4.6 , , 11.8 , , 4.5 , , 1.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2005 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 14 , , 0 , , 0 , , 144 , , 80 , , 224 , , 80 , , 29 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.3 , , 5.7 , , 16.0 , , 5.7 , , 2.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 4 , , 1 , , 0 , , 32 , , 19 , , 51 , , 20 , , 2 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , , 4.8 , , 12.8 , , 5.0 , , 0.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 227 ! 194 ! 134 ! 1893 ! 879 ! 2772 ! 1020 ! 278 ! 0.9 ! 0.6 ! 8.3 ! 3.9 ! 12.2 ! 4.5 ! 1.2

Head coaching record

References

External links

Justin Leppitsch at the Brisbane Lions website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leppitsch, Justin Brisbane Bears players Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions Premiership players 1975 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) Victorian State of Origin players Merrett–Murray Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Dandenong Stingrays players Brisbane Lions coaches Australia international rules football team players Australian people of Austrian descent Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players People from Berwick, Victoria