Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with 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 The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). Black was a midfielder with a reputation for hard work and skill. He had the ability to get under the pack to retrieve the ball as well as deliver it with precision to teammates. He was drafted by the Brisbane Lions in 1997 from the East Fremantle Football Club, and he debuted in the first game of the 1998 season and quickly became one of Brisbane's best players. He became Brisbane’s third Brownlow Medalists by winning the much coveted award in 2002. He also won the 2003

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...

and the 2001, 2002, and 2006 Merrett-Murray Medals awarded to the

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player with the

and three premiership medallions he received as a part of the Lions' hat-trick of premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Black, along with

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 ...

(1996 Brownlow Medalist),

Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...

(2001 Brownlow Medalist) and

Nigel Lappin Nigel Lappin (born 21 June 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. Lappin is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club. Playing career Lappin was born in the locally based regional hospital at ...

were collectively known as ‘The Fab Four’ and are widely considered to be one of the best midfield combinations in the history of the game.Michael Voss says Carlton Fab Four has way to go to match Brisbane greats
/ref> Black is currently serving as the Contest Skills and Midfield Coach at the

Background

Born in

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...

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 , established_ ...

, to Western Australian mother and father Ray a dairy farmer of

Kaitaia Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1. Ahipara ...

in New Zealand. He relocated to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

with his family at a very young age, where he attended school at Corpus Christi College in Bateman and

Aquinas College, Perth , motto_translation = Truth ConquersMassam, p. 18 , location = Salter Point, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , patron = Saint Thomas Aquinas , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Perth , pushpin_image ...

. Nurtured by his father, Black initially played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

with dreams of being an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

thanks to his New Zealand heritage but later took up Australian rules. He was a standout junior 800m and 1500m runner as a junior. At age 15 he suffered a back injury that required him to not play football for 18 months. He joined

East Fremantle Football Club The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle are the ...

and represented Western Australia in the 1997 edition of the

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

where he earned All-Australian honours. He was a member of East Fremantle's losing 1997 WAFL Grand Final team. Black was drafted by the Brisbane Lions with the 31st selection in the 1997 National Draft.

Playing career

Early career

Black was impressive during the 1998 pre-season and earned his senior debut in Round 1 against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba. He played nine senior matches and averaged over 12 disposals during his debut season and took out the Club’s Best First Year Player award. In 1999, he consolidated himself as an automatic senior selection and built a reputation for winning the ball in contested situations. He collected 20 possessions and kicked two goals against Geelong in Round 9 which earned him an AFL Rising Star Nomination; he ultimately finished third in the award behind Sydney’s Adam Goodes and Adelaide’s Brett Burton. He played 22 matches for the season and averaged close to 19 disposals and won the Lions' Rookie of the Year award for the second consecutive season. In 2000, he averaged 23.9 disposals per game, led the competition in centre clearances on a per game basis and finished second behind Geelong’s Garry Hocking in hard-ball gets.

Premiership era

Black became one of the league's elite midfielders from 2001. Over the following four years, Black and the Lions contested four Grand Finals, winning the premiership in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, and finishing runner-up in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. During that time, Black was part of a Brisbane midfield combination which is considered to be one of the best in the league's history: Black,

and

, who became known collectively as the "Fab Four". In 2001, Black played every match for the season, led the AFL in tackles and averaged a team-high 24.6 possessions. He was joint Club Champion with Captain Michael Voss, was named as the starting ruck-rover in the All-Australian team, finished 5th in the AFLPA's Most Valuable Player award, and won the

Herald Sun Player of the Year The '' Herald Sun'' Player of the Year award is a media award for the Australian Football League (AFL) given by Melbourne newspaper the ''Herald Sun''. It has been awarded annually since 1991 to the player who garners the most votes throughou ...

award. He represented Australia for the first and only time of his career in the

2001 International Rules Series The 2001 International Rules Series was the eighth annual International Rules Series and the fourth time a test series of international rules football has been played between Ireland and Australia since the series resumed in 1998. The series w ...

against Ireland. In 2002, Black won the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

, polling 25 votes to beat second placed

Josh Francou Joshua "Josh" Francou (born 7 August 1974) is a former professional Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently serving as an assistant coach at the Gold Coast Suns. Port Adelaide (1997–2006) Debut ...

by four votes and comparisons were made between him and dual Brownlow Medallist Greg Williams because of his outstanding peripheral vision and ability to get the contested ball. He earned All-Australian selection and won the Merrett-Murray Medal for the second consecutive season. He was strong again in 2003, and won the

as best on ground in the Grand Final with a career-best 39 possessions, the most ever recorded by any player in a Grand Final — it remained the sole highest until it was eventually equalled by

Christian Petracca Christian Petracca ( ; born 4 January 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Petracca has the ability to play dual- ...

’s performance in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. In 2004, Black became a vice-captain of the Lions, and he won All-Australian selection for the third time in his career. At the end of the season, Black had played a sequence of 107 consecutive matches for Brisbane, before a suspension in the violent

2004 AFL Grand Final The 2004 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 2004. It was the 108th annual grand fi ...

ended the sequence.

Later career

Black's 2005 season was interrupted by injury, but in 2006 he played every match, and won the third Merrett-Murray Medal of his career. At the beginning of 2007, Black was named as one of the four Lions co-captains, replacing the retiring captain Michael Voss. In 2007 and 2008, Black continued to be Brisbane's premier midfielder, and he finished second in the Brownlow Medal in both seasons. He earned Brisbane Lions Life Membership at the end of his tenth season of service. He was also the Courier Mail Player of the Year in 2008, and was runner-up in the 2008 Merrett-Murray medal. In 2009, new coach Michael Voss named Jonathan Brown as the sole captain of the club, and Black remained in the leadership group. He had another consistent season in 2010, finishing second in the Merrett-Murray Medal. In 2012, Black played his 300th AFL game, becoming the first player in league history to win a Brownlow Medal, a Norm Smith Medal, a Premiership Medal and play 300 games. In 2013, Black equalled

Marcus Ashcroft Marcus Ashcroft (born 25 September 1971) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played 318 games for the Brisbane Bears/Lions and is currently on the coaching panel of the Gold Coast Football Club. The Marcus Ashcroft Medal, ...

's record for the most games played for the Brisbane Bears/Lions playing his 318th game. On 18 October 2013, Black announced his retirement from the AFL.

Coaching career

Shortly after announcing his retirement from the AFL, Black signed on as an assistant coach at the Lions for two years. His main focus is coaching the team's forward line and attacking systems. In 2016, Black founded the Simon Black Australian Rules Academy, a full time sport and educational program which provides pathways for students to pursue University and Fitness qualifications while training and playing AFL in an elite academy environment. He subsequently resigned from his role as a coach at the Brisbane Lions to focus on growing the Academy program.

Media career

In August 2019, Black joined '' 10 News First Queensland'' as an AFL analyst. In 2019, Black competed in the fourth season of ''

Australian Survivor ''Australian Survivor'' is an Australian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Survivor (franchise), Survivor'' format. Following the premise of other versions of the ''Survivor'' format, the show features a group of contesta ...

''. He was eliminated on Day 42 and finished in 7th place.

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 9 , , 2 , , 5 , , 73 , , 37 , , 110 , , 28 , , 11 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 8.1 , , 4.1 , , 12.2 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , 0 , - ! 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 shootin ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 22 , , 19 , , 14 , , 260 , , 156 , , 416 , , 70 , , 60 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 11.8 , , 7.1 , , 18.9 , , 3.2 , , 2.7 , , 9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! 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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 19 , , 16 , , 12 , , 273 , , 181 , , 454 , , 61 , , 62 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 14.4 , , 9.5 , , 23.9 , , 3.2 , , 3.3 , , 4 , - , scope="row" bgcolor="F0E68C" ,

^# , style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 25 , , 23 , , 17 , , 308 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 314^† , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 622^† , , 79 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 119^† , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 12.3 , , 12.6 , , 24.9 , , 3.2 , , 4.8 , , 12 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" , scope="row" bgcolor="F0E68C" ,

^# , style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 25 , , 17 , , 18 , , 288 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 294^† , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 582^† , , 84 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 115^† , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 11.5 , , 11.8 , , 23.3 , , 3.4 , , 4.6 , , bgcolor="98FB98" , 25 , - , scope="row" bgcolor="F0E68C" ,

^# , style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 26 , , 16 , , 14 , , 326 , , 308 , , 634 , , 73 , , 113 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 12.5 , , 11.8 , , 24.4 , , 2.8 , , 4.3 , , 12 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 25 , , 13 , , 11 , , 284 , , 307 , , 591 , , 57 , , 97 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 11.4 , , 12.3 , , 23.6 , , 2.3 , , 3.9 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 18 , , 10 , , 8 , , 213 , , 183 , , 396 , , 50 , , 48 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 11.8 , , 10.2 , , 22.0 , , 2.8 , , 2.7 , , 6 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 22 , , 8 , , 4 , , 257 , , 273 , , 530 , , 63 , , 108 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 11.7 , , 12.4 , , 24.1 , , 2.9 , , 4.9 , , 11 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 21 , , 9 , , 11 , , 244 , , 222 , , 466 , , 45 , , 91 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 11.6 , , 10.6 , , 22.2 , , 2.1 , , 4.3 , , 22 , -style="background:#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; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 21 , , 10 , , 9 , , 253 , , 286 , , 539 , , 61 , , 87 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 12.0 , , 13.6 , , 25.7 , , 2.9 , , 4.1 , , 23 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 23 , , 10 , , 7 , , 256 , , 328 , , 584 , , 65 , , 112 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 11.1 , , 14.3 , , 25.4 , , 2.8 , , 4.9 , , 19 , -style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 18 , , 6 , , 4 , , 222 , , 238 , , 460 , , 74 , , 69 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 12.3 , , 13.2 , , 25.6 , , 4.1 , , 3.8 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 22 , , 4 , , 9 , , 285 , , 305 , , 590 , , 62 , , 95 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 13.0 , , 13.9 , , 26.8 , , 2.8 , , 4.3 , , 9 , -style="background:#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 gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 18 , , 5 , , 6 , , 180 , , 247 , , 427 , , 48 , , 67 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 10.0 , , 13.7 , , 23.7 , , 2.7 , , 3.7 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 20 , , 8 , , 3 , , 5 , , 77 , , 102 , , 179 , , 17 , , 29 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 9.6 , , 12.8 , , 22.4 , , 2.1 , , 3.6 , , 5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 322 ! 171 ! 154 ! 3799 ! 3781 ! 7580 ! 937 ! 1283 ! 0.5 ! 0.5 ! 11.8 ! 11.7 ! 23.5 ! 2.9 ! 4.0 ! 184

Honours and achievements

*Team **3×

AFL Premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1990, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

(

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

): 2001, 2002, 2003 *Individual **

: 2002 **3× Merrett–Murray Medal (Brisbane Best & Fairest): 2001, 2002, 2006 **

King of the Pride King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

: 2007 - 2016 **3×

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

: 2001, 2002, 2004 **

: 2003 ** Australian Representative Honours in

International Rules Football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

: 2001 **

Marcus Ashcroft Medal The Marcus Ashcroft Medal is awarded to the player judged best on ground in the QClash football match played between Brisbane and Gold Coast. It is named after former footballer Marcus Ashcroft, who played junior football on the Gold Coast for ...

: 2011 (Round 21) ** Brisbane Lions Captain: 2007-2008 ** AFL Rising Star Nominee: 1999 (Round 9) In June 2019, it was announced that Black had been voted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

for the class of 2018, but due to his commitments to filming

he was unable to attend the induction ceremony. He was officially inducted in 2020.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Simon 1979 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Western Australia East Fremantle Football Club players Brisbane Lions captains Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions Premiership players Brownlow Medal winners Merrett–Murray Medal winners Norm Smith Medal winners Australian people of New Zealand descent People educated at Aquinas College, Perth People educated at Corpus Christi College, Perth People from Mount Isa Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players Australian Survivor contestants Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players