The 1997 season was the Brisbane Lions first season in the Australian Football League after a merger between the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy. The vast majority of players came from the Bears with eight Fitzroy players added to the squad.
Fixture[]
Ladder[]
| |||||||||||
| Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Kilda | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2294 | 1918 | 119.6 | 60 | ||
| 2 | Geelong | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2111 | 1791 | 117.9 | 60 | ||
| 3 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2100 | 2062 | 101.8 | 56 | ||
| 4 | Adelaide (P) | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2151 | 1769 | 121.6 | 52 | ||
| 5 | West Coast | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 1969 | 1770 | 111.2 | 52 | ||
| 6 | Sydney | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2093 | 1801 | 116.2 | 48 | ||
| 7 | North Melbourne | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2051 | 1835 | 111.8 | 48 | ||
| 8 | Brisbane | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 2076 | 1973 | 105.2 | 42 | ||
| 9 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 1852 | 2017 | 91.8 | 42 | ||
| 10 | Collingwood | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2138 | 1919 | 111.4 | 40 | ||
| 11 | Carlton | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1978 | 2045 | 96.7 | 40 | ||
| 12 | Fremantle | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1748 | 1902 | 91.9 | 40 | ||
| 13 | Richmond | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1883 | 2144 | 87.4 | 40 | ||
| 14 | Essendon | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2004 | 2170 | 92.4 | 36 | ||
| 15 | Hawthorn | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1873 | 2144 | 87.4 | 28 | ||
| 16 | Melbourne | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1477 | 2429 | 60.8 | 16 | ||
| Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against | |||||||||||
Playing squad[]
| Senior list | |||||||||
| 12 | Jason Akermanis | 16 | Matthew Clarke | 27 | Clark Keating | 20 | Jarrod Molloy | ||
| 10 | Marcus Ashcroft | 40 | Shane Clayton | 41 | Matthew Kennedy | 39 | Tim Notting | ||
| 34 | Scott Bamford | 14 | Danny Dickfos | 18 | Craig Lambert | 28 | Ben Robbins | ||
| 26 | John Barker | 6 | Adrian Fletcher | 44 | Nigel Lappin | 22 | Chris Scott | ||
| 17 | Trent Bartlett | 8 | Andrew Gowers | 15 | Steven Lawrence | 38 | Dion Scott | ||
| 25 | Andrew Bews | 31 | Andrew Gowling | 23 | Justin Leppitsch | 35 | Nick Trask | ||
| 9 | Brad Boyd | 21 | Brent Green | 11 | Alastair Lynch | 13 | Brett Voss | ||
| 36 | Daniel Bradshaw | 32 | Shaun Hart | 42 | Tristan Lynch | 3 | Michael Voss | ||
| 37 | Nick Carter | 24 | Simon Hawking | 7 | Scott McIvor | 33 | Darryl White | ||
| 1 | Richard Champion | 29 | Rory Hilton | 19 | Michael McLean | 30 | Derek Wirth | ||
| 5 | Nathan Chapman | 2 | Chris Johnson | 4 | Craig McRae |
Player movements[]
| Arrivals | Player | From | Departures | Player | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merger selections | Scott Bamford | Fitzroy | Retired | Ross Lyon | ||
| John Barker | Fitzroy | Gilbert McAdam | ||||
| Brad Boyd | Fitzroy | Roger Merrett | ||||
| Nick Carter | Fitzroy | Delisted | Troy Clarke | |||
| Shane Clayton | Fitzroy | Shannon Corcoran | ||||
| Simon Hawking | Fitzroy | Rudi Frigo | ||||
| Chris Johnson | Fitzroy | Troy Johnson | Fremantle | |||
| Jarrod Molloy | Fitzroy | Craig Starcevich | ||||
| National draft | Rory Hilton | Murray Bushrangers | Matthew Waters | |||
| Tim Notting | Ballarat Rebels |