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Justin Leppitsch
Leppitsch with Richmond in March 2019
Personal information
Full name	Justin Leppitsch
Nickname(s)	Leppa
Date of birth	(1975-10-01) 1 October 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Original team(s)	Southern Stingrays
Draft	No. 4, 1992 National Draft, Brisbane Bears
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	98 kg (216 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1993–1996	Brisbane Bears	044 0(58)
1997–2006	Brisbane Lions	183 (136)
Total		227 (194)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1999	Victoria	1 (0)
International team honours
1999–2000	Australia	4 (0)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2014–2016	Brisbane Lions	66 (14–52–0)
Playing statistics correct to the end of 2006. Coaching statistics correct as of 2016.
Career highlights
3× AFL premiership: 2001, 2002, 2003 Merrett–Murray Medal: 1999 3× All-Australian team: 1999, 2002, 2003 2× Brisbane Lions leading goalkicker: 1997, 1998 Australian international rules team member: 1999, 2000
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Justin Leppitsch (born 1 October 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and the former coach of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life

Leppitsch was raised in Berwick, Victoria. In 1992, he played in the newly established VSFL Under-18 competition (later known as the TAC Cup) with Southern Stingrays, where he was runner-up for the Morrish Medal, and caught the attention of Brisbane Bears 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.

In 1997 he was a member of the inaugural Brisbane Lions team following the Bears merger with Fitzroy.

His breakout season was in 1999 under new coach Leigh Matthews, 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, who replaced Michael Voss 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. Fagan subsequently led the club to a Grand Final in 2023, which they lost to Collingwood, where Leppitsch is now an assistant coach.

Return to assistant coaching roles (2016–2021)

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.

Leppitsch again experienced premiership success as an assistant coach in 2023, when Collingwood defeated his old club the Brisbane Lions by four points in the Grand Final.

Statistics

Playing statistics

Head coaching record

References

1. Ashley Browne (2 September 1992). "Northern back takes Morrish". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 28.
2. ^ Walls, Robert (10 July 2004). "Milestones for greats". The Age.
3. Voss, Michael (11 June 2006). "Competitive fire burned deep in Leppa". The Sunday Age.
4. Stafford, Andrew (6 June 2006). "Leppitsch calls it a day as injuries take their toll". The Age.
5. Hall of Fame – Justin Leppitsch Archived 30 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
6. Hogan, Jesse (18 September 2009). "Tigers snare Leppitsch, Lade". BrisbaneTimes.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
7. Lions confirm Leppitsch to replace Voss
8. "Brisbane Lions appoint Justin Leppitsch head coach". ABC News. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
9. "Leppitsch the new Lions coach". 25 September 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
10. "Justin Leppitsch to coach Brisbane Lions". 24 September 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
11. "Mark Harvey quits Lions, Schwab joins staff". 3 October 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
12. "Justin Leppitsch confirmed as Brisbane Lions coach". TheGuardian.com. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
13. "Key calls loom as new Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch takes over". 30 September 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
14. "Brisbane Lions sack coach Justin Leppitsch after 'bitterly disappointing' AFL season". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
15. "Leppitsch sacked as Lions' AFL head coach". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
16. "Brisbane Lions sack senior coach Justin Leppitsch". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
17. "Brisbane Lions have sacked coach Justin Leppitsch after another horror season". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
18. "Justin Leppitsch sacked as Brisbane Lions coach". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
19. Whiting, Michael (7 March 2016). "'Never any doubt': Lions confirm Leppitsch contract extension". AAP. Australian Football League.
20. "AFL season 2016: Brisbane Lions axe coach Justin Leppitsch". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
21. "Justin Leppitsch sacked: The 'mad Monday' phone call that brought down a proud Brisbane Lion". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
22. "Justin Leppitsch sacked as Brisbane Lions AFL coach". The Guardian. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
23. "Justin Leppitsch sacked as Lions coach". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
24. "Leppitsch sacked as Brisbane coach". 28 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
25. "Why Justin Leppitsch failed as senior coach of the Brisbane Lions". 29 August 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
26. "Brisbane Lions name Chris Fagan as Justin Leppitsch's replacement as head AFL coach". ABC News. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
27. ^ Hope, Shayne (2 October 2023). "Leppitsch surprised by Pies' rapid climb to AFL summit". Perth Now. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
28. "Leppitsch returns to Richmond". richmondfc.com.au. 6 October 2016.
29. Edmund, Sam (4 October 2017). "The coach: How Dimma guided Tigers". Herald Sun.
30. "Leppitsch lives Tiger dream after Lions nightmare". The Morning Bulletin. 28 September 2017.
31. "Key Tigers assistant to quit at season's end".
32. "Leppitsch and Bolton arrive at the Pies". 13 September 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
33. "Pies add Bolton and Leppitsch, Hale to Hawks". 13 September 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
34. "Leppitsch and Bolton join McRae's Magpies". 14 September 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
35. Justin Leppitsch's player profile at AFL Tables
36. "Justin Leppitch's coaching profile". AFL Tables.

External links

• Justin Leppitsch at the Brisbane Lions website
• Justin Leppitsch's playing statistics from AFL Tables

v t e Australian squad – 1999 International Rules Series
Akermanis Allan Ashcroft Bell Burgoyne Buckley (c) Burke Campbell Camporeale Cousins Crawford Croad Graham Hart Leppitsch McKay McRae Molloy O'Loughlin Richardson Silvagni (gk) Stoneham Waterhouse West
Coach: Brereton

v t e Australian squad – 2000 International Rules Series
Akermanis Blumfield Bradley Brown Campbell Caracella Croad Goodwin Hardwick Harvey Heffernan Hird (c) Johnson Kellaway (gk) D. King S. King Leppitsch McLeod O'Loughlin Power Ratten Ricciuto Smith West Woewodin Yze
Coach: Brereton

• 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
• VFL/AFL premiership players
• People from Berwick, Victoria