| Billy Brownless | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Anthony William ‘Brown’ Brownless | ||
| Born | (1967-01-28)28 January 1967 (age 59) Jerilderie,New South Wales | ||
| Original team | Jerilderie (Murray Football League)/Assumption College | ||
| Height | 192 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 102 kg (225 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1986–1997 | Geelong | 198 (441) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1988–1992 | New South Wales | 3 (3) | |
| 1993 | NSW/ACT | 1 | |
| 1995 | Allies | 1 (5) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1997. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Anthony William Brownless (born 28 January 1967) is a formerAustralian rules footballer and radio and television media personality who representedGeelong in theAustralian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s.
Brownless was born and raised inJerilderie, a rural town in New South Wales. He first played football for his local team, theJerilderie Football Club, when it was part of theMurray Football League. He boarded for three years in Kilmore, Victoria, atAssumption College,[1] one of Australia's most renowned "football nurseries", a school which has a strong tradition of producing footballers who have gone on to play in the AFL. In 1984, his final year at the school, Brownless kicked 155 goals for the school team.
Geelong asked Brownless to come and train, but instead he chose to return home to Jerilderie to be with family and friends and play a season of senior football before going to Geelong.[2] During the 1985 season, he kicked 148 goals for the Jerilderie senior team while working as a farmhand.[3] Jerilderie made it to the grand final but lost. Brownless kicked six of the team's nine goals despite having injured an ankle in the semi-final.[2]
Brownless moved to Geelong in time for the1986 VFL season and began working as a groundsman atKardinia Park. He said that playing for Geelong was a natural progression for him because of the town's rural atmosphere:
It's really like a big country town and the club's a lot like a country club. You're all behind one another and you're all pretty close. It's a good feeling.[2]
Brownless made his senior VFL debut in Round 1, 1986 and quickly made a name for himself as a strongfull-forward, winning the Cats' best first year player award that year. He went on to play 198 games and kick 441 goals, putting him fifth in Geelong's all-time goalkicking list, behindGary Ablett (1021),Doug Wade (834)Tom Hawkins (796) andSteve Johnson (452).
One of Brownless' fondest memories was kicking a goal after the siren againstFootscray in their1994 qualifying final. With Geelong trailing by one point, he marked the ball within scoring range with just seconds left and kicked a goal to send Geelong through to the next stage of thefinals. While the Cats eventually made it to thegrand final, they lost that match. Brownless played in four losing grand final teams with Geelong.
Brownless "retired“ in 1997 at 30 years of age, although the reason for the retirement was because he wasn't required at the club for the1998 AFL Season.[4]
Brownless has the record for most goals in a game at theGabba, with 11.
Brownless first played State of Origin in 1988 for New South Wales. Playing in theState of Origin Carnival that year, he kicked three goals in the tournament, two in the first againstSouth Australia and one in the second againstWestern Australia.[5] In 1993 he again played in the State of Origin Carnival, being selected for NSW/ACT againstVictoria. WithWayne Carey andJohn Longmire in the side, Brownless played at centre half back. In 1995 he kicked five goals and was named in the best players forAllies in a win over Western Australia.[6]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1986 | Geelong | 16 | 14 | 32 | 16 | 112 | 50 | 162 | 80 | 0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 8.0 | 3.6 | 11.6 | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| 1987 | Geelong | 16 | 14 | 30 | 22 | 112 | 48 | 160 | 75 | 20 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 8.0 | 3.4 | 11.4 | 5.4 | 1.4 |
| 1988 | Geelong | 16 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 44 | 21 | 65 | 28 | 6 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 6.3 | 3.0 | 9.3 | 4.0 | 0.9 |
| 1989 | Geelong | 16 | 26 | 46 | 34 | 228 | 120 | 348 | 143 | 19 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 8.8 | 4.6 | 13.4 | 5.5 | 0.7 |
| 1990 | Geelong | 16 | 22 | 35 | 22 | 241 | 143 | 384 | 122 | 21 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 17.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
| 1991 | Geelong | 16 | 20 | 81 | 54 | 223 | 72 | 295 | 142 | 13 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 11.2 | 3.6 | 14.8 | 7.1 | 0.7 |
| 1992 | Geelong | 16 | 24 | 79 | 46 | 213 | 100 | 313 | 141 | 16 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 8.9 | 4.2 | 13.0 | 5.9 | 0.7 |
| 1993 | Geelong | 16 | 11 | 20 | 14 | 100 | 43 | 143 | 51 | 7 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 9.1 | 3.9 | 13.0 | 4.6 | 0.6 |
| 1994 | Geelong | 16 | 17 | 34 | 21 | 153 | 45 | 198 | 84 | 11 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 9.0 | 2.6 | 11.6 | 4.9 | 0.6 |
| 1995 | Geelong | 16 | 24 | 45 | 36 | 208 | 114 | 322 | 126 | 32 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 8.7 | 4.8 | 13.4 | 5.3 | 1.3 |
| 1996 | Geelong | 16 | 11 | 20 | 11 | 88 | 135 | 47 | 51 | 14 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 4.3 | 12.3 | 4.6 | 1.3 |
| 1997 | Geelong | 16 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 35 | 19 | 54 | 15 | 2 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 0.3 |
| Career | 198 | 441 | 291 | 1757 | 822 | 2579 | 1058 | 161 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 8.9 | 4.2 | 13.0 | 5.3 | 0.9 | ||
When Brownless retired from football he moved into the media, appearing regularly onThe Footy Show. OnThe Footy Show he appeared in "The House of Bulger" segment as the family's matriarch Joybell Bulger.
He joined95.5 K-Rock in Geelong as a sales representative. Soon, on their "Big Mattress" breakfast show, he co-hosted a sport/comedy segment called "On The Bench" with ex-Geelong playerDwayne Russell and the Essendon fanatic "Ferret" (Russell Taylor), twice a week. A long list of Geelong players were included in "On The Bench" as special guests including Barry Stoneham, Tim McGrath and Paul Couch.He regularly appears on the station promoting Wombat Gully plant farm Geelong.
In 1992 he became the inaugural winner of theMirrool Silo Kick in theRiverina, kicking an Aussie Rules football 32 metres plus over the Mirrool Silos.[8]
In August 1999, it was reported that due to Brownless' connections in the local political scene, both theAustralian Labor Party (ALP) and the rulingLiberal Party of Australia were keen to recruit Brownless into politics, despite his limited experience. Labor leaderSteve Bracks, who would go on to win the state election that year, was a Geelong supporter, and Brownless had persuaded the then PremierJeff Kennett's wife, Felicity, to become Geelong's femalenumber one ticket holder.[9]
By 2005, Brownless had featured onThe Sunday Footy Show as well as earning continual appearances onThe Footy Show. He also co-hostedMorning Glory, a weekday breakfast show on Melbourne radio stationSEN 1116. Brownless finished his 5-day-a-week stint in November 2008. Brownless appeared onBefore the Bounce, a weekly football show onFoxtel alongsideJason Dunstall andDanny Frawley until the end of the 2008 AFL season.
In May 2008, Brownless was added as a regular on the Thursday night AFL Footy Show to replace an incapacitatedSam Newman, but he was relegated to guest panelist upon Newman's return. From 2009 until the show's termination in 2019, Brownless had once again become a regular alongsideShane Crawford to replaceTrevor Marmalade, alternating each week with Crawford and, since 2012,Matthew Lloyd.
In March 2010, Brownless joinedTriple M Melbourne's new drive showThe Rush Hour withJames Brayshaw.[10]
Brownless bought the Cumberland Hotel inCastlemaine, Victoria.[11] He also owns the Cremorne Hotel inNewtown, Victoria[12]
In January 2020, Brownless appeared in thesixth season of the Australian version ofI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[13]
In September 2021, Brownless announced he was leavingThe Sunday Footy Show and theNine Network after 27 years with the network.[14]
Brownless was married to ex-wife Nicki for 18 years. They have two daughters, Lucy and Ruby, and two sons, Oscar and Max.[11] They made headlines in 2016 after it came to light that, after 18 years of marriage, they had separated in late 2015, and that Nicki had gone on to have a relationship with one of Brownless's colleagues,Garry Lyon. The relationship caused a bitter falling-out between Brownless and Lyon, causing Lyon to leaveThe Footy Show.[15][16]
