| Justin Leppitsch | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Leppitsch with Richmond in March 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Justin Leppitsch | ||
| Nickname | Leppa[1] | ||
| Born | (1975-10-01)1 October 1975 (age 50) Melbourne, Australia | ||
| Original team | Southern Stingrays | ||
| Draft | No. 4,1992 National Draft,Brisbane Bears | ||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Weight | 98 kg (216 lb) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1993–1996 | Brisbane Bears | 44(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 career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 2014–2016 | Brisbane Lions | 66 (14–52–0) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2006. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2016. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Justin Leppitsch (born 1 October 1975) is a former professionalAustralian rules footballer and the former coach of theBrisbane Lions in theAustralian Football League (AFL).
Leppitsch was raised inBerwick, Victoria. In 1992, he played in the newly establishedVSFL Under-18 competition (later known as theTAC Cup) withSouthern Stingrays, where he was runner-up for theMorrish Medal,[2] and caught the attention ofBrisbane Bears talent scouts. He was selected by Brisbane at pick 4 in the1992 AFL draft.[3]
He made his debut in 1993 for the Bears as a 17-year-old, but was then dropped back to play forWest Brisbane where he hurt his knee and required a complete knee reconstruction. He was unable to play football for 15 months.[4]
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 coachLeigh Matthews, when he won the Brisbane Best and Fairest award, was selected as All-Australian for the first time[3] 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.[5]
He was inducted into the Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame in 2012.[6]
In October 2006, Leppitsch had accepted a position as an assistant coach with the Brisbane Lions. He later signed withRichmond to be an assistant coach in September 2009.[7]
In September 2013, Leppitsch signed a three-year contract to be the senior coach of the Brisbane Lions.[8][9][10][11] Leppitsch replaced Brisbane Lions caretaker senior coachMark Harvey, who replacedMichael Voss after Voss stepped down during the2013 season, after Voss was told that he would not receive a contract renewal as Brisbane Lions senior coach for the 2014 season.[12][13][14]
In Leppitsch's first season as Brisbane Lions senior coach in the2014 season, the club under Leppitsch finished fifteenth (third-last) on the ladder with seven wins and fifteen losses. In the2015 season, The Lions under Leppitsch, finished seventeenth (second-last) on the ladder with four wins and eighteen losses. In the2016 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.[15][16][17][18][19] 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.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] He was replaced byChris Fagan as Brisbane Lions senior coach.[27]
On 6 October 2016, Leppitsch returned to Richmond as an assistant coach.[28] Twelve months after being sacked as senior coach of the Brisbane Lions, he played a major role in the club's2017 AFL premiership win, coaching the forwards.[29][30] 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.[31]
In September 2021, Leppitsch joined theCollingwood Football Club in an assistant coaching role as Head of Strategy and defence under senior coachCraig McRae.[32][33][34]
Leppitsch again experienced premiership success as an assistant coach in 2023, when Collingwood defeated his old club theBrisbane Lions by four points in theGrand Final.[35]
Since 2024, Leppitsch has been General Manager of talent and list strategy at Collingwood.
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 | ||||
| 1993 | Brisbane Bears | 23 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 12 | 39 | 3 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 6.8 | 3.0 | 9.8 | 0.8 | 1.3 |
| 1994 | Brisbane Bears | 23 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 5 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| 1995 | Brisbane Bears | 23 | 17 | 4 | 8 | 96 | 54 | 150 | 48 | 17 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 5.6 | 3.2 | 8.8 | 2.8 | 1.0 |
| 1996 | Brisbane Bears | 23 | 19 | 45 | 23 | 152 | 49 | 201 | 57 | 18 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 8.0 | 2.6 | 10.6 | 3.0 | 0.9 |
| 1997 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 22 | 50 | 38 | 186 | 63 | 249 | 97 | 20 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 8.5 | 2.9 | 11.3 | 4.4 | 0.9 |
| 1998 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 16 | 26 | 17 | 145 | 52 | 197 | 64 | 19 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 9.1 | 3.3 | 12.3 | 4.0 | 1.2 |
| 1999 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 25 | 14 | 12 | 242 | 86 | 328 | 129 | 30 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 9.7 | 3.4 | 13.1 | 5.2 | 1.2 |
| 2000 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 22 | 11 | 12 | 207 | 127 | 334 | 125 | 29 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 9.4 | 5.8 | 15.2 | 5.7 | 1.3 |
| 2001 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 69 | 35 | 104 | 43 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 6.3 | 3.2 | 9.5 | 3.9 | 0.4 |
| 2002 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 23 | 12 | 10 | 208 | 82 | 290 | 115 | 32 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 9.0 | 3.6 | 12.6 | 5.0 | 1.4 |
| 2003 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 193 | 105 | 298 | 126 | 32 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 8.8 | 4.8 | 13.5 | 5.7 | 1.5 |
| 2004 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 173 | 110 | 283 | 108 | 40 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 7.2 | 4.6 | 11.8 | 4.5 | 1.7 |
| 2005 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 80 | 224 | 80 | 29 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.3 | 5.7 | 16.0 | 5.7 | 2.1 |
| 2006 | Brisbane Lions | 23 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 19 | 51 | 20 | 2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 4.8 | 12.8 | 5.0 | 0.5 |
| Career | 227 | 194 | 134 | 1893 | 879 | 2772 | 1020 | 278 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 8.3 | 3.9 | 12.2 | 4.5 | 1.2 | ||
| Team | Year | Home and Away Season | Finals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Drew | Win % | Position | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| BRI | 2014 | 7 | 15 | 0 | .318 | 15th out of 18 | — | — | — | — |
| BRI | 2015 | 4 | 18 | 0 | .182 | 17th out of 18 | — | — | — | — |
| BRI | 2016 | 3 | 19 | 0 | .136 | 17th out of 18 | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 14 | 52 | 0 | .212 | — | — | — | |||
 | ||
Coach:Brereton | ||