1997 Brisbane Lions season

The Brisbane Lions' 1997 season was its first season in the Australian Football League (AFL) after its merger.

Brisbane Lions

1997 season
Coach	John Northey
Captain(s)	Alastair Lynch Michael Voss
Home ground	The Gabba (Capacity: 42,000)
AFL season	8th
Best and fairest	Matthew Clarke
Leading goalkicker	Justin Leppitsch (50 goals)
Highest home attendance	21,348 vs. Adelaide (18 July 1997)
Lowest home attendance	17,123 vs. St Kilda (6 April 1997)
Average home attendance	19,550
Club membership	16,769
← 1996 (Brisbane Bears) 1996 (Fitzroy) 1998 →

Season summary

Premiership Season

Home and away season

See also: 1997 AFL season

Rd	Date and local time	Opponent	Scores		Venue	Attendance
			Brisbane	Opponent
1	30 March (1:40 pm)	Adelaide	96	132	Football Park (A)	36,602
2	6 April (2:45 pm)	St Kilda	154	57	The Gabba (H)	17,123
3	13 April (2:10 pm)	Hawthorn	75	87	Waverley Park (A)	27,947
4	20 April (2:45 pm)	North Melbourne	109	83	The Gabba (H)	18,575
5	27 April (2:10 pm)	Port Adelaide	71	73	Football Park (A)	31,757
6	3 May (2:10 pm)	Essendon	71	102	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	37,642
7	11 May (2:45 pm)	West Coast	60	139	The Gabba (H)	17,524
8	18 May (2:10 pm)	Fremantle	93	98	Subiaco Oval (A)	14,721
9	25 May (2:45 pm)	Geelong	126	98	The Gabba (H)	19,828
10	1 June (2:10 pm)	Sydney	92	89	The Gabba (H)	20,403
11	9 June (2:10 pm)	Carlton	63	84	Princes Park (A)	27,904
12	15 June (2:10 pm)	Melbourne	135	50	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	13,392
13	28 June (7:40 pm)	Collingwood	88	73	The Gabba (H)	19,560
14	6 July (2:10 pm)	Richmond	68	50	The Gabba (H)	19,155
15	12 July (2:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs	137	73	Princes Park (A)	16,430
16	18 July (7:40 pm)	Adelaide	118	87	The Gabba (H)	21,348
17	27 July (2:10 pm)	St Kilda	44	92	Waverley Park (A)	34,859
18	2 August (7:40 pm)	Hawthorn	141	71	The Gabba (H)	19,635
19	8 August (7:40 pm)	North Melbourne	59	116	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	27,021
20	16 August (7:40 pm)	Port Adelaide	93	93	The Gabba (H)	20,835
21	23 August (7:40 pm)	Essendon	102	106	The Gabba (H)	21,065
22	29 August (6:40 pm)	West Coast	81	120	WACA (A)	29,402

Finals series

See also: 1997 AFL season § Finals

Rd	Date and local time	Opponent	Scores		Venue	Attendance
			Brisbane	Opponent
Second qualifying final	7 September (2:30 pm)	St Kilda	89	135	Waverley Park	50,035

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	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 Lions	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	2253	83.6	40
14	Essendon	22	9	13	0	2004	2170	92.4	36
15	Hawthorn	22	8	14	0	1873	2144	87.4	32
16	Melbourne	22	4	18	0	1477	2429	60.8	16

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 90.3
Source: AFL Tables