Justin Leppitsch (born 1 October 1975) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er and the former coach of the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

Leppitsch was raised in

Berwick, Victoria Berwick () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Casey local government area. Berwick recorded a population of 50,298 at the 2021 census. It was named ...

. In 1992, he played in the newly established VSFL Under-18 competition (later known as the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

) with

Southern Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regiona ...

, where he was runner-up for the

Morrish Medal The Morrish Medal is an award presented to the best and fairest player in the premier Victorian underage Australian rules football competition during the home-and-away season. Boasting an uninterrupted lineage from 1947 onwards, the medal is cu ...

, and caught the attention of

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

talent scouts. He was selected by Brisbane at pick 4 in the

1992 AFL Draft The 1992 AFL draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. It consisted of the main national draft, the pre-season draft an ...

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 Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn Football Club, Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the ...

, 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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

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 Mark Harvey (born 11 June 1965) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played over 200 games during fourteen seasons with the Essendon Football Club, winning three premierships, and was senior coach of Fremantle from 2007 t ...

, who replaced

Michael Voss Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions, and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Voss was a tr ...

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 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, which they lost to , 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 The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in an assistant coaching role as Head of Strategy and defence under senior coach

Craig McRae Craig McRae (born 22 September 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer and the current senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club. Playing career Glenelg Football Club McRae played for Glenelg Football Club in the SANFL from 1993 unti ...

. Leppitsch again experienced premiership success as an assistant coach in 2023, when Collingwood defeated his old club the

by four points in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

Statistics

Playing statistics

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1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

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1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 4 , , 5 , , 4 , , 19 , , 5 , , 24 , , 5 , , 1 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 4.8 , , 1.3 , , 6.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 17 , , 4 , , 8 , , 96 , , 54 , , 150 , , 48 , , 17 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 5.6 , , 3.2 , , 8.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 19 , , 45 , , 23 , , 152 , , 49 , , 201 , , 57 , , 18 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , 8.0 , , 2.6 , , 10.6 , , 3.0 , , 0.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 50 , , 38 , , 186 , , 63 , , 249 , , 97 , , 20 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , 8.5 , , 2.9 , , 11.3 , , 4.4 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 16 , , 26 , , 17 , , 145 , , 52 , , 197 , , 64 , , 19 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , 9.1 , , 3.3 , , 12.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 25 , , 14 , , 12 , , 242 , , 86 , , 328 , , 129 , , 30 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 9.7 , , 3.4 , , 13.1 , , 5.2 , , 1.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 11 , , 12 , , 207 , , 127 , , 334 , , 125 , , 29 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 9.4 , , 5.8 , , 15.2 , , 5.7 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 11 , , 6 , , 3 , , 69 , , 35 , , 104 , , 43 , , 4 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 6.3 , , 3.2 , , 9.5 , , 3.9 , , 0.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 23 , , 12 , , 10 , , 208 , , 82 , , 290 , , 115 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 9.0 , , 3.6 , , 12.6 , , 5.0 , , 1.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 22 , , 10 , , 3 , , 193 , , 105 , , 298 , , 126 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 8.8 , , 4.8 , , 13.5 , , 5.7 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 24 , , 6 , , 2 , , 173 , , 110 , , 283 , , 108 , , 40 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 7.2 , , 4.6 , , 11.8 , , 4.5 , , 1.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 14 , , 0 , , 0 , , 144 , , 80 , , 224 , , 80 , , 29 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.3 , , 5.7 , , 16.0 , , 5.7 , , 2.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 4 , , 1 , , 0 , , 32 , , 19 , , 51 , , 20 , , 2 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , , 4.8 , , 12.8 , , 5.0 , , 0.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 227 ! 194 ! 134 ! 1893 ! 879 ! 2772 ! 1020 ! 278 ! 0.9 ! 0.6 ! 8.3 ! 3.9 ! 12.2 ! 4.5 ! 1.2

Head coaching record

References

External links

Justin Leppitsch at the Brisbane Lions website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leppitsch, Justin 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