Derek Wirth (born 29 November 1978) is a former

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 who played with 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). A Springwood junior, Wirth was a key position player, originally drafted to the

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, ...

. He was recruited from

Mount Gravatt Mount Gravatt is a southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and a prominent hill and lookout within this suburb (). In the , Mount Gravatt had a population of 3,733 people. Geography T ...

, as one of three zone selections in the 1995 AFL Draft. He didn't play a league game for Brisbane in 1996 and at the end of the year was signed by the Lions, who were formed from a merger between the Bears and Fitzroy. He spent two years with the Lions and in his second season finally made his debut, against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

in round 18.AFL Tables: Derek Wirth
/ref> Wirth scored twice and was one of just two multiple goal scorers for Brisbane, however he was dropped from the starting lineup after a 95-point defeat. It was the only AFL game he would play, despite also spending a year at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, who had picked him up in the rookie draft. In 2000 he was a member of the Redland team which competed in their inaugural Queensland State League season. He went on to make over 100 appearances with the club and served as captain from 2003 to 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirth, Derek 1978 births Brisbane Lions players Mount Gravatt Football Club players Redland Football Club players Living people Australian rules footballers from Brisbane