Nigel Lappin (born 21 June 1976) 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. Lappin is currently serving as an assistant coach with the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

Playing career

Lappin was born in the locally based regional hospital at

Corowa, New South Wales Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Counci ...

and grew up in

Chiltern, Victoria Chiltern is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the northeast of the state between Wangaratta and Wodonga, in the Shire of Indigo. At the 2021 census, Chiltern had a population of 1,580. It is the birthplace of Prime Minister John McEwen. The t ...

. Lappin played in Chiltern's losing 1992 and 1993 O&KFL grand final sides, alongside his cousin,

Matthew Lappin Matthew Lappin (born 17 February 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Lappin played in Chiltern's losing 1 ...

and Nigel kicked 59 goals in his two years of senior O&KFL football. Lappin won Chiltern's senior football best and fairest award in 1993. He was drafted to play for 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, ...

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 ...

in 1993, playing his first AFL game the following year in round three, against Fitzroy on the 9th April, 1994. In 1997 he was a member of the inaugural

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 ...

team following the Bears merger with Fitzroy. A long, accurate kick, capable of running as a play maker throughout the whole match, he was recognised as a member of the group of players known as the "Fab Four", a group of highly skilled

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

players considered to be one of the major driving forces behind the Lions successive Australian Football League premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. An example of his courage was the 2003

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 ...

win, in which he played the whole match with a broken rib. Lappin represented Australia in

International Rules International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

in 2001. In 2004 he achieved a personal milestone in winning his first

Merrett–Murray Medal The Merrett–Murray Medal has been awarded annually since 1997, to the player adjudged the Brisbane Lions club champion over the immediately preceding Australian Football League (AFL) season. It is named after Roger Merrett and Kevin Murray (Aus ...

. However his 2005 season ended prematurely when he broke his right ankle late in the season. Weeks into his comeback, the ankle was re-injured in a 2006 pre-season practice match, forcing him to miss the entire 2006 season. Following the retirement of longtime

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 ...

at the end of 2006, Lappin was appointed co-captain of the club alongside

Simon Black Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is a former Australian rules football player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Black was a midfielder with a reputation fo ...

Luke Power Luke Power (born 8 January 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions and Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). A member of the Brisbane Lions's 2001, 2002, and 2003 premiers ...

, Jonathan Brown, and Chris Johnson on 20 March 2007. His cousin

also played AFL football for Carlton and St. Kilda. His grandfather, Gerry O'Neill played with Footscray in 1943 and 1944.

Retirement

On 19 August 2008, Nigel Lappin announced his retirement from professional football. After only being able to play 4 games in the 2008 season due to an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

problem, Nigel decided it was time to draw a close on his career. "I'm really disappointed this season hasn't worked out for me," Lappin said at a Gabba press conference. "Every footballer wants the fairytale ending. It's hard to walk away from something that's been a really big part of your life, but I've got a family that will care for me." He was the last remaining member of the Brisbane Lions inaugural Round 1, 1997 team. In October 2008, Lappin joined the

as an assistant coach. In 2016 he was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

Statistics

:Nigel Lappin's player profile at AFL Tables
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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;", , 44 , , 17 , , 8 , , 3 , , 115 , , 82 , , 197 , , 37 , , 11 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 6.8 , , 4.8 , , 11.6 , , 2.2 , , 0.6 , - ! 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;", , 44 , , 19 , , 17 , , 18 , , 179 , , 80 , , 259 , , 56 , , 14 , , 0.9 , , 0.9 , , 9.4 , , 4.2 , , 13.6 , , 2.9 , , 0.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 44 , , 25 , , 15 , , 15 , , 376 , , 126 , , 502 , , 118 , , 16 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 15.0 , , 5.0 , , 20.1 , , 4.7 , , 0.6 , - ! 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;", , 44 , , 21 , , 10 , , 14 , , 281 , , 119 , , 400 , , 107 , , 17 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 13.4 , , 5.7 , , 19.0 , , 5.1 , , 0.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 44 , , 20 , , 15 , , 12 , , 269 , , 130 , , 399 , , 96 , , 15 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 13.5 , , 6.5 , , 20.0 , , 4.8 , , 0.8 , - ! 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;", , 44 , , 25 , , 23 , , 23 , , 281 , , 185 , , 466 , , 109 , , 29 , , 0.9 , , 0.9 , , 11.2 , , 7.4 , , 18.6 , , 4.4 , , 1.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 44 , , 24 , , 16 , , 12 , , 337 , , 179 , , 516 , , 107 , , 33 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 14.0 , , 7.5 , , 21.5 , , 4.5 , , 1.4 , - ! 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;", , 44 , , 25 , , 26 , , 19 , , 383 , , 232 , , 615 , , 157 , , 50 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 15.3 , , 9.3 , , 24.6 , , 6.3 , , 2.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 44 , , 18 , , 7 , , 12 , , 275 , , 167 , , 442 , , 92 , , 74 , , 0.4 , , 0.7 , , 15.3 , , 9.3 , , 24.6 , , 5.1 , , 4.1 , - ! 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;", , 44 , , 22 , , 8 , , 15 , , 371 , , 191 , , 562 , , 124 , , 70 , , 0.4 , , 0.7 , , 16.9 , , 8.7 , , 25.5 , , 5.6 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 44 , , 25 , , 17 , , 17 , , 379 , , 251 , , 630 , , 115 , , 121 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 15.2 , , 10.0 , , 25.2 , , 4.6 , , 4.8 , - ! 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;", , 44 , , 16 , , 8 , , 5 , , 220 , , 147 , , 367 , , 76 , , 49 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 13.8 , , 9.2 , , 22.9 , , 4.8 , , 3.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! 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;", , 44 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 44 , , 18 , , 4 , , 6 , , 257 , , 225 , , 482 , , 85 , , 75 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 14.3 , , 12.5 , , 26.8 , , 4.7 , , 4.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 44 , , 4 , , 0 , , 2 , , 35 , , 39 , , 74 , , 14 , , 22 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 8.8 , , 9.8 , , 18.5 , , 3.5 , , 5.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 279 ! 174 ! 173 ! 3758 ! 2153 ! 5911 ! 1293 ! 596 ! 0.6 ! 0.6 ! 13.5 ! 7.7 ! 21.2 ! 4.6 ! 2.1

Career highlights

Teal Cup *Victorian & All-Australian U15 Schoolboys 1991 *Victorian Country & All-Australian Teal Cup (U17) 1993 *Winner Chiltern Best & Fairest 1993 Brisbane Bears/Lions *Best & Fairest 2004 *Victorian State of Origin 1996, 1997, 1999 *First Brisbane-based AFL player to win Victorian State of Origin Selection *Member Bears First Finals Side 1995 *Member Lions First Finals Side 1997 * Ansett Cup Grand Final Side 2001 *

captain 2007 *Australian Asthma Sportsman of the Year 1998 *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 *

2001, *Premiership Player 2001, 2002, 2003

References

External links

Butcher's boy to champion
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lappin, Nigel 1976 births Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Brisbane Bears players Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions premiership players Brisbane Lions captains All-Australians (AFL) Victorian State of Origin players Merrett–Murray Medal winners Living people Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players VFL/AFL premiership players