Simon_Black

Ads

Simon Black

Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League.

Black is a midfielder with a reputation for hard work and skill. He has the ability to get under the pack to retrieve the ball as well as deliver it with precision to teammates and rarely wastes a possession.

Born in Mount Isa, Queensland, he relocated to Western Australia with his family at a very young age, where he attended school at Corpus Christi College in Bateman.

He was drafted by the Brisbane Lions in 1997 from the East Fremantle Football Club, and he debuted in the first game of the 1998 season and immediately showed his class. His numerous awards for his efforts include the 2002 Brownlow Medal, the 2003 Norm Smith Medal and the 2001, 2002, and 2006 Merrett-Murray Medals awarded to the best and fairest player with the Brisbane Lions. His individual awards are accompanied by the three premiership medallions he received as a part of the Lions' hat-trick of premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Black's individual achievements include a personal best possession count of 39 disposals (16 kicks, 23 handballs) to win the Norm Smith. In his Brownlow year of 2002, he had 20 or more disposals 19 times in the 25 games played, including three occasions where he amassed over 30 possessions. Black's victory in 2002 was confirmed only in the final round, the added intrigue arising as his main rival for the medal, Josh Francou, had opposed him in the final round of the season at AAMI Stadium, a clash the Power won by less than a kick, when Roger James goaled with a minute remaining. He had an uninterrupted run of 109 straight games from 2000 until 2004, when he was suspended for four games due to an incident which arose in the Grand Final loss to Port Adelaide. It has been the only blemish on an otherwise spotless record.

2008

Black has had an almost perfect start to 2008 gathering over 28 disposals a staggering nine times in 11 matches including a 36 disposal haul against Melbourne. His odds of winning the Brownlow dropped dramatically mid season due to injury and poor form but surprisingly in the 2008 Brownlow Medal, he still came second with 23 votes behind eventual winner Adam Cooney.

2007

Black's strong preseason form in 2007 has been seen by experts as indicative of a big year ahead. His odds of a second Brownlow dropped to $25 after three weeks of the 2007 preseason. Black started the 2007 AFL season in great fashion with 39 Disposals in his first game of the season against the Hawthorn Hawks. Then on Round 9 he played his 200th game against the Collingwood Magpies where he disposed of the ball 37 times collecting best on ground honours. He then had a bad patch where he got 11 and 9 touches but the next week he fired back with 28 disposals and a goal. In 2007 he gathered 466 disposals in 21 games, a great achievement. He was a surprise packet in the Brownlow Medal, polling 22 votes to finish equal second behind eventual winner Jimmy Bartel. Simon Black is also known for his effective use of the ball and his rarely use trademark cross kick which is effectively used.

Leadership

In 2004, Black was made a vice captain of the Lions, a position he retained in 2005. In 2006, he was made a member of the nine-man leadership group of the Lions led by captain Michael Voss alongside senior players Jason Akermanis, Jonathan Brown, Chris Johnson, Nigel Lappin, Justin Leppitsch, Luke Power, and Chris Scott, though disciplinary action against Akermanis and Leppitsch's mid-season retirement due to injury reduced the group to seven. Of these, Lappin and Scott spent the year out through injury; likewise, Johnson and Brown also endured long-term injuries that precluded them from playing much of the season. This left much of the on-field leadership to Black and Power, especially as Voss prepared to step down from the captaincy at the end of the season. Black and Power shared on-field leadership duties, including the coin toss, through the end of the 2006 season. The leadership group was also instrumental in the off-field culture of the club, particularly in the handling of the Akermanis situation.

After Voss retired at the end of 2006, the leadership group of Black, Johnson, Brown, and Power (Lappin being unavailable through injury for all games) acted as co-captains through the 2007 NAB Cup. The club announced on 20th March 2007 that all five players would share the captaincy for the 2007 season.