The 1996 season was the tenth season of the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League (AFL). It was the final year of the Bears before it merged with the Fitzroy Football Club, competing in the AFL as the Brisbane Lions from 1997 onwards.
Brisbane had its most successful season to date in 1996, finishing third on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season to reach the finals series for the second year in a row and the second time in club history. The Bears won two finals, both played at the Gabba, before losing to eventual premiers in the preliminary final.
Following the conclusion of the season, the Bears took over Fitzroy's AFL assets as part of a deal negotiated by the AFL, which resulted in the club changing its name to the Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club (trading as the Brisbane Lions).
Season summary Brisbane began the 1996 home-and-away season with an 87-point victory over at the Gabba in front of a crowd of 14,222 people, which would be the lowest home crowd for the Bears during the year. The club won seven of their first eight matches before losing to by 58 points in round 9, which was followed by a draw against and a loss to .
While Brisbane was able to recover at the mid-point of the season with a 77-point win over , two losses away from home against and saw the Bears fall to seventh place on the ladder, just six weeks after sitting in first. It was around this time that Fitzroy administrator Michael Brennan agreed to merge the club's AFL operations with Brisbane, with the agreement of the AFL Commission and a majority vote of the AFL's constituent clubs.
After the loss to Adelaide, the Bears went on a seven-match winning streak, which included four victories in Melbourne. Among those victories was an 87-point defeat of Fitzroy at Optus Oval, in what was the final match played between the teams before their merger.
Entering the final round of the season, Brisbane were sitting first on the ladder with a chance to claim the minor premiership for the first (and only) time in the club's history, but were defeated by at Victoria Park. Despite the loss, Brisbane's third-placed finish was its highest-ever, marking the only time the Bears finished in the top four and giving the club the chance to host finals matches at the Gabba.
In the qualifying final, Brisbane defeated by one point to record its first victory in a final. The following week in the semi-final, the Bears comfortably defeated by 97 points in front of a crowd of 21,767 people. Brisbane's final match was the preliminary final against at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the Bears lost by 38 points to fall one week short of making a maiden AFL Grand Final. The last goal for the Brisbane Bears was kicked by Darryl White in the final minutes of the preliminary final.
AFL season Lightning Premiership
Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Friday, 9 February (9:30 pm) Waverley Park — — QF Saturday, 10 February (7:30 pm) Waverley Park — — SF Sunday, 11 February (6:30 pm) Waverley Park — — GF Sunday, 11 February (9:30 pm) Waverley Park — —
Ansett Australia Cup
Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Monday, 4 March (7:00 pm) The Gabba 18,325 — QF Sunday, 10 March (7:00 pm) The Gabba 13,269 —
Home-and-away season
Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Ladder Home Away Result 1 Saturday, 30 March (7:40 pm) The Gabba 14,222 3rd 2 Saturday, 6 April (6:40 pm) WACA 29,213 3rd 3 Saturday, 13 April (7:40 pm) The Gabba 20,635 3rd 4 Friday, 19 April (7:40 pm) The Gabba 17,469 3rd 5 Sunday, 28 April (2:10 pm) The Gabba 14,495 1st 6 Sunday, 5 May (12:10 pm) Subiaco Oval 24,591 1st 7 Saturday, 11 May (7:40 pm) The Gabba 20,053 1st 8 Friday, 17 May (7:40 pm) The Gabba 21,644 1st 9 Sunday, 26 May (1:10pm) SCG 26,537 2nd 10 Saturday, 8 June (2:10 pm) Kardinia Park 24,800 3rd 11 Saturday, 15 June (7:40 pm) The Gabba 20,225 3rd 12 Saturday, 22 June (7:40 pm) The Gabba 14,871 3rd 13 Saturday, 29 June (2:10 pm) Waverley Park 13,824 6th 14 Saturday, 6 July (8:10 pm) Football Park 34,183 7th 15 Sunday, 14 July (2:10 pm) The Gabba 20,378 5th 16 Saturday, 20 July (2:10 pm) Whitten Oval 9,994 5th 17 Saturday, 27 July (2:10 pm) The Gabba 15,772 5th 18 Sunday, 4 August (2:10 pm) Optus Oval 17,157 5th 19 Sunday, 11 August (2:10 pm) Optus Oval 15,453 3rd 20 Saturday, 17 August (2:10 pm) Optus Oval 6,469 3rd 21 Saturday, 24 August (7:40 pm) The Gabba 19,204 1st 22 Saturday, 31 August (12:10 pm) Victoria Park 21,126 3rd
Ladder
Finals series Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores Venue Crowd Home Away Result Qualifying final Friday, 6 September (7:45 pm) The Gabba 21,964 Semi-final Saturday, 14 September (7:45 pm) The Gabba 21,767 Preliminary final Saturday, 21 September (2:30 pm) MCG 66,719
Awards and milestones
Brisbane's Michael Voss won the Brownlow Medal as the AFL's best and fairest player during the 1996 season, finishing to 21 votes to tie with 's James Hird. In doing so, Voss became the first Queenslander to win the Brownlow Medal. He was also named the Brisbane Bears Club Champion for the second year in a row. Voss and Craig Lambert were both named in the 1996 All-Australian team.
Club awards Club Champion (best and fairest): Michael Voss Leading goalkicker: Alastair Lynch (52 goals)
Milestones Rd Player Milestone Opponent Venue Ref 1 Troy Johnson AFL debut The Gabba Danny Dickfos AFL debut 2 Tristan Lynch AFL debut WACA 6 Richard Champion 100th AFL game Subiaco Oval Clark Keating AFL debut 11 Matthew Kennedy 100th AFL game The Gabba 12 Ben Robbins AFL debut The Gabba 18 Daniel Bradshaw AFL debut Optus Oval QF Shaun Hart 100th AFL game The Gabba
See also 1996 Fitzroy Football Club season
References