The theories and stich-ups behind the Gabba goal tunes: See every player’s song of choice
With every goal, the Gabba starts rocking. From Not Pretty Enough by Kasey Chambers to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, get the inside story on the tunes and see every player’s song here.
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When Charlie Cameron got the party started with a running goal in the third quarter against Port Adelaide, 36,000 fans kept it going.
An awe-inspiring rendition of John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ rocked the Gabba stands and the atmosphere went into overdrive when Cameron queued up an encore performance not 30 seconds later.
So scintillating was the energy that even Chris Fagan recalled the moment in his post-match press conference.
The All-Australian’s Gabba Anthem has become a fan favourite among the Brisbane faithful but for many outside Queensland it was their first time clueing onto the electric atmosphere the Lions have created.
It received mixed reviews on social media after the qualifying final but for those in Brisbane it’s become an ironed-on tradition that many love.
The idea was first borne out of a conversation between Dayne Zorko and Lions head of brand and marketing, Taylor Olzard.
The club wanted to bolster its match day experience during the team’s lean years when winning wasn’t as regular as in recent seasons.
Early attempts to play songs after goals were blocked by the AFL but during the Covid-impacted 2020 season, the league softened on its stance and the Lions pounced.
“I gave Zorks a sheet of paper to put in the locker room and players would write some songs down on there,” Olzard recalled.
“In the first week of the season there were only a handful of players (that had picked songs) so Zorks went through and stitched up the boys with some pretty lame songs.
“The king of entertainment Charlie Cameron thought it was his time to shine. He took over and started with (viral children’s song) Baby Shark as his first goal song and all the kids in the crowd would do the Baby Shark.
“Then he turned to Country Roads and has been solid on that for two years, which has obviously paid off for him.”
| Brisbane Lions Gabba Anthems | ||
| Player | Song | Artist |
| Kai Lohmann | Untouched | The Veronicas |
| Deven Robertston | R U Mine | Arctic Monkeys |
| Joe Daniher | Let it Go | Frozen |
| Callum Ah Chee | Alive | Pearl Jam |
| Josh Dunkley | Wagon Wheel | Darius Rucker |
| Hugh McCluggage | Hey Jude | The Beatles |
| Jarrod Berry | Thunderstruck | ACDC |
| Will Ashcroft | Homecoming | Ye |
| Lachie Neale | Pon de Replay | Rihanna |
| Daniel Rich | Fast Car | Tracy Chapman |
| Linc McCarthy | American Pie | Don McLean |
| Nakia Cockatoo | My People My People | Chris Phillips |
| Blake Coleman | Baby | Justin Bieber |
| James Madden | Gypsy | Fleetwood Mac |
| Dayne Zorko | Baddest of Them All | Eliza Rose |
| Cam Rayner | Sweet Caroline | Neil Diamond |
| Jarryd Lyons | Afraid to Feel | LF System |
| Jack Gunston | Horses | Daryl Braithwaite |
| Jaxon Prior | Times Like These | Foo Fighters |
| Tom Fullarton | I Cry | Flo Rider |
| Harry Sharp | Gimme Gimme Gimme | ABBA |
| Charlie Cameron | Country Roads | John Denver |
| Henry Smith | Twist and Shout | The Beatles |
| Conor McKenna | Life is a Rollercoaster | Ronan Keating |
| Darcy Gardiner | We Found Love | Rihanna |
| Jaspa Fletcher | Don’t Stop the Music | Rihanna |
| James Tunstill | I Won’t Back Down | Tom Petty |
| Eric Hipwood | Billie Jean | Michael Jackson |
| Harris Andrews | Dreams | The Cranberries |
| Darcy Fort | Keep on Moving | Five |
| Zac Bailey | Hey Baby (Hey Bailey) | DJ Otzi |
| Shadeau Brain | Party in the USA | Miley Cyrus |
| Ryan Lester | You’re the Voice | John Farnham |
| Rhys Mathieson | Like a G6 | Far East Movement |
| Brandon Starcevich | Dreams | Gabrielle |
| Carter Michael | One Kiss | Dua Lipa |
| Jack Payne | Errol | Aussie Crawl |
| Noah Answerth | 3am | Matchbox Twenty |
| Darcy Wilmot | Replay | Lyaz |
| Kalin Lane | Pretender | Foo Fighters |
| Oscar McInerney | Not Pretty Enough | Kasey Chambers |
| Darryl McDowell-White | Beautiful Day | Trinix, Rushawn, Jermain Edwards |
| Keidean Coleman | All of the Light | Ye |
What started as a minor inconvenience for players has since become a point of pride, with many in the team attempting to take Cameron’s crown as the king of entertainment at the Gabba.
“Eric Hipwood thinks about his a lot,” Olzard revealed.
“It was an away game and I got a message from him while they were in Melbourne: ‘Tay, I’ve got a new goal song’.
“He’s probably changed his song two or three times this year. He’s trying to find the next Country Roads.”
For others there’s less of an interest.
Spearhead Joe Daniher’s ‘Let it Go’ comes via the blockbuster animated film Frozen.
His was played five times in the win over Port Adelaide and more than a few fans are curious as to the story behind the star forward’s selection.
“I think that may have been a stitch up, I’m not sure how much of a say Joe had in that,” Olzard revealed.
“I have been asked by (CEO) Greg Swann to change Joe’s song so many times, but it’s not going to happen. I see so many comments on social media about it and even my nieces when they come to the game, they love it.
“We did want to change the lyrics to ‘Let it Joe’, but that hasn’t quite taken off yet.”
While Let it Joe is yet to feature, Brisbane did dabble in a homemade remix for another popular forward.
Fans voted in ‘Hey Baby (If You’ll be my Girl)’ as Zac Bailey’s anthem and a sound tech went to work remixing the lyrics to ‘Hey Bailey’.
“Unfortunately with copyrights we weren’t able to keep playing Hey Bailey for too long, but we gave it a red hot crack,” Olzard said.
The post-goal celebration song has become one of the key pillars not just of Brisbane’s match day entertainment package, but a weapon to help keep momentum in the home side’s favour.
When Cameron kicked his second goal against Port Adelaide it whipped the crowd into a frenzy and the Lions fed off that energy to power away from the visitors.
It’s become a small foundational piece of the Gabba fortress that has helped the Lions remain unbeaten at home this season.
“This year we’ve taken away the goals songs from opposition teams,” Olzard said.
“That came from Greg Swann and Lachie Neale. They were really clear they didn’t want any momentum for the opposition team – we don’t want them to get up and about.
“We don’t want rival teams to feel comfortable at the Gabba.”
Cam Rayner’s selection of ‘Sweet Caroline’ is another popular song that has claims to rival Cameron and the former No. 1 draft pick has hit some strong goal kicking form in recent weeks which will help his case.
Incredibly, it took until Jack Gunston’s arrival this season for the legendary ‘Horses’ by Aussie icon Daryl Braithwaite to get a run at the Gabba.
But whether or not the famous tune features in the preliminary final rests in the hands of coach Chris Fagan, who has a looming selection decision to make on Gunston now that the forward has seemingly overcome a knee injury.
Braithwaite said he was “honoured” to feature on such an exclusive list, though refused to advocate for Gunston’s selection on that basis alone.
As a diehard Collingwood fan he preferred not to dabble in the Lions’ affairs.
However the legendary singer-songwriter did offer up a few alternative suggestions for players eager to change their tune.
“Whatever song they go with, whether it’s Horses or Holy Grail or something else … they need to find the happy medium,” Braithwaite told this masthead.
“Sometimes, when they have weighed up whether they should have entertainment at the MCG for the grand final I have, perhaps stupidly, thought it should be all about the football.
“But if you can get people singing along at the stadium then that works. I guess you just have to pick the right songs.
“Simply the Best by Tina Turner. (Seven Nation) Army by White Stripes … Hunters and Collectors, Holy Grail.
“There’s a few to get them started.”
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