Brisbane Lions appoint Lachie Neale and Harris Andrews as co-captains

There will be two more new captains in the AFL this season after the Brisbane Lions confirmed Dayne Zorko’s replacement.

New Brisbane Lions co-captains Harris Andrew and Lachie Neale have backed their leadership blend to bring success to a club hoping to end its 20-year premiership drought.

The Lions on Wednesday added another two captains to the long line of new AFL skippers in 2023, with Andrews and Neale taking the reins from outgoing skipper Dayne Zorko.

“Harris and I, we’ve worked really closely together and excited for the opportunity together,” said 2020 Brownlow medallist and former Fremantle star Neale, who also declared himself a “Lion for life”.

“There have been some great captains at this footy clubs before us, and hopefully we can forge our own way and become great captains ourselves.”

A “proud” Andrews, a product of the Queensland talent pathway, predicted his “good relationship” with Neale would ensure the pair formed a formidable leadership partnership.

“I’m really excited to be alongside Lach,” the key defender said.

“We’ve got a really good relationship. In saying that, we’re probably a little bit different in parts of the game. We’re going to bounce off each other as we go.

“We’ve spent the best part of four or five years together as part of the leadership group. We’ve worked really closely previously and we think it’s a great opportunity for us to work together and bring the best leadership to the team that we can.

“No doubt we’ll be learning along the way, but we’re both very flexibly minded.”

Chief + Choc will lead us into a new era 🦁https://t.co/u8RKMqLW3C

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) March 1, 2023

Lions general manager of football Danny Daly said Andrews and Neale were “exceptional people and leaders”.

“They each have different leadership qualities which we believe will complement each other,” Daly said.

“The process to select the leadership group highlighted to us just how many impressive leaders we have at the Lions and that includes those without an official title.

Neale and Andrews head up an 11-person leadership group that also includes vice-captain Hugh McCluggage, Daniel Rich, Lincoln McCarthy, Oscar McInerney, Charlie Cameron, Josh Dunkley, Jarrod Berry, Ryan Lester and Jack Gunston.

Andrews joked that he had put ex-skipper Zorko in a “headlock” for having publicly declared McCluggage was his top choice to take over the captaincy.

“To be honest, the leadership depth at the club is fantastic, and I feel like anyone probably could have stepped into the role,” Andrews said.

“We’re all really great mates. We all work really hard together and we just want the best for each other, so I’m really excited for what we can do as a leadership group and ... where we can take this club.”

A “dream would be to take the Lions to their first premiership since 2003.

“That’s what we’re all chasing,” Andrews said of the Lions’ quest for a flag.

“If you went around the other 17 clubs, they're probably saying the same thing, but we understand that there’s going to be 24 rounds plus potentially finals after that to get there.

“It’s going to be a long season, a lot of rollercoaster ups and downs, so as leaders we’ve just got to ensure that we rock up to the club each week with a good attitude and just wanting to get the club better week by week.

“Look too far ahead (and) you probably miss the opportunity to get that improvement.”

Brisbane joins Essendon, Collingwood, Geelong, Adelaide, North Melbourne, Hawthorn, GWS and Fremantle in appointing new captains for 2023.