The Brisbane Lions will field a team of former greats and other special guests as part of this Friday night's NAB Cup festivities.

The nine-a-side Legends/Celebrity exhibition matches will take place in-between the senior NAB Cup matches with the Lions taking on a team of Essendon Legends in the first match at approximately 8pm.

The non-contact match should provide Lions fans with a trip down memory lane as a selection of past champions return to the field in the name of Flood Relief.

Our Club will be fielding a very strong side on paper which includes a handful of premiership players, leading goal-kickers and Best and Fairest winners. 

Please find below the profiles on each of the players who will be looking to turn back the clock this Friday night at Etihad Stadium.

CRAIG HUGGINS

Craig ‘Huggy’ Huggins is a popular Melbourne radio personality on Gold 104.3 who has also been a sports reporter on TV and the voice-over on many TV game shows and commercials. A mad Lions fan, Huggy also plays football for Panton Hills in the local Northern Football League.

CHRIS JOHNSON

The last of the ‘Roy Boys’, Chris Johnson started at Fitzroy as a specialist forward and was the Club’s leading goal-kicker in only his second season. He moved to Brisbane as part of the 1997 merger where he transformed himself into one of the most damaging small defenders in the AFL. He was an integral part of the Lions’ hat-trick of premierships and was later named co-captain of the Club. The dual All Australian also captained Australia in the International Rules Series and skippered the Indigenous All-Star team on two occasions. Johnson retired at the end of 2007 after 264 games and 172 goals with the Club.

DARREN KAPPLER

Darren Kappler was a talented wingman who began his AFL career in slashing style after joining Fitzroy from South Adelaide in 1987. He won the Lions’ Best and Fairest award in 1988 - just his second season - and gave the Lions five years of service before moving to Sydney and later Hawthorn. Kappler also represented South Australia in the State of Origin series on two occasions. He played a total of 87 games with the Lions and booted 51 goals from 1987-91.

MAL MICHAEL

Mal Michael began his career as a rookie with Collingwood before being traded to Brisbane at the end of 2000 to fill a void in defence. Michael made an immediate impact at the Lions, holding down the all-important full-back position during the historic hat-trick of premierships in his first three seasons at the Club. Powerful, athletic and durable, Michael was largely unheralded and unlucky not to receive All Australian honours on a number of occasions. He retired from the game at the end of 2006 to focus on off-field interests before signing with Essendon where he ultimately finished his career. Michael played 140 matches across six great seasons with the Lions.

RICHARD OSBORNE

Richard Osborne was a formidable key position forward who played 17 VFL/AFL seasons with four clubs throughout his career. The most notable 11 years of his career were undoubtedly those spent with Fitzroy from 1982-92. He played 187 games and led the Club’s goal-kicking on three occasions. A fan favourite, his finest individual performance came in 1989 against Melbourne when he booted a career-best 11 goals. He left Fitzroy at the end of 1992 to join Sydney before moving to Footscray and finally Collingwood. Throughout his stellar career, Osborne represented Victoria seven times. He was also named on the interchange bench in Fitzroy’s official Team of the Century announced in 2002.

MARTIN PIKE

Martin Pike spent the first two seasons of his AFL career with Melbourne before he was traded to Fitzroy at the end of 1994. A hard-running half-back, he rapidly developed into one of the Club’s most influential players and won Fitzroy’s final Best & Fairest award in 1996 before being drafted to North Melbourne following the merger. He played in the Kangaroos' losing Grand Final in 1998 and was a member of their premiership winning team the following year against Carlton. After 81 games with his third AFL club, Pike moved to Brisbane in 2001 where he was an immediate part of three successive premiership winning teams. Pike played in his sixth AFL Grand Final in 2004 - albeit a losing one - and remained with the Lions until he retired in 2005. He finished with a total of 142 games with the Club.

CHRIS POLIDORAS

Chris Polidoras - the team's youngest member at just 20 - has played all of his football in a Fitzroy jumper. Chris first started playing for the Fitzroy Junior Football Club and in 2008 graduated to Fitzroy’s U19s. In his first season with the club he played 11 games with the U19s and eight games with the Seniors, finishing the year by winning the U19 Best and Fairest. In 2009 he was a regular in the Seniors and played in the 2009 Grand Final. He continued this success in 2010 playing the whole season in the Seniors, even though still eligible to play U19.

TROY SELWOOD

Troy Selwood was a tough, courageous and versatile midfielder who played 75 games with the Lions from 2005-2010. Recruited from Sandhurst and the Bendigo U18s, he unfortunately had to wait a long time to play his first game after battling a range of injuries. But Selwood eventually seized his opportunity and soon became a regular fixture in the Lions’ side. He proved valuable in a range of roles - including time as a tagger - but his progress was often stalled with injuries. Selwood eventually finished with the Club at the end of 2010.

DARREN WHEILDON

Darren ‘Doc’ Wheildon was a popular figure at Fitzroy throughout his 70-game career with the Club between 1989-1994 which produced 160 goals. Hailing from Newborough, he proved a bargain pick-up at the AFL National Draft and went on to become a skillful and flamboyant player in attack who could outmark bigger opponents. While he often gained attention for to his unusual array of haircuts, Wheildon also had a knack of producing miraculous passages of play. He finished his career with one season at Essendon. His nickname came from a GP of the same name in his home town.