The 204cm ruckman enjoyed arguably the most dominant performance of his young career, with 19 disposals, seven clearances, eight marks, two goals and a whopping 42 hitouts making him the most effective big man on the field.
The agile West Australian also brought the Gabba to its feet with a running bomb from well beyond 50 metres in the final term.
AFL Dream Teamers with Leuenberger in their ruck division would have had a smile from ear-to-ear as the 23 year-old racked up 140 points to be the highest scoring ruckman for Round 21. Considering it was also the first week of the AFL Dream Team League Finals, his inclusion could have almost been the difference between an early elimination or a ticket straight into the Preliminary Finals.
But Leuenberger wasn’t alone in Dream Team dominance on Saturday night., with his regular midfield cohorts Jack Redden (118 points), Tom Rockliff (112 points) and Black (97 points) all terrorising the SUNS throughout the game.
Therefore it’s no surprise to see those players still occupying the top four positions on the Lions’ leaderboard - albeit in a different order.
Meanwhile Pearce Hanley maintains a stronghold on fifth position overall at the Lions - although Jed Adcock and Luke Power aren’t far behind.
Among those actual Lions players who manage their own AFL Dream Team, there have been some developments after Round 21.
Daniel Rich’s team - ‘Richy’s Rockets’ - made up a significant amount of ground on ‘Patfull’s Posse’ and is now just 150 points shy with three weeks remaining.
There is also a deadlock for third/fourth with Rohan Bewick and Todd Banfield both sitting on 39,697 points after 21 Rounds - which is quite remarkable.
Unfortunately the FULL Lions Group rankings weren’t available on the AFL Dream Team site at the time of writing, but the Lions stats from Round 21 have been provided below:
LIONS MOST POINTS (ROUND 21)
1. Matthew Leuenberger - 140
2. Jack Redden - 118
3. Tom Rockliff - 112
4. Simon Black - 97
5. James Polkinghorne - 95
LIONS MOST POINTS (OVERALL)
1. Jack Redden - 2,086
2. Tom Rockliff - 1,848
3. Simon Black - 1,760
4. Matthew Leuenberger - 1,725
5. Pearce Hanley - 1,507
LIONS PLAYER DREAM TEAM RANKINGS
Patfull’s Posse (Joel Patfull) - 42,595
Richy’s Rockets (Daniel Rich) - 42,456
Bewick’s Bandits (Rohan Bewick) - 39,697
Todd’s Titans (Todd Banfield) - 39,697
Boonj’s Bandits (Ash McGrath) - 38,532
Get Around Golbs (Mitch Golby) - 36,756
Clarky’s Kings (Mitch Clark) - 34,806
Rocky’s Rebels (Tom Rockliff) - 34,768
The Incredibles (Josh Green) - 32,752
The Wolf Pack (Claye Beams) - 32,441
