Part of the inaugural squad to make its way in the AFL, Brendon Lade debuted for the Club in Round 1, 1997, against Collingwood at the MCG. A series of serious injuries stymied the early part of his career, but by 2004 Lade was one of the dominant big men of the game, which he would remain right up until his retirement at the end of 2009. Throughout his time at the Club, Lade won the John Cahill Medal in 2006, and in the same year was also elected Best Team Man - an award he’d won previously, in 2003. He confirmed his dominance by earning back-to-back All Australian honours in 2006 and 2007.
2000-2009 Statistics:
Games: 169
Goals: 138
Average kicks: 7.27
Average handballs: 3.96
Average disposals: 11.23
Average marks: 5.05
Average hit-outs: 16.61
Average tackles: 1.30
Total Brownlow votes: 33
