32 Facts About Simon Black

Simon Black was born on 3 April 1979 and is a former Australian rules football player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League.

Simon Black had the ability to get under the pack to retrieve the ball as well as deliver it with precision to teammates.

Simon Black was drafted by the Brisbane Lions in 1997 from the East Fremantle Football Club, and he debuted in the first game of the 1998 season and quickly became one of Brisbane's best players.

Simon Black became Brisbane's third Brownlow Medallist by winning the much-coveted award in 2002 by a four-vote margin.

Simon Black is currently serving as the Contest Skills and Midfield Coach at the Brisbane Lions.

Simon Black relocated to Western Australia with his family at a very young age, where he attended school at Corpus Christi College in Bateman and Aquinas College, Perth.

Simon Black was a standout junior 800m and 1500m runner as a junior.

Simon Black joined East Fremantle Football Club and represented Western Australia in the 1997 edition of the AFL Under-18 Championships, where he earned All-Australian honours.

Simon Black was a member of East Fremantle's losing 1997 WAFL Grand Final team.

Simon Black was drafted by the Brisbane Lions with the 31st selection in the 1997 National Draft.

Simon Black was impressive during the 1998 pre-season and earned his senior debut in Round 1 against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba.

Simon Black played nine senior matches and averaged over 12 disposals during his debut season and took out the Club's Best First Year Player award.

Simon Black collected 20 possessions and kicked two goals against Geelong in Round 9 which earned him an AFL Rising Star Nomination; he ultimately finished third in the award behind Sydney's Adam Goodes and Adelaide's Brett Burton.

Simon Black played 22 matches for the season and averaged close to 19 disposals and won the Lions' Rookie of the Year award for the second consecutive season.

Simon Black became one of the league's elite midfielders from 2001.

In 2001, Simon Black played every match for the season, led the AFL in tackles and averaged a team-high 24.6 possessions.

Simon Black was joint Club Champion with Captain Michael Voss, was named as the starting ruck-rover in the All-Australian team, finished 5th in the AFLPA's Most Valuable Player award, and won the Herald Sun Player of the Year award.

Simon Black represented Australia for the first and only time of his career in the 2001 International Rules Series against Ireland.

In 2002, Simon Black won the Brownlow Medal, polling 25 votes to beat second-placed Josh Francou by four votes, and comparisons were made between him and dual Brownlow Medallist Greg Williams because of his outstanding peripheral vision and ability to get the contested ball.

In 2004, Simon Black became a vice-captain of the Lions, and he won All-Australian selection for the third time in his career.

At the beginning of 2007, Simon Black was named as one of the four Lions co-captains, replacing the retiring captain Michael Voss.

In 2007 and 2008, Simon Black continued to be Brisbane's premier midfielder, and he finished second in the Brownlow Medal in both seasons.

Simon Black earned Brisbane Lions Life Membership at the end of his tenth season of service.

In 2009, new coach Michael Voss named Jonathan Brown as the sole captain of the club, and Simon Black remained in the leadership group.

In 2012, Simon Black played his 300th AFL game, becoming the first player in league history to win a Brownlow Medal, a Norm Smith Medal, a Premiership Medal and play 300 games.

On 18 October 2013, Simon Black announced his retirement from the AFL.

Shortly after announcing his retirement from the AFL, Simon Black signed on as an assistant coach at the Lions for two years.

Simon Black's main focus is coaching the team's forward line and attacking systems.

Simon Black subsequently resigned from his role as a coach at the Brisbane Lions to focus on growing the Academy program.

In 2019, Simon Black competed in the fourth season of Australian Survivor.

Simon Black was eliminated on Day 42 and finished in 7th place.

In June 2019, it was announced that Simon Black had been voted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame for the class of 2018, but due to his commitments to filming Australian Survivor he was unable to attend the induction ceremony.