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Senior Ryan Lester (2010-)

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Ryan Lester ‘flies the flag’ in support of Charlie Cameron during the second quarter of our Qualifying Final win at the GABBA on Saturday night.

Lester who has a tendency to fly under the radar, played a flawless game. His disposal efficiency was 93.3%, he had four contested possessions out of his total of 13 disposals and he was rock solid throughout. One of Lester’s great strengths is his decision making and this was on display against Port Adelaide. Even under extreme pressure, Lester can be relied upon to make the right decision and in finals, that is an ability that is vital.
 
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Deep in defence, Lester executes a brilliant run down tackle on the dangerous Sam Powell-Pepper. He is then awarded the free kick after Rioli makes high contact while Lester continues to bravely fight for the ball. This fearless and reliable work on the deck is what Lester has brought to our defensive unit. His contribution in this regard is unparalleled.
 
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3KZ is Football said:
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Deep in defence, Lester executes a brilliant run down tackle on the dangerous Sam Powell-Pepper. He is then awarded the free kick after Rioli makes high contact while Lester continues to bravely fight for the ball. This fearless and reliable work on the deck is what Lester has brought to our defensive unit. His contribution in this regard is unparalleled.
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Lester was great but I wouldn’t say his contribution was unparalleled.
There would be 17 others on the field at any one time in that game that would think they would be hard done by, by that statement and I reckon every single one of them would have had moments like that in the game.
Lester was awesome, played his role really well as did the whole team.
 
Dalions said:
Lester was great but I wouldn’t say his contribution was unparalleled.
There would be 17 others on the field at any one time in that game that would think they would be hard done by, by that statement and I reckon every single one of them would have had moments like that in the game.
Lester was awesome, played his role really well as did the whole team.
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I meant in terms of what he has brought to the defensive unit this season. I don’t think we have a defender who is as strong as Lester on the deck and I don’t think we have a defender who extracts the loose ground ball and plays it to advantage better than Lester.
 
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Hes single handedly keeping Darcy Gardiner out of the side which some would argue is a good thing...
 
iBeng said:
Hes single handedly keeping Darcy Gardiner out of the side which some would argue is a good thing...
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I have the utmost respect for Darcy Gardiner, but what Ryan Lester is demonstrating this season, and what some of us have known for a long time, is that Lester provides greater leadership within the defensive unit, more defensive rebound, a stronger capacity to win possession of loose ground ball to advantage and a significantly greater disposal efficiency.

But make no mistake, Darcy Gardiner has been a brave, hard working, dedicated and true servant of our Club. As a player starting out at the Brisbane Lions, between 2014 and 2018, Darcy Gardiner played 82 games for our club for 20 wins and 62 losses. As a Victorian, Darcy could have left the Lions to play in his “home state” but he didn’t. He was loyal and after 2019 started to reap the rewards. At present he is not in the senior side, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be in the future. He is 27 years old and more than capable of following Ryan Lester’s example, by working hard and always trying to be his best on the training track and in the Reserves. It has paid off for Lester and I’m sure it will pay off for Darcy Gardiner, because you are never too old to develop and improve your game.
 
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3KZ is Football said:
I have the utmost respect for Darcy Gardiner, but what Ryan Lester is demonstrating this season, and what some of us have known for a long time, is that Lester provides greater leadership within the defensive unit, more defensive rebound, a stronger capacity to win possession of loose ground ball to advantage and a significantly greater disposal efficiency.

But make no mistake, Darcy Gardiner has been a brave, hard working, dedicated and true servant of our Club. As a player starting out at the Brisbane Lions, between 2014 and 2018, Darcy Gardiner played 82 games for our club for 20 wins and 62 losses. As a Victorian, Darcy could have left the Lions to play in his “home state” but he didn’t. He was loyal and after 2019 started to reap the rewards. At present he is not in the senior side, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be in the future. He is 27 years old and more than capable of following Ryan Lester’s example, by working hard and always trying to be his best on the training track and in the Reserves. It has paid off for Lester and I’m sure it will pay off for Darcy Gardiner, because you are never too old to develop and improve your game.
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Lester has been a bit of a God send this year with Darcy Gardiner struggling with injury for the first half of the year and Joyce the only other KPD back up.
And done extremely well to keep Gardiner out of the team now he is fit.
As we all know Gardiner was one of Fages Pets.
 
Dalions said:
Lester has been a bit of a God send this year with Darcy Gardiner struggling with injury for the first half of the year and Joyce the only other KPD back up.
And done extremely well to keep Gardiner out of the team now he is fit.
As we all know Gardiner was one of Fages Pets.
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Which means credit needs to go to Fagan for changing his mindset.

I thought there was no chance Fagan was going to get this right after the Rd.11 loss to Adelaide, where Lester was dropped and Gardiner retained, despite Lester putting in the stronger performance in a losing side. After the bye we then lost to Hawthorn and Gardiner’s numbers that game were very poor. Lester was reinstated to the senior side and since then he has been fantastic in defence. Media commentators in particular have been glowing in their praise for Lester. Based on his form, he has played the last 12 games straight and played some great football. At the same time, our defensive unit has never looked more cohesive and strong. Lester is an absolute LOCK for us in defence now.

Finally, big shout out to Jed Adcock our Defensive Coach this year. Something of an unsung hero.
 
3KZ is Football said:
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Ryan Lester ‘flies the flag’ in support of Charlie Cameron during the second quarter of our Qualifying Final win at the GABBA on Saturday night.

Lester who has a tendency to fly under the radar, played a flawless game. His disposal efficiency was 93.3%, he had four contested possessions out of his total of 13 disposals and he was rock solid throughout. One of Lester’s great strengths is his decision making and this was on display against Port Adelaide. Even under extreme pressure, Lester can be relied upon to make the right decision and in finals, that is an ability that is vital.
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Remember what I used to say about number 35?

I have just watched the replay and Lester did play a flawless game.

Where was this form eight years ago?
 
McIvor said:
I think Lester’s form has been consistent throughout, just that he’s had his detractors and couldn’t see what is enlightened football observers saw 🤣

Overall Froggy has been massively underrated and I’ve said it before but Ryan is playing the leadership and general role that Hodge did so brilliantly in 2018 and 2019. It’s a shame he was ignored between 20-22 to the extent he was.

Whilst Harris is a co-captain, I think Ryan is the General in our defensive unit and a brilliant one at that.
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Well said. Look at how Lester is going this season when he is given a chance. Then consider in 2022 he was selected in the side twice (Rd.8 & 17) and was an unused SUB in Round 22 against St.Kilda.

Despite this, he worked hard, remained loyal and earned his place in the senior team this year. He is such an admirable role model and example of a loyal, hard working and team oriented footballer.
 

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3KZ is Football said:
Well said. Look at how Lester is going this season when he is given a chance. Then consider in 2022 he was selected in the side twice (Rd.8 & 17) and was an unused SUB in Round 22 against St.Kilda.

Despite this, he worked hard, remained loyal and earned his place in the senior team this year. He is such an admirable role model and example of a loyal, hard working and team oriented footballer.
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It's not that he remained loyal it's that no other club wanted him, lol.
 
FOX FOOTY PLAYER RATINGS
Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide

35. Ryan Lester
Stood next to Jeremy Finlayson at the first bounce and ended the night with the points. Finished with 13 touches and went at 91 per cent efficiency, while Finlayson finished with 0.1. 7
 
3KZ is Football said:
FOX FOOTY PLAYER RATINGS
Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide

35. Ryan Lester
Stood next to Jeremy Finlayson at the first bounce and ended the night with the points. Finished with 13 touches and went at 91 per cent efficiency, while Finlayson finished with 0.1. 7
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i think you know enough about footy and been to enough games, to realise it is too simplistic to say Lester was on Finlayson for the entire game. That rarely happens (although i prefer 1 x 1 , as it is more accountable, as opposed to a zone type defence. played by many teams). That said Lester did well and had a good game, looking back at the replay Lester did let Marshall grab an uncontested mark when Payne was off rotated, in the 4th Q I believe.
 
On the quiet said:
i think you know enough about footy and been to enough games, to realise it is too simplistic to say Lester was on Finlayson for the entire game. That rarely happens (although i prefer 1 x 1 , as it is more accountable, as opposed to a zone type defence. played by many teams). That said Lester did well and had a good game, looking back at the replay Lester did let Marshall grab an uncontested mark when Payne was off rotated, in the 4th Q I believe.
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I saw that, it was a bit of a breakdown. He was on Finlayson in that passage and couldn’t be in two places at once. The Fox Footy rating comment was a little simplistic wasn’t it. He was also on Powell-Pepper at different stages. Credit to Jed Adcock for getting our defence combining so well.
 
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3KZ is Football said:
Which means credit needs to go to Fagan for changing his mindset.

I thought there was no chance Fagan was going to get this right after the Rd.11 loss to Adelaide, where Lester was dropped and Gardiner retained, despite Lester putting in the stronger performance in a losing side. After the bye we then lost to Hawthorn and Gardiner’s numbers that game were very poor. Lester was reinstated to the senior side and since then he has been fantastic in defence. Media commentators in particular have been glowing in their praise for Lester. Based on his form, he has played the last 12 games straight and played some great football. At the same time, our defensive unit has never looked more cohesive and strong. Lester is an absolute LOCK for us in defence now.

Finally, big shout out to Jed Adcock our Defensive Coach this year. Something of an unsung hero.
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IMO Lester has had a good year, but the reality is Starc takes the most dangerous small, Payne (even when injured) is taking the #1 KPF and Andrews is usually taking the #2 forward. Although it is obvious that Payne usually takes the deepest forward so sometimes in a game the match up changes.

Lester is keeping Gardiner out, and based on current form no arguments from me. Our backline structure is arguably vulnerable without Payne, because when Lester or Gardiner have to take the KPF, they can be out-marked or in Gardiners case, can give away frees.
I don't often agree with 'Mighty Lions', but I too suspect Payne is playing injured, but he has to because of our backline structure. If Harris is stuck under the goalpost taking the #1 KPD, then Gardiner and or Lester can be vulnerable on the 2nd tall KPF, and don't have Harris freely intercepting.
 

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On the quiet said:
IMO Lester has had a good year, but the reality is Starc takes the most dangerous small, Payne (even when injured) is taking the #1 KPF and Andrews is usually taking the #2 forward. Although it is obvious that Payne usually takes the deepest forward so sometimes in a game the match up changes.

Lester is keeping Gardiner out, and based on current form no arguments from me. Our backline structure is arguably vulnerable without Payne, because when Lester or Gardiner have to take the KPF, they can be out-marked or in Gardiners case, can give away frees.
I don't often agree with 'Mighty Lions', but I too suspect Payne is playing injured, but he has to because of our backline structure. If Harris is stuck under the goalpost taking the #1 KPD, then Gardiner and or Lester can be vulnerable on the 2nd tall KPF, and don't have Harris freely intercepting.
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I think you are right, Payne does appear to be playing injured. I hope he is able to rest and recharge with the week off. Payne and Andrews clearly get the jobs on the biggest forwards and Starcevich gets the lock down role on the leading small forward. This doesn’t mean that McKenna, Lester and Coleman get the ‘work experience kids’. The reality is that most forward lines have many avenues to goal, all of whom need to be covered.
I’ve been really pleased with Lester’s intercept marking this year. He’s taken a number of ‘clutch’ marks during the year.
 
He was dropped 17 times, delisted, made VFL captain. Now he’ll play in an AFL grand final

Sometime after he came to the Brisbane Lions as an 18-year-old rookie at the end of 2010, Ryan Lester was given the nickname Froggy. Normally, he explains that he had a pet frog when he came to the club.

That’s not true.

A couple of players gave an emoji to every player. For no apparent reason, Lester got a frog, but he took it several steps further on an end-of-season trip to Hong Kong, where he got a froggy tattoo “somewhere on my body that you won’t see it”.

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This is probably the flashiest thing about Frog. Saturday’s grand final will be his 180th game, testament more to his work ethic, character and persistence than natural talent.

Across his career, he’s been dropped 17 times. He just keeps bouncing back.

Taking things one game at a time is a cliche in football. Lester, however, has always taken a longer view.

“I got told early in my career ‘you’re here for a career, not a game’, and that’s always helped my mindset,” he said on Monday of his career on the fringe.

At the end of last year, he was delisted by the Lions, then picked up again. Coach Chris Fagan made him VFL captain, but told him it would not hinder his senior selection prospects. Lester accepted, with no expectations, but the determination still burned.

In round 14, he won his spot back, and wouldn’t let it go. On Saturday, he’ll be a walk-up selection for his first grand final. Lester is trusted by his teammates and coaches: he’s versatile, smart and unlikely to be fazed by big occasions.

“He’s a good person, a really good leader and clearly a really good player as well,” Lions midfield coach Jed Adcock said. “You just don’t usually have your best years of footy when you hit 30, 31.”

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For the past four years, Lester has thrived on one-year contracts.

“I go into every year thinking, ‘righto, if this is my last year, what do I need to do so I’m ready to transition?’ After four years, I’m more than ready to transition. It’s just a bonus that I’m still playing.”

He quietly completed a Bachelor of Business, and works one day in insurance; his LinkedIn profile is already more impressive than his Wikipedia page.

He probably won’t stay in football when his career does end. “For me to progress as a person, I feel like I need to try something different.”

For the first seven years of his career, Lester was part of the glue that held the club together, “when our biggest games were against the other three bottom teams that we could possibly win”.

They were bleak times.

“We had guys leaving the club, and it didn’t feel like good people were necessarily valued. Since ‘Fages’ got here, I’ve felt like good people have been valued around the club more. I guess I’ve benefited from that a little bit.”

All of this has made not only Lester’s contribution to the club more appreciated, but Lester’s appreciation of each game has risen, too: “For the first few games this year I had the attitude that every game could be my last, so go out and enjoy everything that comes with it.”

Then Darcy Gardiner returned from injury. Lester was omitted, again, despite playing well. Gardiner was injured again; Lester was recalled.

“I was kind of like, I’ve got another opportunity, let’s go out and show them I don’t deserve to be dropped all the time,” he said.
Adcock said that showed the type of person Lester was.

“He didn’t drop his bundle; he didn’t sook it up. He just went to work, and it’s been an amazing year for him.”
In the past few days, Lester’s phone has blown up. He’s soaked it all in.

“There have been so many text messages of congratulations, and it’s been great to share that joy with other people, that people are genuinely happy for me and the club,” he said.

There’s just one more game that counts now.

“For 10 years there was very little respect from the competition for Brisbane,” he said. “It was all about what we did in the early 2000s, whereas now it’s very much about what this side can do on Saturday.”

Perhaps Lester will receive wider recognition and respect too.
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iBeng said:
Probably one of the best feel good storys of the year for me, absolute definition of a club man. The phrase "Here for a career, not a game" is impressive!
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Wouldn’t you just hate it if Payne got up for this one and they dropped Lester and kept Dizzy in the team.
I very much doubt they would because Lester can create a lot more offensive drive than Gardiner ever could, but still with the defensive capabilities.
 
Lester's Thriving in 2023

It's easy to see why Ryan Lester is universally the most loved Lion running out on Saturday.

You only have to watch the reaction of teammates to his preliminary final goal against Carlton to know 'Froggy' is the heart and soul of Brisbane.

He's been dropped 17 times in his 13 seasons.

When the 'Go Home Five' left at the end of 2013, Lester stayed.

And for five of the past six seasons, the 192cm defender has played on the edge of the football cliff, enduring one-year contract after one-year contract.

And despite it all, Lester has not only survived in 2023, but he's thrived, playing arguably the best football of his 179-game career.

His rollercoaster ride since being drafted with pick No.28 in 2010 can best be summed up by this quote.

"I didn't realise how bad losing was every week compared to winning every week," Lester told AFL.com.au. "When you haven't been exposed to it, it's just what you know.

"Our biggest games were always against the other bottom four or five teams, whereas this year we've played eight or nine Thursday or Friday night games, two finals and now we're going into the biggest game of them all."

Behind Daniel Rich he is the longest-serving Lion remaining on the list, arriving at the club 12 months before future brother-in-law Dayne Zorko, who will run out for his 250th game against Collingwood.

Lester has seen it all, and along with the above-mentioned duo, is the connective tissue from Brisbane's premiership era to its current Grand Final team.

He was coached by Michael Voss and Justin Leppitsch before Chris Fagan came on board, and played alongside Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Luke Power and Ash McGrath.

"We weren't horrific, but it didn't work out," he said.

"They were great role models for me, not just great players, but great people."

It's something Lester learned and carried with him through the toughest of times at the Gabba.

Jared Polec, Patrick Karnezis, Billy Longer, Sam Docherty and Elliot Yeo were all drafted either with, or a year after, Lester, and all were gone in the same horrific trade period for the Lions following Voss' 2013 departure.

"I wasn't a big-name player, so in some ways I was fighting for my spot, so I didn't think I was going to go to a club and necessarily the grass was going to be greener," he said.

"Loyalty is a personal value of mine. When I get somewhere I tend to like sticking around.

"I've always felt really comfortable at the club. I've probably always brought into the friendships and the mateship that football clubs bring."

Playing as a forward, midfielder and ultimately in defence, Lester has rarely been a pick-and-stick player.

He played 38 games in three seasons under Voss and 42 in three under Leppitsch. Saturday will be his 100th game under Fagan.

Lester admitted the club "lost its way a bit" through the middle of his career, but lays no blame at the feet of Leppitsch, saying in a full rebuild mode the coach was caught between playing youngsters and keeping the middle tier happy despite not always giving them a game.

Fagan came and things changed. In his first season in charge in 2017, where Lester played all 22 games for the only time in his career, Brisbane conceded 115 points a game, which was still dead last in the AFL, but had come down from 132 the previous year.

"He sold us the message of improvement and you could see it and buy into it," Lester said.

This was also the time he started playing on year-to-year contracts, as Brisbane went into another re-build, piling in the high-end draft talent with Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry, Cam Rayner, Zac Bailey and Jack Payne in successive years.

He was always mature beyond his years and smart enough to stare his football mortality in the eye.

"In 2018 I was getting to that 26, 27-year-old stage and the club was probably thinking they weren't sure if I was going to help take them anywhere, not sure if I'd be in the next premiership," he said.

"You often see guys get moved on at that stage.

"At the start of that year, and the past five years, I've written something down like this: 'Football ends at the end of this season, this is what I want to do to be ready, and this is what I'm looking forward to in the next phase of my life'.

"It's actually paid big dividends because now whenever I transition out of the game, I'm more than ready because I've just kept adding blocks to it."

He played just three games last year and was put on the rookie list ahead of this season. Throughout it all, Lester has been incredibly popular in the change room and a long-time member of the leadership group.

With Darcy Gardiner battling injury early in the season, Lester was given a crack at the third tall defender's role in round seven and has not looked back.

He's been more assertive than ever, often leading his opponent to the ball, and comfortable backing his skills to help the Lions move it swiftly from the back half.

"I've always thought when I go out there, I feel comfortable playing AFL, I don't feel out of my depth," he said.

"Gary O'Donnell (who re-joined the Lions as assistant coach from 2010 to 2016) told me in the early days I was here for a career, not a game.

"When I was not getting picked, it wasn't so much about the games I was missing, but more about how I can improve by the end of the year to show I'm a better player than I was at the start of the year, and I might get another contract."

He's already signed on for 2024 – a one-year deal - and if Brisbane salutes against the Magpies, you won't see a more popular recipient of a premiership medal from his teammates.
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Senior Ryan Lester (2010-)

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