The Burleigh Bombers, formed in 1979 and one of the premier local clubs in Queensland football, celebrated their fifth AFL player on Saturday when Leo Lombard debuted for the Gold Coast Suns.
Lombard followed the Suns trio of Brayden Crossley, Jacob Dawson and Bodhi Uwland, and North Melbourne’s Bailey Scott, a Burleigh junior, in graduating to AFL ranks after time in the red and black of the Bombers at Bill Godfrey Oval.
It was a special occasion for the club and prompted with an optimistic prediction from president Dean Ryan .. there will be more to come.
He noted that Lachy Gulbin, a Suns Category B rookie new to the club this year, is another Burleigh product, and pointed to three more who are members of the Suns Academy and are set to figure in the 2025 AFL National Draft – likely top 10 pick Zeke Uwland, Beau Addinsall and Jai Murray.
But Round 12 of the 2025 AFL season was all about Lombard as the Suns lost a nail-biter by 11 points to Fremantle at home on Saturday afternoon after the Brisbane Lions had beaten Essendon by 18 points at the Gabba on the Thursday night.
Lombard, a Suns fan since taking up football at age eight and a Suns Academy member from age 12, became the 152nd Suns player, the 48th Queenslander in red and yellow, and the 207th Queensland football product to play in the AFL all-time.
He’s the 12th Queenland football product on the current list to have played at the elite level, having joined Connor Budarick, Sam Closehy Alex Davies, Caleb Graham, Will Graham, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers, Alex Sexton, Uwland, Jed Walter and Lachie Weller.
And he follows 26 other homegrown players - first-year Suns Charlie Dixon, Jarrod Harbrow, Karmichael Hunt, Marc Lock, Alik Magin, Zac Smith, Joey Daye, Rex Liddy, Joel Wilkinson, Rory Thompson, Tom Hickey and Joel Tippett, plus Alex Sexton, Josh Hall, Jackson Allen, Andrew Boston, Clay Cameron, Andrew Raines, Jesse Joyce, Jack Bowes, Brad Scheer, Max Spencer, Crossley, Jacob Heron, Dawson and Mabior Chol.
Presented with his first Suns jumper by his mother Nicky in an emotional private moment last week, Lombard was 238 days beyond his 18th birthday and the fourth-youngest of the Queensland debutants behind Heron (18/160), Sexton (18/168) and Dawson (18/232).
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A former All-Australian selection at Under 16 and Under 18 level, he was chosen by the Suns at pick #9 in the 2024 AFL National Draft after he’d won the Larke Medal as the best & fairest player at last year’s Australian Under-18 championships.
He shared the medal with Victorian Country’s Harvey Langford, who has been an immediate star with Melbourne this year, after the pair finished two votes ahead of Victorian Metro captain Jappa Smith, who will not play in his first season in the AFL due to a knee reconstruction.
Lombard was drafted at pick #9 in the 2024 Draft after the club matched a bid from St.Kilda.
Only a pre-season shoulder injury delayed his AFL debut, but if comments from Head Coach Damien Hardwick at the jumper presentation are any sort of guide Lombard will soon make up for lost time.
He said of ultra-competitive midfielder: “Everything we crave as a player, you bring … that’s why we picked you.
Lombard kicked a nice snap goal in the second quarter and finished with eight possessions, one tackle and three clearances from 54% game time before he was subbed out at three-quarter-time for Suns’ games record-holder David Swallow.
Uwland had 15 possessions and his first goal in his 35th game, while fellow Academy products Closehy picked up 18 possessions and six tackles, and Walter 10 possessions and two goals.
While Lombard celebrated his first AFL game, fellow Queenslander Corey Wagner celebrated two other ‘firsts’ in a Fremantle side which proved too good for the Suns down the stretch.
Playing his 49th AFL game, he enjoyed his first win in only his second game on Queensland turf, and kicked his first Fremantle goal in his 30th game in purple.
Enjoying the best form of his career, Wagner was among his side’s better players with 18 possessions, 630 metres gained, seven intercept possessions and six forward 50 entries.
While the Suns missed an opportunity that saw them slip one place on the AFL ladder to 4th with an 8-3 record and a game in hand, the Lions overpowered Essendon to confirm second spot at 9-1-2.
Will Ashcroft, playing just his 43rd AFL game, had 30 possessions and seven clearances. It was his 10th game of 30-plus.
In a team performance which included strong contributions from eight Queenslanders, Jaspa Fletcher had 21 possessions and a goal, Charlie Cameron had eight possessions and kicked one goals, and Jack Payne was near-impassable yet again in defence on top of his 17 possessions – the second-highest single-game count of his career.
Harris Andrews had 16 possessions to go with nine marks, Eric Hipwood 12 possessions and a goal, Dayne Zorko 23 possessions and six score involvements, and Levi Ashcroft 15 possessions before he was subbed out.
Adelaide’s Ben Keays, looking forward to Friday night’s huge clash with Brisbane at Adelaide Oval, had a day out as the Crows blitzed Sydney by 90 points at the SCG. He kicked three goals from 17 possessions to go with six tackles and five score involvements.
And Mabior Chol had 11 possessions but went goalless as Hawthorn went down to Collingwood by 51 points at the MCG.
SUBMITTED BY PETER BLUCHER