There will come a time when Leo Lombard has free rein to chase the football. To try to win as much of it as possible, and deploy the attacking skillset that makes him one of the most exciting teenagers in the AFL.
But it wasn’t this year.
In his first full season, without knowing it, Lombard was a willing disciple of the old Leigh Matthews adage that underpinned the Brisbane Lions’ triple premiership sides of 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Matthews’ instructions to the all-conquering team of that era were very simple...understand your role, accept your role, play your role.
Even in what is generally regarded as the greatest team of the modern era, overloaded with match-winners, it was pivotal.
Craig McRae, a triple Lions premiership small forward and now a premiership coach at Collingwood, has said repeatedly any possessions he won and goals he kicked were a bonus. His game was measured on tackles and defensive pressure.
So when SUNS football boss Craig Cameron reflected on Lombard’s season after he finished fourth in the Club Champion he went straight to this facet of his game.
“He swallowed his ego to play a role...he had a great year,” Cameron said.
“He’s so gifted...speed, acceleration, lateral movement...all the attributes to be a great offensive player...but he did exactly what he was asked to do. To focus on defence...tackles, pressure acts and the like.
“He just wants to play. He has a really great relationship with ‘Dimma’ (Hardwick)...it’s like a father-son thing, and he’s unbelievably loyal and committed to the coach and the team. He’s as competitive and committed as anyone on the list.”
Lombard, pick No.9 in the 2024 National Draft, served early notice of what was to come. He had 15 possessions, four tackles and two goals in the Opening Round win over Geelong to win the first nomination for the 2026 AFL Rising Star Award. And he finished sixth in the final vote.
Despite having played only four games in his first season in 2025, Lombard was one of just six SUNS to play every game in 2026. The others were the established quintet of Touk Miller, John Noble, Ben King, Bodhi Uwland and Mac Andrew.
He ranked 11th in the team for possessions at 14.9 per game, and kicked 18 goals to sit behind King (60), Jed Walter (33), Ben Long (28) and Christian Petracca and Bailey Humphrey (22).
He ranked first for goal assists, sixth for tackles, eighth for clearances, seventh for score involvements and first for shots on goal from general play, easily. He had 40 to sit above Petracca and Humphrey at 29.
And he was third for defensive pressure acts behind Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.
Significantly, in a team that started the season with a 7-3 record before going 2-11, Lombard’s performance improved in the second half of the season.
He was 14th in the Club Champion vote count at Round 11 and 11th at Round 15. He’d climbed to seventh by Round 18 and was fourth from Round 19 on.
In a voting system in which each player is rated 0-5 in each game, his ratings totalled 4-7-1-8-3-0. So no five-vote games.
But with only four zero-vote games his percentage of zero-vote games was equal second-best. Sam Collins had two (9.5%) and Lombard and Uwland four (17.4%).
With eight three-vote games and three four-vote games he polled three-plus in 47.8% of games. Only Uwland (56.5%) and Andrew (52.2%) were higher, with Collins (47.6%), Anderson (45.5%) and Rowell (44.4%) just behind him.
And, most significantly, while Lombard ranked equal 11th for votes polled in wins, he polled more votes in losses than any other player. It was Lombard (28) from Collins (25), Uwland (22), Andrew (20) and Anderson and Ned Moyle (18).
A Burleigh Bombers junior, Lombard was a StreetSmarts SUNS Academy member from age 12 and won All-Australian Under-16 selection in 2022.
In 2023 he represented the victorious Allies team as a bottom-ager at the All-Australian Under-18 Championships and, at 16, was a member of the SUNS' VFL premiership side.
In 2024 he was not only named at centre in the All-Australian Under-18 team but also won the Allies MVP award and shared the Larke Medal as the best player at the national carnival with Harvey Langford, now at Melbourne.
He was always going to be an early pick for the SUNS in the 2024 National Draft, and went at No.9 when the SUNS matched a bid from St Kilda. After missing selection for the SUNS' finals in 2025 he took his game to an entirely new level this year and will be a cornerstone of the future.
The first round of the 2024 National Draft stretched to 25 players because of academy and father-son selections, and Lombard stacks up nicely with the best of them.
After Langford finished ninth in the Melbourne Club Champion last year, Lombard is the first of the group to have posted a top-four finish this year.
Round 1 draftees in the 2024 National Draft were:
1 – Sam Lalor (Richmond) – 23 games
2 – Finn O’Sullivan (North Melbourne) – 41 games
3 – Jagga Smith (Carlton) – 25 games – 2026 Rising Star
4 – Sid Draper (Adelaide) – 10 games
5 – Levi Ashcroft (Brisbane) – 53 games, 2025 premiership, 2026 grand final
6 – Harvey Langford (Melbourne) – 46 games, ninth Club Champion 2025
7 – Josh Smilie (Richmond) – has not played
8 – Tobie Travaglia (St Kilda) – 19 games
9 – Leo Lombard (Gold Coast) – fourth Club Champion 2026
10 – Alex Tauru (St Kilda) – 19 games
11 – Xavier Lindsay (Melbourne) – 25 games
12 – Taj Hotton (Richmond) – 10 games
13 – Isaac Kako (Essendon) – 38 games
14 – Jonty Faull (Richmond) – 26 games
15 – Joe Berry (Port Adelaide) – 35 games
16 – Bo Allan (West Coast) – 25 games
17 – Murphy Reid (Fremantle) – 48 games – 2025 Rising Star – 2026 grand final
18 – Oliver Hannaford (GWS) – 5 games
19 – Harrison Oliver (GWS) – 5 games
20 – Cooper Hynes (Western Bulldogs) – 31 games
21 – Luke Trainor (Richmond) – 32 games
22 – Jesse Dattoli (Sydney) – 8 games
23 – Harry Armstrong (Richmond) – 12 games
24 – Cody Angove (GWS) – 5 games
25 – Sam Marshall (Brisbane) – 13 games, 2025 premiership
