Brendon Lade (born 10 July 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently a senior assistant coach with the Western Bulldogs Football Club.

Brendon Lade
Lade in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Brendon Lade
Date of birth (1976-07-10) 10 July 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth Kangaroo Island, Australia
Original team(s) South Adelaide (SANFL)
Height 199 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1997–2009 Port Adelaide 234 (182)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

AFL career

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Early career (1992–1999)

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Lade was born on Kangaroo Island and grew up playing football for the local Western Districts Football Club, where his father coached the A grade side. At the age of 8 Lade moved to the Wisanger Football Club, where he played the remainder of his football until he turned 16. Able to play as both a relieving ruckman and forward, Lade played for South Australian National Football League club South Adelaide before his recruitment to Port Adelaide in the lead up to their inaugural season in the AFL in 1997. Lade made his senior AFL debut for Port Adelaide in Round 1, 1997, Port Adelaide's debut AFL match.

Injury (2000–2001)

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Lade missed just one game in his first three years, before he suffered a serious leg injury in Round 2 of 2000 which sidelined him for the rest of the season and also caused him to miss the entire 2001 AFL season after a re-injury. However, he recovered from these injuries to become one of the best ruckmen in the league.

Career high (2004–2009)

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Lade (right) rucking against Melbourne's Stefan Martin in 2009

In 2004 Lade had a great year, leading the club's hitouts statistics in the absence of injured Port Adelaide ruckman Matthew Primus, finishing second in the goalkicking to Warren Tredrea, and capping it off with a premiership medal when Port Adelaide won its first AFL premiership, defeating the Brisbane Lions. In 2006 Lade won All-Australian selection and also took out the John Cahill Medal, Port Adelaide's Best and Fairest. In 2007 Lade continued his career-best form, winning another All-Australia selection, and earning a rare 2 year contract with the Power at 31 years old.

Lade retired at the end of the 2009 season. He and team-mate Peter Burgoyne, the last remaining members of Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL team, both played their final games in Round 22, 2009.

Coaching career (2010–present)

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After ending his 234-game AFL career in 2009, Lade immediately joined Richmond Football Club to become the ruck coach, joining former Port Adelaide teammate Damien Hardwick, Richmond's senior coach.[1] He later became the midfield stoppage coach,[2] and held this position until the end of 2016, after which he returned to Port Adelaide as an assistant coach for the 2017 AFL season. At the end of the 2018 season, Lade returned to Melbourne to become the senior assistant coach for St Kilda Football Club after two seasons as an assistant with Port Adelaide. During the 2022 season, Lade temporarily stepped into the senior coaching chair with St Kilda senior coach Brett Ratten missing due to COVID, leading the Saints to a win over Gold Coast in Round 5. At the end of the 2022 season, Lade joined the Western Bulldogs as an assistant coach.[3]

Statistics

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[4]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
H/O
Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
1997 Port Adelaide 20 22 14 12 156 76 232 98 16 171 0.6 0.5 7.1 3.5 10.5 4.5 0.7 7.8
1998 Port Adelaide 20 22 20 14 182 97 279 115 28 239 0.9 0.6 8.3 4.4 12.7 5.2 1.3 10.9
1999 Port Adelaide 20 21 10 8 167 93 260 100 11 325 0.5 0.4 8.0 4.4 12.4 4.8 0.5 15.5
2000 Port Adelaide 20 2 0 1 3 3 6 3 0 11 0.0 0.5 1.5 1.5 3.0 1.5 0.0 5.5
2001 Port Adelaide 20 0
2002 Port Adelaide 5 14 12 6 57 25 82 33 8 139 0.9 0.4 4.1 1.8 5.9 2.4 0.6 9.9
2003 Port Adelaide 5 19 12 4 129 77 206 90 25 272 0.6 0.2 6.8 4.1 10.8 4.7 1.3 14.3
2004 Port Adelaide 5 24 31 10 156 120 276 110 41 382 1.3 0.4 6.5 5.0 11.5 4.6 1.7 15.9
2005 Port Adelaide 5 24 24 15 160 98 258 112 27 306 1.0 0.6 6.7 4.1 10.8 4.7 1.1 12.8
2006 Port Adelaide 5 22 18 12 253 102 355 187 32 436 0.8 0.5 11.5 4.6 16.1 8.5 1.5 19.8
2007 Port Adelaide 5 25 15 5 207 102 309 131 37 517 0.6 0.2 8.3 4.1 12.4 5.2 1.5 20.7
2008 Port Adelaide 5 17 10 12 121 73 194 91 25 349 0.6 0.7 7.1 4.3 11.4 5.4 1.5 20.5
2009 Port Adelaide 5 22 16 7 142 70 212 97 24 395 0.7 0.3 6.5 3.2 9.6 4.4 1.1 18.0
Career 234 182 106 1733 936 2669 1167 274 3542 0.8 0.5 7.4 4.0 11.4 5.0 1.2 15.1

References

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  1. ^ "Brendon Lade named as Tigers' ruck coach". Herald Sun. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Staff Members". RFC. Richmond Football Club. 2014. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Lade lands at Bulldogs". Western Bulldogs Football Club. 28 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Brendon Lade". AFL Tables.
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