BRISBANE LIONS FC
Born: 29 June 1991
Height: 195cm
Weight: 94kg
Junior Club: Mudgeeraba
Senior Club: Labrador
Schools: -
Regional Selection: -
Queensland Selection: -
Draft Details: Selection #84 (6th round) 2009 Rookie Draft
AFL Debut: -
Jumper Number: 37
AT A GLANCE:It is not unreasonable to suggest that Bryce Retzlaff was a surprise selection in the 2009 National Draft … even he didn’t give himself any hope in the world. He followed the draft more to see who else was picked than because he had any expectation himself. Yet when it got down to selection No.84, pretty much where most clubs were simply elevating existing rookie players onto the senior list, the Brisbane Lions pounced. They took the largely unknown 18-year-old 195cm utility player from Labrador who had played just six senior QAFL games. It was a selection which would not have been even contemplated 12 months earlier because he wasn’t even playing football. Born in Victoria but a Gold Coaster from 1993, he was a good junior footballer at Mudgeeraba but had quit the game midway through his U16 year in 2007. After playing first-grade cricket at Mudgeeaba-Nerang in 2007-08 and 2008-09, he returned to football in 2009. He’d started in the Labrador reserves, forcing his way into the seniors for a two-goal debut in Round 9. Thereafter, he played Rounds 10-15-16-17-18, plus the reserves finals. An athletic type who played in the ruck and as a lead-up forward at Labrador, he was invited to the AFL’s State Screening session in Melbourne but did not attend due to injury. So much was he unknown in draft circles prior to the draft that he wasn’t among more than 200 players included on a pre-draft data base by the AFL. AFL Gold Coast Game Development Manager Troy Clarke described Retlzaff as “a bit of a project with a big up side”. Said Clarke: “He’s a tall, lanky type, which they look for these days, and he’s got good skills both sides of his body and a very good work ethic. He finds the footy pretty well, he uses it well, and he’s got very good agility. He’s pretty much been a midfielder most of his career until he shot up the last 12 months so he’s very good below his knees and his second efforts are good”.
Retzlaff, sporting a prominent ‘sleeve’ tattoo similar to the Beams brothers Dayne and Claye, told the Gold Coast Bulletin the day after the draft that he was still in “disbelief”. He admitted that prior to his first session with the Lions that he would feel more like a supporter than a player. "I'll want to be asking them for an autograph but they're going to be my teammates,” he joked. "I had a call from Vossy last night and I'll be keeping the voicemail to show everybody that I had Michael Voss calling me. He just said welcome to the club, congratulations on being picked up but the hard work starts now”. Retzlaff was the first player to be drafted into the AFL from Labrador since Michael Osborne was rookie listed by Hawthorn in 2000.
AT A GLANCE: It is not unreasonable to suggest that Bryce Retzlaff was a surprise selection in the 2009 National Draft … even he didn’t give himself any hope in the world. He followed the draft more to see who else was picked than because he had any expectation himself. Yet when it got down to selection No.84, pretty much where most clubs were simply elevating existing rookie players onto the senior list, the Brisbane Lions pounced. They took the largely unknown 18-year-old 195cm utility player from Labrador who had played just six senior QAFL games. It was a selection which would not have been even contemplated 12 months earlier because he wasn’t even playing football.
