| Brooke Lochland | |
| Fullname: | Brooke Lochland |
| Birth Date: | 3 May 1991 |
| Originalteam: | (VFLW) |
| Draftpick: | No. 53, 2016 national draft |
| Debutdate: | Round 1, 2017 |
| Debutstadium: | VU Whitten Oval |
| Height: | 159cm |
| Position: | Midfielder / forward |
| Guernsey: | 1 |
| Years1: | 2017–2022 (S6) |
| Games Goals1: | 35 (18) |
| Years2: | 2022 (S7)− |
| Games Goals2: | 20 (9) |
| Games Goalstotal: | 55 (27) |
| Statsend: | the 2023 season |
| Careerhighlights: |
|
Brooke Lochland (born 3 May 1991) is an Australian rules footballer and former speed skater. Lochland currently plays for the Sydney Swans in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2017 to 2022 season 6. In 2018, she played in the Bulldogs' AFL Women's premiership team, was the AFL Women's leading goalkicker for that season and was named in the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team.
Lochland took up inline skating at age four and competed in world championships as a teenager. At age 16, she moved to the Netherlands to pursue a career as a long track speed skater.[1] Despite finishing sixth in the 2011–12 World Cup mass start event,[2] she missed out on qualifying for the Sochi Winter Olympics and retired from the sport in 2014. Upon returning to Australia later that year, Lochland switched back to football, having previously played as a junior. After two impressive seasons with Montmorency, highlighted by winning the best and fairest award for Division Two of the Victorian Women's Football League in 2015,[3] she joined Melbourne University in the VFL Women's competition for the 2016 season.[4]
Lochland was drafted by the Western Bulldogs with their seventh selection and 53rd overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft.[5] She made her debut in the 32-point win against at VU Whitten Oval in the opening round of the 2017 season.[6] She played every match in her debut season to finish with seven games.[7]
In 2018, Lochland kicked seven goals during the Bulldogs' 73-point round four defeat of, the most by an AFLW player in a single match.[8] She finished the home-and-away season with twelve goals from seven matches, clinching the AFLW leading goalkicker award for the year.[9] She would share in team success when the Western Bulldogs went on to win the premiership by defeating in the Grand Final at Ikon Park, as well as gaining more individual recognition via selection in the All-Australian team.
Lochland sustained a leg injury in a 2019 practice match against and subsequently underwent surgery to repair her fractured right fibula.[10] [11] After several weeks on the sideline, she recovered faster than expected in time to play the last three games of the 2019 season,[12] returning for her club's one-point loss to in round five at Docklands Stadium.[13] [14]
Ahead of the 2020 season, Lochland was appointed vice-captain of the Western Bulldogs.[15] She regained consistent form throughout the 2021 season, playing every game possible and managing a career-high sixth-place finish in the club's best and fairest count (eclipsing her seventh-place finish in 2018).[16] [17] Lochland experienced an interrupted 2022 season 6, which included suffering a concussion before half-time of the round six encounter with at Norwood Oval, forcing her to miss the remainder of the match and the following two games.[18] [19] She finished the season strongly, however, most notably in a 60-point round nine win against at Optus Stadium by gathering 15 disposals, laying five tackles and kicking three goals—her biggest haul since the record-breaking performance in 2018.[20]
In May 2022, in a signing reported on womens.afl as a "long-awaited coup for one of the competition's new teams",[21] Lochland joined expansion club Sydney.[22] In August, she was named one of three co-captains for the Swans' inaugural season alongside Maddy Collier and Lauren Szigeti.[23] She went on to play all 10 games in season 7 and become Sydney's first AFLW leading goalkicker, including booting three goals in the first quarter against Hawthorn in round 5.[24] She finished fourth in the Swans' Club Champion award.[25]
Lochland continued to be a regular in the Swans' forward line in 2023 despite missing two games due to a knee injury, playing 10 games as the side reached its maiden finals series. She played her 50th AFLW game in round 5 against Carlton.[26]
Lochland also works as a coach in the Sydney Swans Academy female program.[27]
Updated to the end 2022 season 7.[28]
|-| 2017 || || 1| 7 || 1 || 2 || 47 || 17 || 64 || 7 || 32 || 0.1 || 0.3 || 6.7 || 2.4 || 9.1 || 1.0 || 4.6 || 0|-| bgcolor=F0E68C | 2018# || || 1| 8 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 12† || 6 || 74 || 22 || 96 || bgcolor=CAE1FF | 34† || 25 || bgcolor=CAE1FF |1.5† || 0.8 || 9.3 || 2.8 || 12.0 || 4.3 || 3.1 || 3|-| 2019 || || 1| 3 || 1 || 2 || 14 || 5 || 19 || 4 || 9 || 0.3 || 0.7 || 4.7 || 1.7 || 6.3 || 1.3 || 3.0 || 0|- | 2020 || || 1| 2 || 0 || 0 || 16 || 7 || 23 || 5 || 5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 8.0 || 3.5 || 11.5 || 2.5 || 2.5 || 0|-| 2021 || || 1| 9 || 1 || 1 || 87 || 40 || 127 || 28 || 27 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 9.7 || 4.4 || 14.1 || 3.1 || 3.0 || 2|- | 2022 (S6) || || 1| 6 || 3 || 4 || 38 || 17 || 55 || 16 || 11 || 0.5 || 0.7 || 6.3 || 2.8 || 9.2 || 2.7 || 1.8 || 2|- | 2022 (S7) || || 1| 10 || 7 || 1 || 62 || 32 || 94 || 19 || 29 || 0.7 || 0.1 || 6.2 || 3.2 || 9.4 || 1.9 || 2.9 || 3|- class=sortbottom! colspan=3 | Career! 45 !! 25 !! 16 !! 338 !! 140 !! 478 !! 113 !! 138 !! 0.6 !! 0.4 !! 7.5 !! 3.1 !! 10.6 !! 2.5 !! 3.1 !! 10|}
Team
Individual