Australian Football

A graduate of the grassroots system in Queensland, Wayne Brittain was the first homegrown football identity to coach at senior AFL level when he took charge of Carlton in 2001. 

Born in Melbourne but a Queenslander from an early age, Brittain played with Centrals Aloomba in Cairns and coached Windsor- Zillmere to premierships at U19 and Reserves levels before taking the Zillmere seniors to a memorable flag in 1988 (with brother Craig being one of his star charges). He also had coaching success with Cairns, North Queensland and Queensland Country representative sides before being joining the Brisbane Lions as an assistant-coach under Robert Walls in 1994 and 1995. 

He established a significant reputation for his knowledge and passion while at the Lions, and was lured to Carlton by David Parkin’s offer of a full-time assistant-coaching role, quickly becoming Parkin’s 'right-hand man', serving as match day coach to the triple premiership mentor. When Parkin retired at the end of the 2000 season, Wayne Brittain was his anointed successor.

Brittain had two years at the helm of Carlton, the first seeing the club play finals, and the second ending in an unprecedented 'wooden spoon' finish for the once mighty Blues. While many factors conspired to bring about such a dismal result, it was the coach who bore the immediate brunt, and he was dismissed after seven years in total at the club at season's end. Brittain subsequently spent two years as an assistant coach at Richmond before returning ‘home’ in 2005, taking charge of the Zillmere Eagles for 18 months. Among five finalists for the Queensland Coach of the Century in 2003, he returned to the AFL as an assistant-coach with the Lions in 2009.

Author - Murray Bird and Peter Blucher