Australian Football

Bruce Lindner was a high-flying, long-kicking, mercurial footballer who probably failed to take full advantage of his talent, although to be fair he was considerably impeded by injury. He commenced his league career in 1980 with West Adelaide, whom he joined from Renmark, and took a few seasons to find his feet. His outstanding potential was signaled in 1981 when he won the reserve grade Magarey Medal despite playing only games at that level. 

In all he played five seasons with the Bloods notching up 56 games and kicking 128 goals, and was a key member of West's Grand Final team of 1983 against Sturt. He contributed five goals from centre half forward to his team's 34-point victory. In 1985 he crossed to Geelong, and added 66 games and 139 goals in half a dozen seasons, before returning home to play 19 games and kick 27 goals for Adelaide in 1991-2, interspersed with a further 12 games for West Adelaide. 

At his best he was spectacularly irrepressible, with outstanding ball handling skills, but he lacked consistency. He was Geelong's top goalkicker with 62 goals in 1987, and made the All Australian team both that year and the next.

Author - John Devaney with additional material from Adam Cardosi