Steven Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Steven James Lawrence is an Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er. He is the son of former St Kilda star Barry Lawrence
Barry Lawrence
Barry K. Lawrence is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. He played for St Kilda.Barry played as a forward for Longford in Tasmania, he had once signed the play with Hawthorn in 1967 but he decided to stay in Tasmania for two more years before jioning St Kilda. he...

.

Brisbane career

Debuting with the Brisbane Bears
Brisbane Bears
The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...

 in 1995, Lawrence was a solid half back flanker who enjoyed a solid career. He came back strongly after two knee reconstructions, where he missed the entire 1996 season (and much of 1997). But he returned midway through 1997 to display incredible toughness in defence.

He was, however, criticised for being a bad influence on some players with his heavy drinking and partying lifestyle. He was criticised by Jason Akermanis
Jason Akermanis
Jason Dean Akermanis is an Australian rules football player. He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears, Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs...

 on The Footy Show
The AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...

, who later said that it was "no coincidence" that when Lawrence left the club at the end of 2000, the Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...

 won a premiership the next year.

St Kilda career

Lawrence was traded to St Kilda in the 2000
2000 AFL Draft
The 2000 AFL Draft was the annual draft of talented Australian rules football players by teams that participate in the Australian Football League. It consisted of a pre-season draft, a national draft, a trade period and a rookie elevation....

 AFL Draft
AFL Draft
The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.-History:...

, and was part of some aggressive recruiting by the Saints in that season.

Sacking

In 2003 Lawrence was involved in a car accident due to drink-driving and was immediately sacked by the St Kilda Football Club. It was also around the time that coach Grant Thomas
Grant Thomas (footballer)
Grant Thomas is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He most recently held the position of coach of the St Kilda Football Club from 2001–2006. He attended St Bede's College in Mentone.- Playing career :...

 mentioned his "zero tolerance for mediocrity" policy, when Matthew Capuano
Matthew Capuano
Matthew Capuano is a former Australian rules footballer who spent his AFL career with the North Melbourne Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Capuano is currently a development coach at the Carlton Football Club...

 was also sacked.

VFL career

Lawrence returned to the VFL
VFL
VFL can refer to:Sport* Victorian Football League, an Australian rules football league formerly known as the Victorian Football Association prior to 1996....

, playing with the Williamstown Seagulls. He became their captain and also played in the Victorian VFL State of Origin
Interstate matches in Australian rules football
Australian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition and international matches meant that football games between state representative teams were...

 clash.

In 2006, he was signed by the Port Melbourne Borough as part of a major recruitment drive for the club.

External links

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