Tom Lonergan

Tom Lonergan (born 17 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Career Early career Lonergan grew up in Yarrawonga and as a 15-year-old made his senior debut for the Yarrawonga Pigeons against the Wodonga Raiders in the Ovens & Murray Football League. He kicked 6 goals and received an injury to his kidney that may have contributed to his later kidney injury. He also played a few games for the Murray Bushrangers before he moved to boarding school at Assumption College, Kilmore and played for the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup. Geelong acquired the tall forward in the second round of the 2002 AFL draft, the 23rd selection overall.

2006: Injury On 26 August 2006, Lonergan suffered serious internal injury to his kidney whilst playing in a Round 21 draw against Melbourne - which was also just his seventh AFL-level match. Lonergan's kidney was severely damaged when he backed into a marking contest against Melbourne's Brad Miller. forcing him to undergo trauma surgery to remove his right kidney. placing him into an induced coma. Lonergan remained in a coma for four days, with it taking six hours to bring him back to consciousness. He also lost 17 kg during the ordeal. The accident occurred when Lonergan was driving to training, and another car careered into his passenger-side door and pushed him into oncoming traffic. He had previously remarked on the unusual nature of his injury, claiming that it was a very different feeling to having damaged a joint or a limb.

2008–2017: AFL success

Lonergan played in the Geelong team in the 2008 AFL Grand Final, and missed selection into the Geelong 2009 premiership team. However, during 2011 Tom became a key member of Geelong's defensive back six players, and played a critical role in the 2011 AFL Grand Final holding Travis Cloke goalless in the second half, after Cloke had kicked three goals early in the game while playing on Harry Taylor. The job he executed was crucial for the Cats as it helped stemmed the flow of Collingwood goals and took the red-hot Cloke out of the game.

During the 2014 AFL trade period, Lonergan was offered a three-year contract to join the Western Bulldogs, in a deal estimated to be worth $500,000 a season. Lonergan, who was already contracted to Geelong for 2015, He continued to play for Geelong through the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Lonergan played the final game of his career in the 2017 Preliminary Final, where he collected 10 disposals in a heavy loss to Adelaide.

Coaching Following his retirement from playing, Lonergan took on talent and development coaching roles in the Victorian under-18s competition, first at the Calder Cannons as talent manager (2019–2020), then at the Geelong Falcons as talent operations lead (2021–2022). He joined the Carlton Football Club as talent and development manager in 2023. Lonergan left the Carlton Football Club at the end of the 2025 AFL season.

Personal life Following his injuries, Lonergan became an ambassador for Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation, an organisation raising awareness of organ donation. The Geelong senior side wore rainbow-coloured laces (the symbol of the foundation) in their boots during their match against the Brisbane Lions immediately following Lonergan's VFL match. Lonergan was in fact wearing rainbow laces during the match in which he was injured.

He is the youngest son of Trish and Bernie (Stump) Lonergan, who still live in Yarrawonga. He has two brothers and a sister.

209 55 38 1250 1166 2416 932 377 0.3 0.2 6.0 5.6 11.6 4.5 1.8