External links
- Leo Lombard's profile on the official website of the Gold Coast Football Club
- Leo Lombard at AustralianFootball.com
Gold Coast Suns – current squad | |
|---|---|
* denotes rookie listed players |
Coach: Drummond |
| Leo Lombard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Leonardo Lombard | ||
| Date of birth | 5 October 2006 | ||
| Place of birth | Gold Coast, Queensland | ||
| Original team(s) | Broadbeach (QAFL) / Gold Coast Suns Academy (Talent League) / Burleigh Bombers (QFA) | ||
| Draft | No. 9, 2024 AFL draft | ||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward/Midfielder | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2025– | Gold Coast | 1 (1) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 12, 2025. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| Source: AustralianFootball.com | |||
Leonardo Lombard (born 5 October 2006) is a professional Australian rules footballer who was selected by the Gold Coast Suns with pick 9 in the 2024 AFL draft. [1]
Lombard was born on the Gold Coast into a family with a Cuban father and an English mother. He attended Varsity College throughout his upbringing and took part in their ASPIRE AFL excellence program with future Suns teammate Jake Rogers. [2] Lombard's father, Héctor, is a professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship [3] and a formerly competed as an Olympic judoka who represented Cuba at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His father introduced him to Brazilian jiu-jitsu at six years of age [4] and Lombard was considered a promising junior prospect years later when he claimed a gold medal at the Pan Pacific Championships in 2017 and was crowned the under-12 BJJ Australian Open champion in 2018. [5] However, Lombard and his father later became estranged and no longer have a relationship, leaving Lombard's single mother to work three jobs in order to provide for her son. [6]
Along with jiu-jitsu, Lombard began playing Australian rules football at eight years of age for the Burleigh Bombers and excelled as a junior footballer, which was rewarded with an invitation to join the Gold Coast Suns Academy at 12 years of age. [7] Lombard grew up supporting the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL. [8] He later admitted he only played football "for fun" on the side and was focused on pursuing a career in mixed martial arts, until the greater levels of development opportunities provided by the Suns Academy convinced him to quit Brazilian jiu-jitsu and chase a career in the AFL. [9] Lombard progressed his way through the Gold Coast Suns Academy junior grades earning representative honours along the way such as being selected in the 2022 U16 All-Australian team. [10] In 2023, he was selected to represent the victorious Allies team as a bottom ager in the U18 National Championships alongside future AFL teammates Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham. [11] Lombard capped off his 2023 season by taking part in the Gold Coast's VFL grand final winning side at 16 years of age. [12] He returned to the U18 National Championships a year later and was awarded the Larke Medal as the best performed Division I player in the country as well as selection in the starting U18 All-Australian team. [13]
Lombard was drafted to his hometown AFL club, the Gold Coast Suns, when they decided to match a pick 9 bid from St Kilda at the 2024 AFL draft. [14] He made his AFL debut for the Suns at 18 years of age against Fremantle in round 12 of the 2025 AFL season and kicked a memorable goal that evoked loud cheers from the home crowd at Carrara Stadium in his first outing as an AFL player. [15]