Page 8 - 2015 STATE REPRESENTATIVE CARNIVAL RECORD

SOUTHQUEENSLAND» ROBERTCOPELAND
34-year-old Robert Copeland is no fresh face to the footy competition. Known as one of the hard men of the NEAFL his career started when he was drafted by the Brisbane Lions in 2001.
In the same year he was drafted, he made his debut in Round 9 against Adelaide and over the next 7 years played a commendable 143 games. During his time with the Lions he was nominated for the Rising Star Award in 2001, was awarded Best First Year Player in 2001, and was part of the Premiership winning team in both 2001 and 2003.
When his time with the Lions ended, Copeland didn’t hang up his footy boots, instead joining the Aspley Hornets as their captain in 2008. Just last year, Copeland played his 100th game for the club at age 33.
Getting older, Copeland has started to move his focus towards the development of Aspley’s younger players and has more recently joined the Noosa Tigers FC. This weekend he will represent South Queensland when they take on North Queensland as part of a state representative program.
Three of Copeland’s Tigers teammates will join him on the field. The South Queensland team consists of both older and younger players, and Copeland will certainly bring a lot of the experience to the match.
PHOTO: NORTH QLD v SOUTH QLD, 2014