A proud Dalabon man, ‘Kiddy’ grew up in the Northern Territory town of Katherine, just over 300 kilometres south-east of Darwin, alongside two brothers Hamish and Blake.

As a junior, Coleman’s innate talent was already evident and his family were eager for it to bear fruit. Aged just nine and seven respectfully, he and Blake were packing their bags and heading for Queensland to live with their aunt and pursue their footy dreams at mum's wishes. 

With the Lions Academy, Coleman gradually built a holistic game to surround his silky left foot kicking but recruiters still didn’t quite see him as a ready-made prospect in his draft year of 2018, leading him to miss out on an AFL list spot. 

Where some may have felt disparaged, Coleman went back to work and pieced together a resume that ranked him among the classiest in his talent pool the following year as a top-ager.

Coleman starred in the Lions’ undefeated NEAFL-winning season and averaged 16 touches per game with some flashy showings out of defence, becoming a prolific rebounding threat and utilising his pace.

Tied to the Lions, it was coincidentally Essendon who made the bid on a 19-year-old Coleman and forced Brisbane’s hand – with pick No.37, the AFL dream had officially been realised.

After a year in the system, it was a double dream for the family when Blake joined Keidean via the 2020 National Draft, making them just the fifth active pair of brotherly teammates in the AFL at that time. 

Growing in stature over his first two seasons, Coleman showed early signs of his ability to step up on the big stage when he showed out with the two best games of his career to date in his first two finals against Melbourne (18 disposals) and the Bulldogs (15 disposals) in 2021.

During that season, Coleman and partner Rylie welcomed their firstborn daughter Haisley. Son Kyus would follow a few years later.

Throughout 2022 and ’23, Coleman officially burst onto the scene as one of the competition’s most exciting young defenders.

Fresh off being named in the 22under22 team, his fourth season at the highest level was an absolute ripper as the burgeoning Lions finally announced themselves. 

Coleman played a career-high 23 games in 2023 and again saved his finest hour for the finals. With Brisbane down by five goals early in the preliminary final against Carlton and the threat of another finals exit very real, he rose to the occasion. 

Gaining 627 metres and seven score involvements, Coleman made virtually all of his 21 disposals count and propelled wave after wave of Lion attacks – he was equally as sound defensively with 11 intercepts.

After his clutch performance, Coleman backed it up in the biggest game of his career on the most overwhelming stage of all, Grand Final Day.

Racking up 26 disposals in a glittering effort, his poise was apparent all day under immense pressure and in one of the tightest games of the year. Although Brisbane fell by four points to Collingwood in the decider, Coleman’s standing as a big-game performer had taken no damage. 

He finished second in the Norm Smith Medal voting as the only Lion to poll. Later, he would share the Club honour for Best Finals Player and ranked second in the prestigious Gary Ayres Award as the league's best performer in September.

Since that day, injuries have largely robbed fans of seeing Kiddy strut his stuff on the big stage. An ACL tear in the Opening Round of 2024 brought his follow-up season to a premature close as Brisbane went on to claim the first of three consecutive flags.

Knee soreness hampered his 2025 return, while a significant quad injury ultimately sidelined him for the back half of that season. This year, Coleman took significant strides by piecing together the first 12 games uninterrupted and recaptured some of his best footy on the road, notably against the Saints and Bombers. 

Although another soft tissue injury cut into his campaign at the halfway point, Coleman finished the season in the VFL at full health and will begin his first season as a Don in good shape.

Upon entering the Club – and despite his limited senior showings in the last few seasons – the class of Coleman is an obvious essential to their defensive stocks already.

His fresh start begins now.