Make no mistake about it, Steve Johnson is a champion. With 253 games of AFL football, three premierships, three All-Australian selections and a Norm Smith medal, he has been a champion of the Geelong Football Club.
Based on his form in 2015 Johnson is certainly capable of playing AFL football in 2016, though the major barrier is obviously age.
At 32, Geelong made the difficult decision to let their champion go. While Johnson could certainly provide value to a club for one or possibly two seasons, should the Brisbane Lions be looking at signing the veteran?
The short and simple answer is no.
It was a surprise this week to hear Brisbane list manager Peter Schwab appear upbeat to the idea of Johnson joining the Lions, even indicating coach Justin Leppitsch has had a conversation with the enigmatic forward.
While Schwab talked about the positives an experienced senior player can have with a young Brisbane Lions squad it seemed a strange comment as former Lion Jed Adcock looks for a new club.
It cannot be forgotten Brisbane chose to not offer a contract to Adcock. Of course Adcock and Johnson are different players, but Adcock is someone who wanted to continue his career at Brisbane. A 206-game veteran, 29 years old and a former club captain, Adcock was loyal to Brisbane all his career. He was also prepared to sign a one-year deal on practically minimum wage to try and help with the rebuild ahead at Brisbane.
Brisbane decided they did not need their former captain, and would instead go down ‘the youth path’. It is difficult to fathom how Johnson fits this mould.
Nothing is official at this stage and plenty of wild rumours will do the rounds during trade week. Maybe Schwab was just being polite and the club has no interest in Johnson. But Brisbane is a club that has struggled to retain players in recent years.
To offload a 200-game veteran of the club, who is still capable of playing AFL football, and within a month entertain bringing in a 32-year-old defies logic. After finishing second last in season 2015, the Lions need to use logic to climb up the ladder.
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