For the Brisbane Lions, there is only one way they can look in 2012 – up.
The Lions will be very much akin to the Adelaide Crows. This season will be another long season, however fans should see an improvement.
We didn’t hear Brisbane’s mighty roar often last season, with their meagre four wins coming against North Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast youngsters.
Despite their low numbers, the Lions were competitive. They lost six games by 13 points or fewer and four games by eight or fewer.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Brisbane after they lost their fearless leader and most courageous player Jonathan Brown in the first round. He collided headfirst with Fremantle player Luke McPharlin’s knee.
That same game Brent Staker went down after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament. If that wasn’t enough, Daniel Merrett managed only 10 games with a back injury.
While the injuries were a key contributor to the losses, the Lions young guns were the mainstay for their competitiveness – two best-and-fairest winner Tom Rockliff and third-placed Jack Redden.
Redden is fast becoming a star midfielder as he enters his fourth season in the league. His disposal count and efficiency has increased in each season. I particularly like the way the 21 year old plays defensively and wins the contested ball.
If you want to know how good Rockliff is, just watch his last nine games. In seven of them he picked up 30-plus possessions. The best and fairest had the eighth-highest disposal average in the league last season. While his tally of 12 goals will need to improve, he had a lot of scoring assists.
In the midfield, the Lions have been lucky – first they had Voss and Black, now it seems Redden and Rockliff are fast becoming elite ball-winners.
For me, there are three players to watch in 2012 for the Lions. Aaron Cornelius could step up big-time this year with Mitch Clark relocating to Melbourne. Patrick Karnezis will impress up forward, and mature-age recruit Dayne Zorko is a prolific ball winner and defensive stopper who has dominated in the AFLQ and NEAFL.
Jared Polec, Billy Longer and Claye Beams are also on the radar.
Amid the new arrivals to pull on the maroon, gold, and blue are former Bulldog ruckman Ben Hudson and former Hawk Jordon Lisle.
Another addition to the Lions outfit this year is former Fremantle head coach Mark Harvey, who will join Voss in the coaches box as an assistant.
If Brisbane have a full team for the entire season and the youngsters can continue their surge, the Lions should do better than the last two years. On the road to recovery, though, it will still mean a bottom eight finish for the Lions in 2012.
TomC
Guest
Very happy, particularly today now that Redden has (apparently) re-signed with the club. http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/vital-cog-in-lions-revival-ready-to-stay/story-e6frepf6-1226276407083 That puts all of our most talented youngsters out of the clutches of GWS.
Pillock
Roar Rookie
Lions have too few top line players to go very far this year. Hopefully a lot of the younger players really step up and if they can will be competitive against about a dozen of the sides. Can't see them being able to match it with the top side eg Geelong, Eagles etc. After burning a lot of money and players in the last couple of years with bad recruiting (Fevola) at least they have started to rebuild the team with young players. It will take time but probably the best long term option.
Cam Larkin
Roar Guru
Although the year for Brisbane is expected to be low in number in the win column, watching their youngsters play will be a highlight. You must be happy @TomC with Redden and Rockliff? All the best for the year.
TomC
Guest
As a Brisbane fan, I think this is a pretty fair preview, but I'm not convinced that Cornelius is on the verge of a big break-out season. He doesn't seem to have the engine to play a ranging forward role and with Jonathon Brown down there I think the Lions will need more mobility in their key forwards. Particularly if, as expected, they have a resting ruck (Leuenberger, Longer or Hudson) down there for extended periods. Karnezis, Lester and possibly Lisle are the most likely candidates. Other players to watch this season are Josh Green, Pearce Hanley and Mitch Golby. Green and Golby have been excellent NEAFL performers who are still adjusting to AFL footy, and could be ready to step up. Hanley grew in confidence as a roving half-back-flanker last season and is likely to be pushed up the ground as a line-breaking winger. Expect to see him breaking away from a few packs and moving the ball inside 50 in 2012. But that said, the Lions will struggle to make big improvements in 2012. They still have too many kids running around who need to adapt to AFL level, too many mediocre players clogging up the list (Stiller, Sheldon, Hawksley, Maguire, Buchanan) and frankly Voss hasn't shown much aptitude in getting the most out of a team.