The Reserves side was limited to just 12 listed Lions players (plus NSW/ACT scholarship player Richard Newell) with Tom Collier being withdrawn once word had been received that Luke Power had injured his back.
“We got a phone call about half an hour before the game to advise that Luke had hurt himself and was probably going to struggle to play seniors the next night,” Reserves Coach Nathan Clarke said.
“Claye Beams was already sitting out and was always the man most likely to get a late call-up should one of the senior boys go down. But once we got the news, we had to pull Tom Collier at the last minute as well as a further precaution.”
“Thankfully we had one or two extra Western Magpies players on hand.”
Clarke said the final result probably flattered the Lions Reserves in the end.
“It was a funny one. We didn’t play super footy, but certainly showed plenty of spirit in the last quarter after being four goals down at three quarter time,” he said.
“The final score was 10.13 (73) to 11.7 (73) and we were pretty inaccurate in front of goal with nine scoring scoring shots to two in last quarter alone. So we could have snatched a win, but Aspley probably deserved it more.”
The Lions Reserves received great service from fellow Tasmanian midfielders Ryan Harwood and Josh Green who Clarke said were pivotal to the team’s resurgence.
“Ryan Harwood had 30 plus possessions while Josh Green was terrific again,” Clarke said.
“Josh is so explosive from congested areas and both him and Ryan Harwood are two of the best I’ve seen at hunting the footy.”
“Sam Sheldon and James Hawksley complemented them with their pace and run.”
“Jared Polec kicked four goals mainly playing as a half-forward and we also threw him in the square a few times. He’s such a good wingman and half-forward and knows how to carry the footy, but the coaches are really keen to see him get on the bottom of some packs. He’s still working on that.”
“He kicked this blistering goal at the start of the third quarter which really opened the game up a bit for us.”
The Lions Reserves were dealt another injury blow early in the match when Bart McCulloch was forced off the field with a quad tear.
“We lost Bart in the second quarter with a quad which put a bit of pressure on us in the middle,” he said.
“We rotated three of our taller Magpies guys through there, but none were actual ruckmen. We might have found a real player in young Scott Clarke from the Western Magpies who jumped really well. We might use him a bit throughout the year.”
The young Lions forwards also had a tough night at the office with an experienced Aspley backline applying plenty of pressure.
“We were a bit cluttered around half forward which meant that Bryce Retzlaff struggled to get any space. Robert Copeland actually kept dropping back on him and forced him to compete against two opponents on a number of occasions.”
“It was probably a good experience for Bryce because he will have to start getting used to that if he’s going to play regular AFL footy. He still managed to kick two goals for the game.”
“Aaron Cornelius played down back during the first half. We moved him forward in the third quarter to try and give Bryce some help, but it didn’t work well for us,” he said.
The Lions Reserves will now take on reigning premiers Morningside this Sunday at Esplen Oval in their first official match of the new NEAFL competition and Clarke can’t wait for the challenge.
“It’s really exciting,” Clarke said.
“The best thing is that Morningside are coming off a loss against the Northern Territory. They got opened up a bit with pace, so we have a good opportunity to compete with them physically and then try and use our pace and power-running to our advantage.”
“The big test will be whether we can sustain our efforts for four quarters.”
