Adcock, who returns this week for the Lions, believes it’s particularly important for the team’s senior players to set a good example.
“The onus is on the players every year,” he said.
“Us older players really need to set the standard, lead the way, deliver the team values and help develop good habits for our younger players.”
“Last week was disappointing. We were pretty non-competitive and lazy. We couldn’t win the hard ball and couldn’t win the loose ball. Then when we got the ball, we couldn’t hit our targets.”
The Lions players feel no added pressure in the lead-up to the Bulldogs game, despite the considerable amount of scrutiny they have been under this week.
“It’s amazing how much you can be judged from just one practice match,” Adcock said.
“To be honest, I don’t think it matters where the bookies have you - whether it’s up the top or down the bottom. The pressure is still the same on every team to go out there and perform.”
Adcock also said the departure of Brendan Fevola shouldn’t prove a distraction for the team, who have been training together without the full-forward since the beginning of the New Year.
“The Fev stuff hasn’t been a distraction at all for the players. We’ve quickly moved on and have been focussed on improving on the training track,” he said.
“It looks like Mitch Clark will play the role of full-forward for now. We’ve also got guys like Bryce Retzlaff coming through and Ryan Lester who has been playing a forward role for us.”
“Then there’s Browny who might play a bit deeper this year.”
