Even though it’s been a tough year for the footy club as a whole on the field, there are probably a handful of guys who can really hold their heads up high and confidently say that they’ve had career-best seasons in 2010.

Let me start by saying that a team is not always a sum of its parts - it takes every player to perform their particular role to the best of their ability for a team to be successful.

But I reckon if every player on our list had a career-best season this year, then we’d be sitting much higher than 13th on the AFL ladder with just one game remaining.

While you can always rely on the likes of Simon Black, Jonathan Brown and Luke Power to get the job done when needed, there have been some other blokes at the Club who’ve really stood up this year - particularly among the younger guys.

Todd Banfield and Tom Rockliff come to mind as two young fellas who have really established themselves in the senior side and can be pleased with their efforts this season.

Jack Redden is another guy who has taken a step up in the midfield. Jack already played a bit of senior footy late last year, but has certainly taken on more responsibility in the middle this season.

It’s no coincidence that the three blokes I’ve just mentioned have all been nominated for the 2010 AFL Rising Star award and I think they’re all capable of giving the award a shake at the end of the year.

Then there are other young guys like Pearce Hanley, Aaron Cornelius and Ryan Harwood who have all had a decent taste of senior action this year.

Michael Rischitelli - who is probably now considered one of the more senior players at the Club at just 24 years old - has enjoyed the best of his seven year career with the Lions.

Rischa has played every game this season and is among the team leaders in pretty much every statistic you can imagine. He’s been getting plenty of the ball and has really taken his game to another level. It’s little wonder why most people consider him as one of the favourites for this year’s Club Champion award.

Then there’s Brent Staker who’s been one of our more consistent players since coming over from West Coast, plugging holes at both ends of the ground and Matthew Leuenberger who has stayed injury free and gotten some continuity in his footy.

It’s obviously difficult to have everyone on your list perform to their best at the same time because you always have to contend with injuries which not only keep blokes out of action, but limits the amount of training they can get under their belt.

And I think it’s fair to say that we’ve had our fair share of injured or underdone players this year.