DAYNE Beams says it's vital the Brisbane Lions chase a big key position player in the off-season to take the pressure off its young spine.
After opening the chequebook to acquire Beams from Collingwood and Allen Christensen from Geelong in the off-season, the Lions have been linked to All Australian defender Alex Rance and Gold Coast powerhouse Charlie Dixon in recent weeks.
Both are out of contract at the end of the year and the Lions have room in their salary cap to accommodate them.
Currently in the midst of a debilitating injury toll to their key position players, Beams said chasing an experienced tall was crucial.
"It'd be vital for our young guys," Beams said.
"We've got no experienced forwards.
"You look at games we've lost, and it'd be nice to have Nick Riewoldt floating around our forward line on the weekend.
"Our guys will develop. Dan McStay (finger) didn't play on the weekend and I think he's been playing pretty well, and he'll benefit from someone with a bit more presence and a bigger body around him, because he won't get the key defender.
"Down the other end if we get Rog (Daniel) Merrett (hamstring) back at some stage, (Justin) Clarke won't have to play on the big power forwards and he can take the second forward."
Beams said he was encouraged by the progress of McStay, Clarke and Harris Andrews, but it was too much to expect them to dominate so early in their careers.
Key young talls Michael Close, Jono Freeman, McStay, Darcy Gardiner and Jackson Paine are currently injured, along with experienced heads Merrett, Brent Staker, Matt Maguire and Luke McGuane.
"Anyone with that experience would be great but that's up to our recruiting staff," Beams said.
"I can go in there all I want, but they probably won't listen to me too much.
"We've got a real good (recruiting) team, we've been able to bring in Greg Swann who's got a lot of experience in that area, so hopefully he can weave some magic for us."
Beams said despite the difficult 2-7 start to his time as a Lion, he was confident things would turn around if the players stuck together.
"It's tough when you've got a list that doesn't have a lot of depth at the moment as well, and that's just being honest," he said.
"We don't have the young guys that are ready yet to play AFL footy.
"They're going to be thrown in the deep end and it's going to benefit the club in a few years time, but at the moment they're probably not ready to play senior footy.
"Hopefully those guys can step up and take that opportunity."
