MATTHEW Leuenberger's excellent performance against Fremantle has made Lions coach Justin Leppitsch's call on his No.1 ruckman even harder.
Stefan Martin, who has been the club's preferred big man this season, has one more match to serve on his two-game suspension before he becomes eligible to play against Melbourne at the MCG in a fortnight.
But, after having watched veteran big man Leuenberger edge in-form Docker Aaron Sandilands in the Lions' 36-point loss to Fremantle on Sunday, Leppitsch was non-committal about the club's rucking future.
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"When Stef gets the crack, he goes really well and when 'Berger' gets the full-time crack, he goes really well," Leppitsch said.
"So, yeah, it probably poses a dilemma for us as a footy club going forward, doesn't it? (It's) a good problem to have.
"It would be nice to have that problem with all our positions on the ground, but at least he (Leuenberger) stood up and did his job, (against) obviously a big dominant ruckman.
"It's difficult enough going against someone who's a foot taller than you."
WATCH: Justin Leppitsch's full post-match media conference
Leuenberger racked up 51 hit-outs against Fremantle and narrowly won his battle with Sandilands (53 hit-outs) by virtue of his two excellent goals.
The injury-prone West Australian, who has played 104 games since joining the Lions in 2007, becomes a free agent at the end of the year and might consider his options if Martin remains the club's No.1 ruckman.
Leppitsch said there were some good individual performances against Fremantle, but there had been other positives to take from the game.
"Individually, Leuenberger was very good, I thought (Daniel) Richy off half-back was pretty good. I thought our basic team system and structures at stoppages was good. I think that helps given the conditions, too," he said.
"When there are secondary stoppages, and third stoppages, it helps a young team to set up. It gives us a bit of extra time to set up. Our basic set-ups were good.
"Just some key contests late (cost us) ... The soft goals sort of crept in at the end, when we have sort of been nutting those out of our game slowly and then every now and again, whether it's a quarter here or a patch there, they come back in.
"As I say all the time, there's some things we can fix now, there are some things that will take some time."
Leppitsch said the team would stay overnight in Perth, as a trial, rather than returning home on the red-eye flight.
There were no new injury concerns ahead of next Sunday's clash against the Sydney Swans.
