• Draft order: Your club's provisional picks
THE BRISBANE Lions will put an emphasis on finding players who will fit into the club's culture at the upcoming NAB AFL Draft as more talent prepares to walk out the door.
The Lions will likely lose restricted free agent Matthew Leuenberger and midfielders James Aish and Jack Redden in the upcoming NAB Trade Period, two years after five key youngsters left the club.
As the Lions prepare for an influx of draft picks in exchange for departing players, recruiting manager Stephen Conole said the club would do its research on players' personalities in an effort to find long-term prospects.
"We always try to bring in kids who will fit our club and culture well," Conole said on Saturday.
"You've got to do your due diligence and research into those sorts of things.
"In the end, you've just got to keep drafting good players that will fit the culture well and hope that come contract time, they will sign and become long-term players at the club."
The Lions have the opportunity to bid for their academy players in November's draft in Adelaide, with athletic midfielder Ben Keays a particularly impressive prospect.
Conole said the club had invested significant recruiting resources into the academy group.
"They've been terrific all year. They're resilient boys and I'm sure every club is watching them pretty closely," he said.
"It'll be an interesting time come draft night to see where they fall.
"Every team can have a go at them and you've got to bid up to the team that rates them the highest."
The draft combine continued on Saturday, with prospects put through sprint, agility, jump and beep tests.
Gresham steals the show at draft combine's skills testing
Sydney Swans academy player Callum Mills was not testing extensively because of a hamstring complaint but said there were nerves for all the players as they went through their paces in front of AFL recruiters.
One of the brightest prospects in this year's draft, Mills said rival clubs continued to interview him throughout the combine and were treating him like any other player, despite the likelihood he will land at the Swans.
"The Swans have put a great amount of time, energy and resources into me, but I think I'm not that different to the kids in the draft apart from training with the Swans academy," he said.
"(The academy) has been a massive benefit for me as a person and a footballer."
Greater Western Sydney academy player Jacob Hopper was also sitting out the testing because of a groin complaint.
Between club interviews and media commitments, he said he was spending his combine time encouraging other players – particularly those from the academies – through their testing.
"It's been really good to see some NSW boys stepping up and making a bit of a name for our state," Hopper said.
"We're all close mates and we've all grown up through the NSW system so you keep a tab on what everyone else is doing. The growth the academy has produced is mammoth."
Key forward Harrison Himmelberg is a member of the GWS academy and moved to Canberra this year to play with NEAFL club Eastlake, where his football has improved dramatically.
He won the best-on-ground medal in the Allies' win against Australia under-17 team on Grand Final day this year and said his move from Wagga to the nation's capital had been great for his football.
"To get out of country footy and into a NEAFL club has been a massive step with your training and recovery and preparation," he said.
"I put most of [my improvement] down to that and a bit more intent this year.
"I've been really driven this year. The want to play high level footy and ultimately AFL footy is a dream."
