AMIDST the hype surrounding NAB AFL Rising Star Daniel Rich and the emergence of ruckman Mitch Clark, one young Lion flew under the radar in 2009.

While James Polkinghorne did not gather the possessions or kick the goals to turn many heads outside of Brisbane, he brought more to the Lions than any stats sheet could show.

Playing predominantly as a lead-up half-forward, the 21-year-old also moved into the midfield late in the season.

His clean hands and grunt work ensured Polkinghorne held his place from round five through to the semi-final against the Western Bulldogs.

There was no greater evidence of his commitment to the contests when - in the elimination final against Carlton - he ran straight through Chris Judd with the ball in dispute deep in the final quarter.

"Always since junior footy that's been my major focus, and that's something I've always wanted to bring to the team," he said.

Polkinghorne, the son of former Hawthorn player Robert and nephew of another ex-Hawk, David, has had a strong pre-season.

With Brendan Fevola replacing Daniel Bradshaw at full-forward and Brent Staker and Amon Buchanan arriving from West Coast and the Sydney Swans, the Lions have options in attack which may give Polkinghorne more chances in the middle.

Either way, he said he was ready to build on his breakout campaign.

"I'm really happy with how the pre-season's gone," he said.

"One of my main goals was to get the majority of the sessions done to give myself the best chance to succeed and I've been able to do that. As far as benchmarks go everything looks good so far.

"From session one the balls have been out and one of the big focuses has been skills under fatigue and we've been able to work on that.

"I think last year the pleasing thing was getting consistency in games and playing a role in the team."

Polkinghorne kicked 15 goals, including multiples on six occasions, to finish fourth in the Lions' goalkicking.

But he said he was just as focused on the quality of his touches.

"I wasn't getting heaps of ball so I had to make sure I did something when I got it," he said.

"That was the good thing with coaches having faith in me playing. I could get a group of matches and learn to play with the other guys.

"In training I've been put in the midfield drills and getting used to being in the middle, but I'm still between groups at this stage."

Wherever coach Michael Voss uses Polkinghorne, he can be confident of a quality outcome.