The Club’s hand has been forced to some degree with injuries to key players while other players’ pre-season preparations have been carefully managed to ensure their bodies can be sustained throughout the regular season.
Josh Drummond (hip), Jamie Charman (achilles), Xavier Clarke (knee), James Polkinghorne (hernia) and Jack Redden (hand) are among those regular senior players who have been sidelined with injuries while ruckman Matthew Leuenberger and Vice-Captain Jed Adcock have each been rested for one week.
Seasoned veterans Jonathan Brown, Simon Black and Luke Power have more than 10 years of conditioning behind them, so are being eased into yet another AFL campaign.
In addition, Brendan Fevola and Albert Proud are no longer with the Club.
This has opened the door for the Lions’ exciting crop of younger players to prove themselves and potentially earn a spot in the team’s season opener against Fremantle.
“It’s been really important that we get game time into these players and find out who can fill some of these roles,” Lions Senior Coach Michael Voss said.
“It is a trial period and they’re certainly getting plenty of first-hand experience of what to expect at AFL level.”
Last weekend, the young Lions had a tough initiation against a near full-strength Western Bulldogs side who played off in the 2010 Preliminary Final and are among the premiership fancies again in 2011.
The Lions entered the match with a team of 26 players - 15 of which had played less than 25 senior AFL matches and eight of whom are yet to make their official senior debut.
The resultant 70-point loss to the Bulldogs might have caused a dint in the team’s confidence, but has filled the young players with valuable game time that could prove beneficial in the long-term.
While some revelled in the contest and held their own, others struggled to adapt. But every player’s performance would have been closely analysed and scrutinised by Voss and his coaching panel.
Draftee Ryan Lester was among the team’s better players across half forward and finished with one goal from four scoring shots. He earned praise from the Coach post-game and did himself no harm for the effort.
Second year forward Bryce Retzlaff also presented well up forward, kicking his first goal for the Club and competing right up until the final siren.
Rookie ruckman Broc McCauley battled manfully against the experienced Bulldogs pairing of Ben Hudson and Will Minson and could hold his head high.
Despite the final score line, the Lions would have taken plenty of positives from a game that most fans would’ve have happily deleted from their memory on their way home from the stadium.
Some will get another opportunity this Saturday to present their best case for senior selection when the Lions face Melbourne in a practice match at Visy Park at 12 noon.
But others will have to make way for the potential returns of Power, Black, Redden, Polkinghorne, Leuenberger and Pearce Hanley.
Reduce the 26-man squad to 22 and throw skipper Jonathan Brown and defender Josh Drummond into the mix for Round 1 and suddenly positions in the Lions’ side become much harder to come by.
Voss might have given his young troops a ‘trial by fire’ in recent weeks, but those who escape without getting burned will ultimately be rewarded.
