Medical room: The Lions have had 35 players in full training in the lead-up to Christmas - that is more than half a dozen up on recent years when Voss's side has been disrupted by injury. Those still in recovery mode include Brendan Fevola (groin), Joel Patfull (hand), Matt Austin (leg) and impressive draftee Rohan Bewick (shin), but they should all resume with the main group shortly after the Christmas break. Jonathan Brown (groin) and Jamie Charman (ankle) will also be eased back into training but young midfielder Callum Bartlett (knee) isn’t expected back until midway through the season.
Who's burning: Irish rookie Niall McKeever has been among the standouts at training while young midfielders Tom Rockliff and Jack Redden look as though they might continue on from impressive seasons. Several players are running great times in the club's 3km time trials, with Burton's new training methods paying dividends. Andrew Raines has been a noticeable star on the track and has shown no signs of the injuries that plagued him last season. Sam Sheldon, another who has been in and out of the doctor's room in recent times, has had an uninterrupted summer for the first time in his four-year career.
Draftee watch: Michael Voss was always going to like Josh Green. Taken at pick 32 in the NAB AFL Draft, the Tasmanian plays in the midfield, is courageous and he goes and gets his own ball. But perhaps the attribute that has most endeared Green to the Brownlow Medallist is his distinctive red hair - a trait he also shares with his senior coach. Voss has already been heard to say he loves recruiting fellow redheads as they are guaranteed to "have a go".
Membership: The Brisbane Lions' membership tracker currently has the club at around 12,000 signed-up members for 2011 - almost identical to its figure at the corresponding time last year.
After the break: Several of the rehab group should slowly filter back into main training when the Lions reconvene from their Christmas break, and ball work will lift a notch as Voss readies his troops for their 2011 assault. The Lions will continue to train predominately from their Coorparoo base. While Burton and the fitness staff will continue to play a major role, the Lions will have a little more than a month to prepare for their NAB Cup openers.
Telstra Community Camp: The Lions will head to nearby Toowoomba on February 10 and 11, and while the final itinerary is yet to be finalised they will participate in a range of community activities including junior clinics and school visits. With the Gold Coast Suns now in the vicinity, the club may now be forced to push a little harder to win support.
NAB Cup opener: February 18 v Essendon and St Kilda at Etihad Stadium. This will be followed by the club's annual family day in Victoria on Saturday 19 February at Etihad Stadium.
What they say: "Our pre-season to date has been fantastic. We have added a more defensive focus to our training program this year because the game is moving in that direction. You'll probably find that all 17 clubs across the competition are spending more time on their defence than ever before." - senior coach Michael Voss.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
