ON WEDNESDAY night's The Footy Show, Brisbane Lions captain Jonathan Brown watched in amazement as Sam Newman failed to identify four of his young teammates.

Not one, but four. And Newman, a 300-game Geelong player and media personality, wasn't just a little bit unsure when asked for their names.

He had absolutely no idea who Jared Polec, Broc McCauley, Tom Rockliff or Jack Redden were as Brown held up photos of the foursome.

Newman made jokes in an attempt to cover his ignorance of their identities, and tried to downplay their importance to the Lions' line up despite not knowing what type of player each was.  

Given Richmond's 26-point win over Brisbane on Saturday night, in a game where Michael Voss said he failed to find any winners from his side, it was probably not the best night for Newman to tune in if he was looking for a lesson on Lion cubs.

However, if he watched the game, he would have certainly seen signs they are all poised to be a part of the club's future.

Redden and Rockliff - the most experienced of the four - were the best. Redden had 28 touches, beaten only by Simon Black on the Lions' side of the stats sheet, and laid eight tackles.

Rockliff also had 28, 12 of which were contested, laid 10 tackles, had six clearances and had five rebounds.

Both kicked a goal and had hands in setting up others in the third-quarter fight back.

McCauley held his own against Angus Graham and Tyrone Vickery, arguably narrowly beating Graham.

Polec only played 40 minutes as the Lions' substitute player. He had seven touches in those minutes, and helped out in Rockliff's third-term goal that got the Lions within a point.

Newman can be given leeway for not knowing McCauley or Polec; both have played just three games.

McCauley is a second-year rookie and the player Brown, a triple premiership champion, believes is the "most balanced" big man he's ever seen

Polec is only 18 but was the Lions' first pick in last year's NAB AFL Draft. They took him with selection No.5 overall after debating whether to take him or Dyson Heppell, who has been so impressive for Essendon in the early stages of the season.

Rockliff and Redden have been around a little bit longer. The former was picked up in the NAB AFL Pre-season Draft in late 2008; the latter with pick No.25 in the NAB AFL Draft over a month earlier.

Injuries hurt Rockliff early in his first season but in 2010, he put his hand up as one of the Lions' more important recruits in recent years.

Redden played 10 games in his first year, then all 22 in his second. He too was nominated for the NAB AFL Rising Star before placing fifth in the club champion award.

Not bad for a duo apparently as unrecognisable as the inexperienced twosome of McCauley and Polec.

Against Richmond on Saturday night, all four were influential at times.

Much has been made of the Tiger cubs maturing at Punt Road. We know what Jack Riewoldt can do, Trent Cotchin is a gun, and the last two weeks have shown us how destructive Dustin Martin can be.

But what about the young Lions finding their feet and sharpening their claws two states away?

If Newman watched Saturday night's encounter, he'll not only have a better idea of what the above-mentioned quartet look like, but how important they'll be as the wheel continues to turn at the Lions.

He might also have caught glimpses of Pearce Hanley, Jesse O'Brien, Claye Beams and James Polkinghorne, and noticed the signs they all showed too.

"We're relying on those sorts of players. We can't rely on 'Browny' and Luke [Power] and myself for much longer because our days our numbered," veteran Brownlow medalist Simon Black said afterwards.

"They're the future of our footy club and they're going to drag us back up the ladder.

"We're extremely reliant on them. They're the next generation, they're the future and the sooner they become more consistent AFL footballers, the better."

As for his young teammates' lack of recognition from Newman, and probably a large portion of non-Lion supporters, Black says it's a non-issue.

"I understand we live in Queensland, out of a footy state … but we know what their value is to us and they've been really good and hopefully they can keep developing into becoming A-grade players for us."

One thing is for sure - those players won't be faceless much longer if they stay on the track they're currently treading.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.