Brisbane Lions 2008 preview

All reports out of Queensland state that gun Brisbane Lions forward Jonathan Brown is having a super pre-season and is raring to go round 1.Although he is ready to play it is expected that he will miss the NAB cup and concentrate on the regular season.

Brisbane are hoping for an injury free campaign to this year with a couple of major injuries hampering their finals chances in the past few years post premiership era.

Bradshaw is looking the goods which is great news for all Brisbane fans. He is just as important to the team makeup as anyone else. with both Bradshaw and Brown providing options up forward it will give Brisbane's competition a few headaches in their backline setups. Throw in Jared Brennan, Mitch Clark and goal sneaks Ashley McGrath & Rhan Hooper and you have a forward line that could mess with the minds of the best defences.

Defence has been a worrying area for Brisbane in terms of depth but late last season they seemed to start getting on top of things. Merrett and Brennan were moved from the forward line into defence with great results. Merrett or Big Red as I like to call him was very average in the forward line I am sorry to say. I tried so hard to love the kid, really I did but he let me down too many times in the forward line with his inability to get the ball and dispose of it cleanly. But now down back I am really proud of him, his spoiling, body work and intensity is fantastic. He really is becoming a premier defender.

Brennan was quite the same, he had sparks of brilliance in the forward line but as a full time forward he was beaten more often than not. Down back and as the occasional move forward he has blossomed and his career is well on track to what many people had hoped.

In defence as well we have a couple of other names that are solid. Josh Drummond, Jason Roe, Jed Adcock and Robert Copeland are all hard defenders who can play on a variety of different player types. They can also be moved around the ground and have the flexibility to play a multitude of positions.

Some may even sneak into the midfield, but to be honest it is very hard to get a game in there due to the number of top end players already there. Simon Black showed why he is in the elite last season, he is cool in crisis and can make something of nothing. Dodging and weaving in the packs to evade capture and get the ball out with precision accuracy. Luke Power and Nigel Lappin are also in the elite group, where their pinpoint passing and calmness is essential in today’s game.

Lets put a few more midfielders into the list, Tim Notting last year stepped up not only as a player but as a leader. He led from the front and was one of the Lions best players in last years season.

I am also excited by Michael Rischitelli, Troy Selwood and Justin Sherman'ator'. These guys all have the capability to turn a game around off their skills. Sherman is fast, he can chase down an opponent or get away from a pursuer in a heartbeat. If these 3 guys can have injury free seasons I think this will be career years for them all.

Finally is a guy who I feel is as important as Brown and Black to the Lions side. His name is Jamie 'JC' Charman. This guy is tough, hard, a leader and a game turner. He rucks as well as anyone in the AFL and can roll forward for a few goals as well. He loves to celebrate them goals too. Only issue with JC is that he has to keep his wings in, too often he has had a break in concentration and clobbered someone (deservedly I might add). If he and Brown can limit their aggression to legal moves on the ground then the Lions will make the finals and push a top 4 finish. I am serious on that count. With Charman and Brown all firing and injury free there will be a deep Lions presence in the finals campaign of 2008.

Coach Onski

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