An interrupted start to the season didn’t hamper Dan McStay, who hit the ground running in 2021 and enjoyed a career-best season.

After overcoming a knee injury, McStay made his way into the team in Round 5 v Essendon and gave Lions fans their first look at the ‘three-headed monster’ alongside Eric Hipwood and Joe Daniher.

A diligent trainer and a vital piece of our forward structure, McStay showed his value throughout the season.

With Eric Hipwood ruled out for the season after rupturing his ACL in Round 17, McStay noticeably lifted and became one of the Lions most in-form players leading into finals.

Looking at the numbers, 2021 saw the Victorian become the Lions most reliable kick for goal. Sitting at 68.3% accuracy and placing him in the ‘elite’ category according to Champion Data.

Speaking on his improvement in front of goal, McStay said it all came down to consistency.

“It’s just been about continuing to build my routine,” the key forward said.

“I’m just trying to work on my confidence, especially mentally. And obviously the more you put through, the more confident you are so no major secrets to it.”

The 26-year-old’s defensive pressure was also a highlight through the season, lifting his average tackle count 1.9 to 3.1 and again landing him in the ‘elite’ category.

The only sour note for McStay came in finals when a stray knee from teammate Nakia Cockatoo ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign through concussion protocol.

Having fully recovered, he will be looking to hit pre-season at full steam.

Standout performance: Macca flexes his muscles

It was the ‘DMac’ show in Round 9 as the Lions ran away with a whopping 73-point win over the Gold Coast Suns.

With 10 individual goalkickers, McStay led the way for Brisbane with a career-high 4 goals and 8 marks from 14 disposals.

And if that wasn’t enough, Dan would then go on to repeat his career-best performance in Round 20 against Hawthorn, again clunking 8 marks and kicking 4 goals.

Season Averages:

Disposals – 10.1

Goals – 1.5

Goal Accuracy – 68.3%

 Marks – 4.6

 Tackles – 3.1