Voss, speaking from the team’s first training session for the year at Coorparoo this morning, led a near-fully fit squad for a football skills session for over two hours.
The team was training together for the first time since the Lions’ 2012 list was finalised at the Rookie Draft in December, and Voss said that he was pleased to see the level of fitness among the group.
“It's always good to see so many guys out there,” Voss said.
“They’ve come out of the break well and we’ve now got to make sure that when the contact ramps up, we can still keep them healthy.”
The Lions injury list, which at times during 2011 contained as many as 10 players, has significantly dwindled due to an increased focus on injury prevention and management over the past few years.
“There’s been a heavy emphasis on building resilience physically, which takes a couple of pre-seasons,” said Voss.
With only Brent Staker (knee), Josh Drummond (hip) and Sam Docherty (hip) in the rehabilitation group, the Lions are looking fitter than ever.
The noticeable fitness of the team’s leadership group, including Jonathan Brown and Daniel Merrett (both of whom missed large periods of 2011 due to long-term injuries), was hard to miss as the Lions leaders led the charge at training.
“Our leaders drive standards on the park,” Voss said.
“It’s not only what they do and what they’re capable of - it’s that they make sure training runs efficiently and drive those standards, and get others to walk a bit taller around them.”
Voss said that while he was pleased with the team’s efforts so far, there was no denying that the Lions are a young group with a lot of work to do.
“I think we’ve got to be realistic that we’ve got a lot of work to do - we can’t afford sub-standards and we can’t afford to waste a session,” Voss said.
“The intent and application can’t be questioned, but there’s some things that we need to make ground up for and there’s a sense of urgency about getting that done.”
