Brisbane Lions off-season recruit Tom Doedee says he is enjoying his new environment at Brighton Homes Arena and is excited to see what his new team can achieve in 2024.
Doedee, a talented intercept defender, departed the Adelaide Crows and joins the Lions during last year’s trade period.
Having spent several weeks with the Lions in preseason, the 26-year-old told Kane Cornes and David King on SEN Breakfast on Friday that he’s been impressed with what he has seen.
“It's probably a few (players) that have stood out but to be honest,” Doedee said.
“You can see why they are where they are because they're not just talented, they work hard and they train hard and they just get the results for it.
“The one that I knew, obviously a great player and everyone already knows it, is Harris Andrews, I’ve been playing with him in the back line, and I actually knew him a fair bit before I joined the team but I don't know if I’ve seen him miss a kick at training.
“The man is just so diligent, he's professional with everything in terms of weight, his prep and then on the track, he's just a really, really good trainer and you can see why he's got to the level he has.
“Same as Lachie (Neale), obviously he’s a two-time Brownlow Medalist but you've got the fact he's in rehab and he's doing extra ground balls, extra hands because he wasn't quite clean that day.
“You can see why the man never misses a ground ball and why he's so consistently racking up touches.”
With the Lions co-captains leading by example and setting the tone for the 2023 Grand Finalists, Doedee was also very impressed with many of the younger players.
One player heading into just his second season of AFL that has earnt the respect of Doedee.
“Jaspa Fletcher is probably young guy that stood out to me I didn't know too much about him before I came over,” the
“I actually moved into the place he was staying at, so I got to know him a bit during that process and then coming out on the track and just his ability to run, day in day out impressed me.
“He's just consistently putting up good performances. And training, he's one of those blokes who just sort of trains really, really well and you can see why plays that way.”
Doedee said his recovery from an ACL injury is tracking very well and he is hopeful of pulling on a Lions guernsey for the first time within the first five or six rounds of the season.
The Brisbane Lions kick off their 2024 campaign with a Opening Round clash at The Gabba on Friday 8 March.
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