Ahead of this weekend’s game against the Adelaide Crows in Adelaide, we take a look at the main men to watch.
Archie Smith
Coming off an impressive debut last weekend, Lions ruckman Archie Smith will be looking to follow with another strong effort.
Smith recorded 30 of our 40 hit-outs alongside 19 disposals (17 contested – a team high) at 79% efficiency, nine clearances and was voted 'Player's Player' for his debut performance.
Yet, this could be one of his more important matches as Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch told media.
Speaking to media today, Coach Justin Leppitsch said Smith’s second performance is important for his consistency going forward.
"What we got to make sure we do is, get another one out of Archie,” said Leppitsch.
"You’ll often see more the good game from the young player and the next game he drops away that’s been a common trend too.
"We have to keep his consistency up."
And with Stefan Martin out (rested) and Crows’ star ruckman Sam Jacobs out with injury, it could well be the battle of the youngsters in the ruck.
Adelaide’s Reilly O’Brien was named to make his AFL debut after impressive performances in the SANFL, where he had established himself as one of the premier ruckmen in the league.
Taylor Walker
Crows’ captain Taylor Walker will make a return from injury and will be hoping to come out strong.
The last time we met, Round 21 2015, Crows’ Captain Taylor Walker kicked a massive seven goals and took seven marks.
Dayne Zorko
Dayne Zorko has had a strong year and is currently ranked 16th in the Schick AFL Player Ratings – the team’s highest.
And after recording 38 disposals the last time we met, Zorko will be looking to help the senior players lead the young ends of the field.
But it’s not up to Zorko alone, with a lack of leaders spread across the field, Justin Leppitsch said it’ll come down to time and experience.
"We don’t have a lot of senior players to be honest,” said Leppitsch.
“We’ve got 5 or 6 and you need 15 or so leaders in a team to step-up.
"Its hard because our forward line might have one experienced player out of six, our defence is the same.
"Our bookends of the game are very young.
“We just need to keep the games going into them to build the cohesion."
Eddie Betts
All eyes will be on Adelaide’s leading goal kicker, Eddie Betts, who has been on fire of late.
Last weekend, Betts kicked his 50th goal (of the season) with a five goal haul against Essendon - the performance earned him a perfect 10 votes from the coaches.
And the last time we met, Betts kicked three majors in front of 45,527 spectators.
Who will get the job on Betts this weekend? Let us know…
Joshua Schache
Joshua Schache has been a prized recruit for the Lions, currently the team’s leading contested marker and equal-third goal-kicker in his first year of AFL.
He's a workhorse who has played more minutes than all but 40 AFL players this year (as at Round 17) - making him the only first-year player in the top 100 players for minuted played until the end of Round 16.
So it was fair game when he was rested last weekend against Essendon but can he bring it this weekend?
