THE Brisbane Lions have some scrambling to do after Sunday's NAB Challenge match against St Kilda was washed out in Mackay.
The Lions played an inexperienced team in its pre-season opener against Gold Coast a fortnight ago and now have just one match left to get conditioning into their big guns.
Captain Tom Rockliff and midfield aces Pearce Hanley, Daniel Rich, Stefan Martin and Dayne Zorko are yet to play a game.
Sure, they're all fit, but every player tells you there's no conditioning like match conditioning.
It makes next Sunday's game against Greater Western Sydney on the Gold Coast – to be played at the Queensland summer-friendly time of 12.10pm – even more crucial.
Football manager Matthew Francis said he had the utmost confidence in the Lions' physical performance staff to get the most out of players.
"It will certainly raise another set of challenges for us in terms of preparing for round one," Francis said of the cancelled match.
"We've got serious data and analysis behind the program for our players in terms of match conditioning to get them exactly right for round one.
"That's been thrown against the wall to some extent, but our players are resilient, and with the expertise of our staff, we'll be fully fit and raring to go by round one."
Rockliff inspected the Harrup Park surface with Saints veteran Leigh Montagna, but despite knowing it was unsafe to play, must have been aching for a game.
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