BRISBANE Lions coach Michael Voss says new recruit Brendan Fevola will start with a clean slate at his new club.
While the Lions paraded five new off-season signings at their pre-season training camp at Noosa on Wednesday, the name on everyone's lips was Fevola, after he was sensationally traded to the Lions from Carlton.
Voss went straight onto the front foot, stating that the full-forward's off-field indiscretions would be left in the past.
“I think the important thing is to say is that he's a Brisbane Lions player and he gets that chance to have that fresh start and a fresh set of eyes and as coach I'll treat him that way,” he said.
“And I hope the players will treat him as part of this team and not anything more than that and that's what this club is good for, it's about being able to stand for having a group of players out there to be able to achieve in one direction.
“Individual brilliance is great, you need it in every team, but it's not what you've got to rely on, because that's not what gets you over the line, it's certainly not what gets you to grand final day.”
Voss expected the two-time Coleman Medallist to be nervous in his early days in Lions colours as he mixes in and finds his feet with a new group.
However one man he did not expect Fevola to have troubles mixing with on-field, was Lions captain Brown.
Seemingly everyone in AFL circles has had their two cents worth in the off-season on whether or not the game's two leading goalkickers from 2009 could function in the same forward 50.
They combined for more than 160 goals last season, and Voss believes they will have no trouble gelling.
“If you look at the way they play, just their pure characteristics, I think they complement each other very well,” he said.
“I'm sure that everyone will be talking about it for a long time. It's going to be up to us to make sure that they get the necessary ball supply and we can support them enough.
“We've got two very exciting forwards in the game and we have to be able to make that a strength of ours and support them with ground level support because that's still something we have to work on as a group.”
Voss said starting the Lions pre-season training with a camp at Noosa, two hours north of their Brisbane base, was important to help the players knuckle down and establish their season goals.
“It's like first day of school when everyone comes back together,”' he said.
“It seems quite unbelievable that eight weeks has gone. We've just finished the season, now we're going again, a new group, a few new faces and a good feel about the place.”