Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch says he’s “really excited” by the Club’s recruiting during this year’s Trade Period and is looking forward to seeing the Lions’ newest recruits in action in 2016.
In an active two weeks of trade for the Lions, the Club welcomed four new players.
Carlton’s Tom Bell and Geelong’s Josh Walker and Jarrad Jansen joined the Lions on Monday, while Ryan Bastinac was traded to the Club from North Melbourne yesterday.
“It was a fantastic result for the Club and we’re not only excited that we brought in some more experience, but also secured the points to grab our Draft and Academy Players in this year’s National Draft.
“We very much got a like for like outcome with Tom Bell, a big bodied mid, replacing Jack Redden (traded to West Coast) and Ryan Bastinac, a real silky smooth midfielder to replace James Aish (traded to Collingwood).
“It was a bit of a change with Josh Walker, a key forward replacing Matty Leuenberger – it was something the Club probably needed more than a second ruck, was a key forward”, Leppitsch said.
“We felt we’ve done really well out of it, we’ve also got a really young, raw, 192cm midfielder in Jarrad Jansen from Geelong.
“He hasn’t made his debut yet but he really compliments the type and shapes we have through our midfield.”
Leppitsch said the Club were pleased by the prospect of being able to secure players from the Club’s Hyundai Help for Kids Lions Academy with the points accumulated from picks No. 38,39,40,41,42 (worth 2147 points, enough to satisfy bids at pick 11 and 13).
“We’re really happy with our position for the National Draft, one thing we’ve been able to do is trade in enough points, we hope, to be able to get our Academy kids. It’s never an exact science but we believe we’ve been able to achieve everything we want to.
“It’s been a really exciting period for us, that’s three years in a row now”, Leppitsch said.
“We’ve got younger as a Football Club but I feel we’ve gotten better, so it’s exciting times ahead.”
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