Recruiting Manager Stephen Conole reflects on Tuesday night’s National Draft in Adelaide.
Josh Schache
“He was always the player that we had our eye on.
“It’s been widely spoken about that we always needed to cover the role of the key forward – that was our first goal to cover off on that.
“All of our early discussions with Josh and we’ve spent a lot of time with him and his family about the transition – he’s really enthusiastic to come play for the Lions.
“We don’t see any go home factor at all.”
Eric Hipwood
“He’s shown at this stage he can be a real swingman. He’s got so much versatility in his game.
“Eric’s grown again – he’s at 202cm so it will be interesting to see where that settles.
“In our structure we’d certainly like to see him play forward it’s an area we’ve tried to cover up on. He’s an All Australian defender as well. He’s got an enormous leap, can run all day. He’s a great size.
Rhys Mathieson
“When we walked into the draft we probably didn’t think he would be there at our selection.
“Rhys is a genuine inside midfielder – you only have a few of those on your list I suppose.
“It worked out well that the Club’s before us probably weren’t after that specific type – there was a few more outside and around the square players taken before him.
“To get to #39 we were very happy with that. We had no hesitation in taking him, I’m sure he’ll relocate well and be an important member of the footy club going forward.”
Sam Skinner
“He can play forward and back and has shown he can run through the ruck as well.
“At 197cm he’s a big strong framed boy and they’re really hard to find. He’s competitive and we think he’ll add a bit of versatility to our list and going forward we’re hoping he’ll develop into a really important player for us.
“Unfortunately for Sam he had a knee injury (ACL) and missed the second half of the year.
“To be able to use Sam for periods through the ruck really appealed to us.
“Hopefully he’ll get through all his rehab and be ready to go mid-year.”
Reuben William
“He offers the pace and run that we need.
“I’m very confident that he can make the step up.”
