BRISBANE coach Justin Leppitsch will give quiet achiever Ryan Lester first crack at filling the void left by dual club champion Joel Patfull.
Patfull was traded to Greater Western Sydney in the off-season after 182 games for Brisbane, leaving the Lions to search for a third key defender with the ability to play on either tall or small forwards.
Lester, 22, has played 52 senior games, mainly as a midfielder, since his AFL debut in 2011.
At 190cm tall and 85kg, he is almost a physical copy of Patfull and has trained the house down over summer to earn his shot at the vital role.
“Whether it is something that lasts one month, six months or six years, I don’t know. But what I do know is that Ryan is a good footballer with a bright long-term future at this club,’’ Leppitsch told The Courier Mail.
“His body size and shape makes him a virtual clone of Joel and he is as courageous as Joel too.
“Ryan has been really impressive in the pre-season and all that remains is for him to continue to develop and improve the ability to defend blokes and know when to drop off his man but those things come with time.’’
Lester has completed every training session over summer in the knowledge that there was no room left in the midfield after the off-season recruitment of Dayne Beams, Allen Christensen and Mitch Robinson and the return of Daniel Rich who missed most of 2014 due to a knee reconstruction.
“When you look at our additions and blokes that left, there was an opportunity in defence. We’ve got a young but very talented defensive group so I’m looking to fill a gap down there,’’ told The Courier Mail.
“Joel won a couple of best-and-fairests and was a very good player so he is definitely someone I can model my defensive game around.
“Having played in the midfield I know I can play on the more agile guys and I have a bit of height about me so hopefully that allows me to be flexible.
“I’ve been lucky to get through every session but like the rest of the boys, I’m looking forward to playing some games. You can do all the running you want but it’s what you do in games that counts.’’
Brisbane’s first NAB Challenge pre-season match is against St Kilda at Burpengary on February 28.
