Lions Captain Jonathan Brown believes that his teammates’ fitness, work rates, and attitudes have brought the team closer together over the pre-season.

Of the 48 players on the Lions list, only 17 have been with the Lions for more than two years, and the Club has put a strong emphasis on team culture and unity to get the relatively new group working well together.

Brown said that a large part of that team harmony was having the majority of players out there on the field and not doing isolated rehabilitation work.

“Having all the guys there is going to mean we can do a lot of match play practice, so hopefully by the time the season starts, the chemistry will be there,” Brown said.

“I’ve been really excited to come back in, and I’ve really enjoyed being back out there with the boys.”

“It’s important to build those relationships again with the lads - I feel like I haven’t played much with them over the last couple of years so I can’t wait to get into games with them.”

While Brown acknowledged that there was still room for improvement with his young side, he believed an unlucky run of injuries was something that had a significant effect on his team last year.

“I think what we’ve got to get now is a bit of health from our veterans to complement our younger brigade and I think you’ll see a fair bit of upside in the Lions if we can get that,” Brown said.

“You look at a side like West Coast who were wooden spooners one year, and then the next year played off for a Grand Final berth.”

“We will be expecting to improve a fair bit this season - as players we wouldn’t be doing a pre-season where we didn’t expect to play finals.”