At 34 years of age, Simon Black continues to be one of the Brisbane Lions’ most important players.

His standout performance in a losing side against Collingwood last Friday night proved he is far from being a spent force.

Black collected a team-high – and season-high – 33 disposals, to go along with six tackles, six clearances and five inside 50s.

Despite spending considerable time on the interchange bench as the substitute in two of his four senior matches this season, the three-time Club Champion still sits among the Lions’ key statistical leaders.

In just 59.3% of actual game (the fourth least of any player at the Club), Black ranks fourth in avg. disposals (20.8 per game), fifth in avg. contested possessions (9.5), and fifth in avg. clearances (4).

Assistant Coach Adrian Fletcher praised Black’s ability to make such a significant impact after overcoming pre-season knee surgery.

“Blacky was fantastic on the weekend,” Fletcher told LIONS TV as part of the regular Vero Coaches’ Wrap.

“He’s had a really interrupted pre-season and his fitness wasn’t quite there when he first came back, but now he’s starting to get the legs to run the full game out.

“His clearances were up again – he had six – and his hard-ball gets were up – he had five. So he’s setting the example for the younger players and shows great leadership for the full 120 minutes.

“If we can get more guys doing that, then it will go a long way towards us becoming a pretty good side.”