You can never underestimate the importance of fans.

They are the ones who spend their hard earned on Club memberships and merchandise. They are also the ones who come along to our games and give the boys a much-needed boost from the stands.

When we play at the Gabba, they help make life a little bit more hostile for our opponents and they are still there to support us - albeit in smaller numbers - when we play away from home.

Let’s face it, they’re the ones who keep us in a job.

It’s been a pretty tough couple of months for Lions fans lately because they haven’t had too much to cheer about. The only joy they’ve had in the past 10 weeks was a good win over Collingwood. But even bragging rights over your Magpie supporting mates can only last so long.

It’s hard rocking up to work or school after the weekend and not wanting to discuss footy because your team has lost.

The fact is, our fans are feeling this lean period almost as much as the playing group.

What is encouraging to see is the amount of support that is still coming through the Club.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had our fair share of bashers out there as well who have been emailing the Club with their pretty blunt opinions on what needs to happen to turn this slump around.

While the messages aren’t always constructive, they still come from passionate fans who obviously feel a need to vent their frustrations with the Club.

But there are also fans out there that are going out of their way to reaffirm that they’re behind us regardless of our current situation.

I came across one particular email from Lions member Chris Donnelly who wrote to the Club after the Carlton game simply to express his pride for the team despite the fact we’re going through a bit of a rough patch.

It was surprising only because feedback received by the Club after a bad loss generally isn’t so positive.

I thought it was a fantastic gesture and I’ve since been told some other great stories of fans passing on their support throughout the week.

I speak about our different types of fans because together with our Major Sponsor, the Club has started it’s search for the #1 Lions Fan around the country.

It’s going to be pretty tough to choose only one because there are probably thousands of people out there who are worthy of the title.

Let’s hope for our fans’ sake that we can get a win over the Saints this week.

They are obviously a quality side and will be a good test for the boys this Saturday night.

Even though we aren’t in great form at the moment, there’s no better way to challenge ourselves than by going up against the best in the business.

We prevailed against the odds back in Round 10 against Collingwood and will be hoping for much of the same this week.