THE message from Justin Leppitsch is loud and clear – play well or play reserves.
After regularly sticking with an inexperienced line-up for much of 2014, the Brisbane Lions coach has wielded the axe lustily after two disappointing losses to start the season.
Following the round one defeat to Collingwood, it was No.7 draft pick James Aish who was dropped. Then out-of-sorts ruckman Matthew Leuenberger bit the dust after last week's loss to North Melbourne.
Aish needed to be the main man
The man Leppitsch anointed as Joel Patfull's potential replacement, Ryan Lester, has also been omitted to play Richmond at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Small forward Josh Green says there is a noticeable change of philosophy in 2015.
"It just sends a message that it doesn’t matter who you are or how many games you've played, if you're not playing a team role or not performing at your best you're going to get dropped," Green told AFL.com.au.
"He really persisted with blokes last year, which was good because we were very, very young.
"This year with a bit more experience with the new recruits coming in, he can drop a bloke here or there to make a point.
"I think the thing that will drag us up the ladder is that ruthless mentality."
Leppitsch said on Thursday it was OK for a young player such as Aish to get dropped – it happens to most early in their career – but Leuenberger is clearly a different story.
At his best the West Australian is one of the AFL's elite ruckmen, but has failed to make an impact this season as a forward when sharing ground time with Stefan Martin.
"I think that's the good thing about the club, we're starting to get some depth and if you're not performing on the day you'll spend some time in the reserves," Green said.
The Tasmanian, 22, said there was no hiding from last Sunday's huge loss, particularly after stand-in captain Dayne Zorko gave his teammates a public spray earlier in the week. Zorko said players were not following simple instructions.
"If you didn't take anything away from that, you're a bit silly," Green said.
"He's just trying to get the best out of the group because he cares so much and that's why he's one of our leaders.
"It came across as (having) a bit of a go at us, but he just wants the best out of us. We can see the potential, that's the main thing."
Green described the return to AFL level of Brent Staker – his former housemate of three years – as "inspirational".
Staker has not played since round 23, 2013, and played a total of 22 games since the start of 2011.
