The Lions might be only two modified matches into their 2013 NAB Cup campaign, but there have already been some promising signs from a statistical perspective.

Lions.com.au takes a look at some of the players who stood out in the Club’s wins against Hawthorn and Gold Coast last Saturday night.

Disposals
Tom Rockliff told LIONSTV last month that he’s feeling fitter than ever, and it showed at Metricon Stadium. Rockliff covered plenty of ground and collected a team-high 22 possessions across the two games – nine against the Hawks, and 13 against the Suns.

Daniel Rich and James Polkinghorne weren’t far behind with 20 disposals apiece, with Mitch Golby ranking fourth overall with 19.

Meanwhile, new recruit Brent Moloney was the team’s highest possession-winner in the first game with 11, while Patrick Karnezis proved a ball-magnet against Hawthorn with 10 touches, before sitting out the second match.

Marks
There weren’t a great deal of marks taken in the hot and humid Gold Coast conditions, however Aaron Cornelius certainly stood out in his match against the Suns.  

With a total of only seven contested marks taken across both the Lions’ matches, Cornelius was the only player from any team to pull in more than one – including his early nomination for ‘Mark of the Year’.

Clearances
In the off-season, the Lions identified a weakness in clearing the ball, so recruited ‘clearance specialist’ Brent Moloney. If the former Melbourne Best and Fairest’s first two performances were anything to go by, his addition could prove a masterstroke by the Club’s recruiting team.

True to form, Moloney had a team-high eight clearances across his two games – three more than his nearest rival, Tom Rockliff. No other Lions player had more than three clearances.  

Moloney also ranked second in contested possessions with 11 – one shy of Rockliff’s 12.

Rebound 50s
Rookie Justin Clarke would have impressed Lions fans with his first official hit-out in Club colours.

Alongside full-back Daniel Merrett, the Booleroo teenager helped limit reigning Grand Finalists Hawthorn to just one goal, and had an equal team-high three Rebound 50s for the match, before sitting out the Suns game.

In what looked to be a new role across half-back, James Polkinghorne also seemed to thrive, picking up a team-high four rebound 50s across both games. Polkinghorne was also one of the leading possession-winners in the Gold Coast game.   

Tackles
Moloney (six) and Rockliff (five) led the way again with regards to total tackles, although Mitch Golby, Daniel Rich and Callum Bartlett also got into the action.

Bartlett laid an equal game-high three tackles in his first official AFL outing with the Lions against the Hawks, but was rested for the second match of the evening.

One Per centers
Daniel Merrett seemed to enjoy a permanent return to his regular full-back role, leading the way in one per centers.

Merrett totalled 11 one per centers (spoils, smothers etc) across two matches, which was almost three times the amount of the next best Lions players, James Polkinghorne (four one per centers).