Brisbane’s rising stars are bringing pride back to the Lions

AS THE Brisbane Lions prepare for their 500th AFL match, some of the club’s greats agree there is a buzz around the Gabba which hasn’t been felt for a long time.

FEARLESS young cubs with ambitions on being the kings of the jungle have put the smiles back on the faces of some grizzly older Lions.

As the Lions’ prepare for their 500th AFL match against the Crows on Saturday night at the Gabba, three club legends say it is a great time to be a Brisbane fan.

The Lions’ games record holder Simon Black reckons with a handful of potential “gems” on the list, the sky is the limit.

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Alastair Lynch, who co-captained captained with Michael Voss the first Lions side after the merger between Fitzroy and the Bears in 1997, reckons he hasn’t enjoyed footy this much for a decade.

Leigh Matthews is one of football’s great pragmatists and even he is a little excited.

Brisbane may have just four victories to their name for the season, but with the past three coming on the trot, the first time they have managed that in five years, there is a definite buzz around Brisbane.

All three say it is the performances of the senior players that have allowed the young players to play without any pressure of fear and that’s what made them so dangerous.

“They are starting to get some swagger about them,’’ said Black, who now calls the Lions’ games for Triple M radio.

Simon Black, Leigh Matthews and Cam Rayner at the Gabba ahead of the Lions’ 500th game. Picture: Tara Croser

“I’ve said all year that the Lions play as exciting a brand of footy as any team in the competition.

“There’s a handful of younger players who have A Grade material written all over them, the world is their oyster.’’

Matthews, the legendary triple premiership coach isn’t about to start making wild predictions about the Lions’ next golden era and he considered it sacrilege this week when he heard an enthusiastic comparison between the famed Fab Four of Michael Voss, Nigel Lappin, Jason Akermanis and Simon Black and a new breed led by Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry and Cam Rayner.

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But he admits to genuine optimism about the future.

“The future is bright,’’ he said.

“You are starting from a pretty low base and I am a bit more realistic about where they are right now.

“But a lot of guys have made a lot of progress, the guys in their early 20s down are really coming along.

“I walked into the game against Carlton and you could tell from the people that they believed the Lions would win.

“They will face tougher opponents but I think they have a genuine chance against anyone they are playing against, that is a realistic summary.’’

The victorious 2003 Lions celebrate their third straight AFL premiership after beating the Collingwood Magpies in the Grand Final at the MCG.

Lynch, who kicked three goals in that first Lions game against Adelaide, can’t wait to watch tonight after missing the past three wins with commentary duties interstate.

“The feeling is the best it has been in a decade,’’ he said.

“It is too soon to predict anything but everyone has that genuine hope and it is exciting because that hope has been missing for quite a while.’’

JUMPER RITUAL HIGHLIGHT UNITY IN LIONS’ DEN

JARROD Berry’s first match-day act as a Lion sparked a ritual that has highlighted a new “all-for-one” attitude at the club.

When TV cameras captured the Lions standing in a circle and putting their jumpers on in unison in the changerooms at Launceston last week, they exposed a pre-game ritual the players have come to cherish.

There was a divide between some senior players and the rest of the group under the previous regime that caused considerable angst but the current crop of Lions are a united front where everyone’s opinion is valued.

Skipper Dayne Zorko said the contribution made by young players such as Berry was a key reason there was such high hopes for the future.

Jarrod Berry has helped with team bonding. Picture: Annette Dew

“We have 18 and 19-year-old kids who really want to do more than what most kids at other clubs would have to do,” Zorko said.

“I think it shows the position we are in and the culture we are building, they want sustained success and they want help get there quickly.”

Berry made an immediate impact among his peers when in his very first game in his debut season, he spoke up in the sheds and suggested the team adopt the ritual he had brought with him from the juniors.

“It was before my first game for the club in the NEAFL and Paul (Henriksen), who came up here at the same time as me, said we should do it, so I ran with it,’’ he said.

“It has been this thing the NEAFL side have done ever since and it trickled into the senior side at the start this year.

“At the start of the year we were focused greatly on first quarters and getting good starts, so it was a thing that we thought could unite us all and switch us on to the job.

“The other idea was if you start in the circle you might finish in the circle as well singing the song so it is just a little trigger for switching on mentally.’’

Berry played all his under-age representative footy for Vic Country under Paul Henriksen, who is now at the Lions.

It was in 2015 when Henriksen introduced the ritual which was inspired by one of the side’s trainers who was a veteran and had spoken of a tradition of suiting up together before heading on patrols.

“It was from a military tradition where they clipped on the armour and their gear before they went to battle,’’ Berry said.

“And that was our focus in the game to go to battle, so we adopted it as though we were putting on our armour.’’

BRISBANE LIONS

GAMES: 499

WINS: 225

LOSSES: 268

DRAWS: 6

Players used: 200

Most games: Simon Black (322)

Most Goals: Jonathan Brown (594)

Brownlow Medals: Jason Akermanis (2001), Simon Black (2002).

Premierships: 2001, 2002, 2003.

Norm Smith Medals: Shaun Hart (2001), Simon Black (2003)

First game – Round 1, 1997:

v Adelaide, (Crows won by 36 pts).

Coach: John Northey.

Captains: Alastair Lynch, Michael Voss.

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