Gary Buckenara list analysis: Brisbane Lions need to take long-term view to rebuild club

BRISBANE has the weakest list in the AFL but trading in more C-grade players is not the answer, says GARY BUCKENARA. And the Lions need to show one overrated player the door right now.

Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff.

BRISBANE has the weakest list in the competition and the weakest potential. And so there is a lot more pain to come for the struggling club.

I look at the Lions’ list and I just don’t see any superstars. There isn’t many A or B-grade players, they’re mostly C-graders who just front up each week and play a role but they won’t win you games. You need at least 12-14 A and B-graders to be a finals side or premiership contender, and the Lions are a long way from that.

Dayne Zorko is probably an A-minus to a B-grade level player, Tom Rockliff as the captain is around about an A-grader but probably similar to Zorko, and Dayne Beams is a potential A-grader but he’s been injured for two years. He needs to prove again that he’s a A-grader.

Bluntly, there are six players in the A and B-grade category combined — Zorko, Rockliff, Beams and Stefan Martin, while Mitch Robinson and Daniel Rich sneak in but are B-minus players.

Rich was on the verge of being an A-grade player before rupturing his ACL a few years back but he has slipped quite dramatically. He needs to improve and over the pre-season work on his ability to deal with being tagged. He goes missing far too often.

Tom Rockliff is one of Brisbane’s best players but he’s not elite by AFL standards.

I can see definite potential, however, in the likes of Eric Hipwood, Josh Schache, Harris Andrews, Ben Keays and Rhys Mathieson, but they still have a long way to go and must commit to working hard and turning their talent into consistent performances.

And Sam Mayes is a good player but the Lions need more from him. He was a top pick in his draft and highly-rated junior playing for South Australia, and Ryan Bastinac was a disappointment after crossing from North Melbourne. He needs to step up.

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But at the end of the day there is a lot of work that needs to be done for the list to be competitive again.

When the Lions tried to play a possession game this year they came unstuck, so that tells me the skill level within the list isn’t great.

The Lions are pretty well set for in-and-under midfielders who win the ball in close, but they need more outside speed and endurance players with good kicking skills.

They do have some good young talent on the list but it’s the development that’s critical at Brisbane and the ability to create an environment where elite athletes are going to want to commit to for the long-term.

Player retention is as big an issue as recruiting for Brisbane. The club can’t hang on to its good young players, which tells me something isn’t right with the culture or environment, and until they create an elite environment players will continue to leave and the Lions won’t improve on the field. They’ll get stuck and the list build is compromised because you’re always starting over with young kids.

Allen Christensen should be given his marching orders. It doesn’t look like his heart is in it and has gone up there to add to his superannuation fund.

What I would do, and what is actually good list management, is identify the young players who show signs of being solid AFL players and put a new deal in front of them immediately — at least a year out from their contract expiry. That way you show you’re committed to their future and development as AFL players.

In terms of trades this year, I wouldn’t be looking at bringing in any more experienced players unless they’re stars. There is no point in Brisbane bringing in depth players or C-grade/fringe players from other clubs. The Lions must invest in the draft.

The exemption would be for a ruckman such as Magpie Jarrod Witts but if he’s going to cost them a second-round pick because he’ll be in demand, I’d pass. That price is too high for the position Brisbane is in, they can get a good player in this draft with that pick.

I’d look at Zac Clarke, who’s a free agent, as the Stefan Martin back-up because he won’t cost anything in a trade.

WHAT THEY NEED

They need more players with good speed and who can rebound off halfback and have good kicking skills. Obviously, there is a need to bring in a key defender following the retirement of Daniel Merrett and I don’t think the Lions have a really clever small forward on the list who can kick goals and generate a bit of chaos for the opposition with their pressure.

The Lions have a few developing ruckmen but given Trent West has also retired, there’s no real back-up for Stefan Martin so that’s an area that need addressing. If something happens to Martin, they struggle, so I’d be looking for a more senior ruckman to play that role rather than a kid.

WHO’S UNDER THE PUMP?

Most of the list is under the pump at Brisbane, outside of the young kids that have just arrived at the club in the past year.

More specifically, Ryan Harwood, Allen Christensen, Rohan Bewick, Josh Walker, Marco Paparone and Ryan Lester would be the ones most feeling the heat.

Walker did an OK job this year but he doesn’t get enough of the ball and when he does he wastes opportunities in front of goal, while Paparone is a depth player but is he good enough? Bewick and Harwood have been around for a while and are always in and out of the team so they’ll need to show more consistent form next year, while Lester showed some glimpses at the end of the year but he needs to do it more often.

Tom Bell came in from Carlton but didn’t set the world on fire so he also needs to have a big season next year, as does Bastinac as I mentioned earlier.

WHO SHOULD GO

Allen Christensen should be given his marching orders. I’m not sure what he provides and to me, it doesn’t look like his heart is in it and has gone up there to add to his superannuation fund. If I was at Brisbane I would definitely be moving him on because he doesn’t add any value.

Harwood and Paparone would be the other two to go and possibly Bewick to open up more spots on the list to regenerate and bring in young talent by investing in the draft. You need to make the hard calls, especially if you’re in Brisbane’s position. They’re just bit-type players, they add a bit of depth but not much more.

Jackson Paine, Hugh Beasley, Billy Evans, Josh Watts and Josh McGuinness have already officially been delisted and Merrett, Justin Clarke and Trent West have retired.

CRYSTAL BALL

There is a lot of work ahead for this footy club and there is no quick fix for them that I can see. It will be a slow build. Next year the Lions will be bottom four again, the club should get itself prepared for another year of pain because the list simply does not have enough talent.

There will need to be a degree of patience from the club and the supporters too, which I know is a difficult thing to achieve up in Queensland given it’s not an AFL state. But they need to be if they’re going to do this right and rebuild their club.

THE ROCKLIFF FACTOR

There are rumours Rockliff is looking around for a new club and that some Brisbane people are unhappy with his leadership style. If you believe some reports, he is a disruptive influence so the club wouldn’t be too unhappy if he moved on. But he’s the club captain. It’s a big deal.

Are we OK with trading the fabric of the club?

If you’re prepared to let your captain go, that says there is something going on inside the club — that there has been some angst between the player and club or coaches. Whether that eventuates into anything will depend a lot of who the Lions name as their new coach, as he may not want to even entertain going down that path at all.

One consideration list managers and recruiters have to go through is are we OK with trading the fabric of the club, the face of the club? And what will the repercussions be? The deal would have to be such a fanciful one for you to even consider it and then weigh up the ramifications if you were to proceed and agree to the deal.

If Brisbane was open to trading Rockliff but in the end the deal fell over, what does that do to you? It sets a bad precedent and leaves you open to plenty of consequences whether it be with Rockliff himself or with other players.

A deal that would probably get the Lions to consider trading him would be a first-round draft pick and a young player that you’re interested in and who you believe will assist in balancing your list. A player who might have been taken later in the draft but has shown good signs.