Brisbane star Josh Dunkley says ‘chemistry’ is building in Lions squad

Brisbane star Josh Dunkley is confident the in-form Lions can overcome the losses of Dayne Zorko and Daniel Rich.

Josh Dunkley is crucial to Brisbane’s AFL premiership hopes. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Josh Dunkley has embraced living outside Melbourne’s footy bubble and being part of a Brisbane Lions team only just “scratching the surface” on what they can achieve this season.

The former Western Bulldogs star is quickly finding his top form for a Lions side aiming for a fifth successive win when they take on Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

Brisbane will have to beat the Blues without stalwart pair Dayne Zorko and Daniel Rich, who are each facing two to three weeks on the sidelines after suffering respective hamstring and calf injuries in the Lions’ 48-point weekend win over Fremantle.

However, Dunkley is confident his side overcome the losses of Zorko and Rich, pointing to Brisbane’s depth and believing that with each week, a Lions team that started the season with a handful of new faces is becoming more settled and unified.

Josh Dunkley has embraced life as a Brisbane Lion. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“It’s a hard one with those two going out,” Dunkley said on Tuesday.

“They’re obviously both very senior players in the group and help us on both sides of the ball.

“Their creativeness to be able to set us up moving forward has been really good, but it is promising the way the (Lions’) VFL (team) has played this year.

“We’ve got guys that are willing to step up and have been playing some consistent footy there, so it’s an exciting opportunity for those boys that come in,

“Everyone talks about getting new players in ... and being able to build that chemistry.

“Now we’re starting to learn how each other plays, I feel like we’re only just scratching the surface.”

The Lions haven’t been beaten since losing by 14 points to the Bulldogs on March 30.

At that stage it left Brisbane with a record of two losses and a win from their opening matches, but since then, Dunkley and the Lions haven’t looked back.

“It was great experience,” the 26-year-old midfielder said.

“I feel like once you play against your old club, it’s that line-in-the-sand type of moment. Now I know that I’m part of the Brisbane Lions and the future’s exciting.”

And that’s both on and off the field for Dunkley, who said living in Brisbane allowed him to enjoy life away from football.

“It is awesome the way that you can get outside of footy up here. You can really leave that outside lifestyle, and it’s been nice to be able to relax a little bit away from the club,” he said.

“The club does a great job in being able to allow us to do something else outside of footy, and for me, that’s studying real estate, so I’m doing a bit of that at the moment, which is cool.

“It’s a well-balanced lifestyle up here. I’m loving it so far and looking forward to seeing what it has to hold.”