Brisbane triple premiership hero Darryl White says Lions primed for premiership push
Eric Hipwood is back in a Lions side that Brisbane great Darryl White says need to male the most of its premiership window.
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Lions legend Darryl White has urged the current Brisbane side to make the most of a premiership window he expects will shut within three years.
The versatile White was part of the star-studded Lions team that won a hat-trick of AFL premierships from 2001 to 2003.
Brisbane hasn’t won a flag since, but White believes the Lions side that has seven wins from eight matches this season ahead of Saturday night’s clash against the Crows at Adelaide Oval is good enough to end the premiership drought.
However, he stressed the Lions – who have finished in the top four for the past three years – must strike while the iron’s hot and not waste the chance to win at least one flag.
“This year’s a real big opportunity, but (their) window is the next two to three years,” White said.
“If they don’t do that, they can kiss it goodbye, but there’s a real opportunity for this club to do some real magic in the next three years and hopefully emulate some of what we did in those years (of 2001, 2002 and 2003).
“If they can win one (premiership) out of the next three great, two out of the next three even better, but they’re on that verge.
“It’s not a big hill (to climb), it’s a little hump in (reigning premiers) Melbourne but that hump does rise as you play them and they’re going all right as well.”
It was a privilege to have Darryl White down to present this years Indigenous guernsey to the club â¤ï¸
— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) May 12, 2022
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Key forward Eric Hipwood will make a timely return to Brisbane’s line-up for the clash against the Crows.
Sidelined for 10 months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, Hipwood’s height will be handy in a Brisbane side that has lost Joe Daniher (shoulder) and Dan McStay (ankle) in the past two weeks.
In the other change to Brisbane’s 22, defender Darcy Gardiner returns at the expense of Ryan Lester.
Meanwhile, White was flanked on Thursday by current Lion Nakia Cockatoo, with the pair unveiling Brisbane’s 2022 Indigenous guernsey which the team will wear on Sunday week against Hawthorn in Launceston and the following Saturday against the GWS Giants at the Gabba.
White, who designed the guernsey, said: “It was an honour to get the call up and an honour to represent my people on the guernsey for the club that I played for.
“It was a long time coming. I was a little long in the tooth about it over many years of people getting a go at it but I finally got my chance and I absolutely love it and hope everyone else does as well.”
The guernsey’s design includes a special tribute to White’s late father, who passed away 20 years ago but not before driving from Alice Springs to the MCG to watch his son help the Lions win the 2001 grand final.
Originally published as Brisbane triple premiership hero Darryl White says Lions primed for premiership push
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