Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch believes that each of the Lions' latest crop of draftees is capable of playing senior football in 2014.

With James Aish considered a strong chance to debut in Round One against Hawthorn in Tasmania, Leppitsch told SEN radio in Melbourne that Lions fans could expect to see more new faces throughout the season.

“I’m very happy with all of our picks to be perfectly honest,” Leppitsch told SEN on Tuesday.

“I think all seven may debut this year. That’s a big call I know, but they all show something.

“James Aish has already played 30 games against men in the SANFL so is ready for the next level, and with the rest of the kids, it’s just a matter of being able to give them enough game time without overexposing them and making them lose confidence.”

Aish, Jonathan Freeman, Tom Cutler, Nick Robertson and Daniel McStay have all shown glimpses in the pre-season practice matches, while Lewy Taylor impressed with his first official hitout in last Friday’s intra club match.

“Lewy was Captain of Victoria Country (in the U18s) and is a busy ‘Boomer’ Harvey type,” Leppitsch said.

“He’s only just come back from injury and there’s a temptation to play him because he’s such a good little player and buzzes around, but we just have to be careful as it takes time to expose them at that level.”

Darcy Gardiner is the only one of the draftees who is yet to don the Lions colours in a competitive match, but is expected to be ready for match practice next week.

Along with McStay, Gardiner was drafted to help address the issue of an ageing Lions defence, and is considered a “big aggressive full-back type”.