Lions fans would have no doubt feared the worst when they heard that ruckman Matthew Leuenberger pulled up a bit sore from his first NAB Cup hit-out against Greater Western Sydney earlier this month.

As a precautionary measure, Leuenberger was left out of the team’s following match against Collingwood, and when he wasn’t considered for last Friday night’s NAB Cup Grand Final, it looked as though he was nearly certain to miss the Club’s season opener against the Western Bulldogs.  

However, he played some valuable minutes in the Lions Reserves’ win over the Gold Coast Reserves in an NEAFL practice match at Southport on Saturday.

Leuenberger played half the match and came through unscathed – leaving the door open for a potential Round One berth.

Working against the Lions’ big man is the fact he has only played two half-matches since straining his Achilles in Round 3 last year, as well as the promising form of young ruckman Billy Longer in the seniors.

While the news of Leuenberger’s return was a positive for the Club, it was overshadowed by a potentially serious knee injury suffered by rookie Stephen Wrigley.

The full extent of the injury is still unknown.

The practice match also provided valuable game-time to the likes of Jared Polec, Sam Mayes, Ryan Harwood who were sidelined during the opening weeks of the pre-season competition.

Ryan Lester was again among the team’s best playing through the midfield, while Marco Paparone, Niall McKeever and Jordan Lisle were near unstoppable in attack.