Justin Leppitsch is ready to go! Leave your questions below #AskLeppa

Posted by Brisbane Lions on Wednesday, January 27, 2016


Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch sat down for a quick Q&A with our Facebook fans. See all the responses below:

How do you plan on fitting all our talls in the one side this year? With the likes of Walker, Freeman, Close, McStay, Schache, Andrews, Paparone, Clarke and Merrett, that's nine players who could all potentially play in the Round 1 side.

Good question, I guess it's a good problem to have. It will provide good competition for spots because it'll be hard to fit them all in.

Will the best performing players be selected regardless of games played, age, etc, or will it be a matter of balance, and positioning and depending on opposition? We seem to finally have great depth and spots up for grabs mean hungry players.

This season we'll have some good compeition for spots. We have a young list so it will be mainly youth v youth fighting for spots.

What do you think is the most important part of the game plan, that the Lions will have to concentrate on more to make it work at the beginning of the season to get everyone to excel in their positions?

We feel we play better when we attack so that has been a big focus. We also need to turn the ball over a bit more closer to goal which is easiest way to score.

What is football deptartment's strategy to minimize injury issues for 2016 compared too 2015?

We had an unusual amount of impact injuries last season which are hard to minimise. (Tom's ribs, etc). We have a new fitness head in Damien Austin from Sydney Swans and has done a great job to prepare our boys.

G'day Leppa, what area of the game is of most importance to do well in?

Winning our share of contests is important and being aggresive with the ball.

Who will be your second ruckman?

It'll be one of our second tall forwards like Freeman, Walker, Close, etc. We are lucky as Stef can play 90% game time.

With what now seems to be a growing depth of forwards, what is the plan for Schache this year?

We can bring in Schache and Hipwood when they are ready to go. Josh has a good size body for a young kid so we hope he can gets some games this season.

Who do you expect to be our long-term centre half back? A role you know well...

It's a role that has changed a lot over the last 10 years. The players that play that role are leaner with better endurance, a bit like paparone etc

How has this year's pre-season training changed compared to pre-season '15 with the new strength and conditioning team?

There has been a bigger football focus in minutes spent. The sessions are a tad longer also in prep for the reduced rotations.

Do you see (Daniel) Rich playing more through the middle rather than off half back, a danger inside 80?

Richy has been training in the mids.

How's Schache tracking? Any chance of the draftees earning an early selection?

All our young boys have been going well. The Schack (Josh Schache) looks very impressive but Mathieson and Keays have also been going well. We hope we can now bring them in at the right times and not throw them to the wolves.

Are you amazed we picked (Rhys) Mathieson up at pick 39 and do you expect him to play senior footy this year?

The way he is training he will.

What position will Daniel McStay and Sam Mayes play this year?

Both will start in defence, but we know Dan be potent as a forward.

Will Brisbane hit the draft hard again this year or trade out picks for possible players?

We have made some big changes over the last 3 off seasons. As a club we feel stability is important from here.

What should we be excited to see this year?

Development of our young backs, some continuity with players playing together.

What position will Jackson Paine play this year?

Jackson will be a defender this season. He played some good games there before he rolled his ankle last season.

Is young Josh Clayton far away from playing senior football?

Let's hope he does debut this year. He has also had a big improvement in the off-season.

Leppa, what could be done better to keep Queenslanders like Wylie Buzza in Queensland and not sent to Mexico? Local talent is precious enough. How did we lose him?

Wylie did slip through the cracks. He was not on our academy list so we could not bid on him. The positive is the amount of Queenslanders coming through. Unfortunately going forward we wont be able to get them all.

G'day Leppa, good luck for the upcoming season just a quick question our contested footy wasn't that great last year how are we looking to improve that this year?

We have done a lot of work on it. Blacky has even created a new cont ball machine, I will get the guys to show you a pic of it (see below).

How is Cian Hanley coming along?

Cian has had a few set backs unfortunately and won't start this season.

What's the aim for season 2016?

We have a lot of small goals that hopefully add up to big ones. We have been working hard on our scoring, pace of ball movement etc. But winning more contests will always go hand in hand with winning.

Thanks for all your input and questions. We value your support and hope you have all signed on for an exciting 2016. I will be around on FB answering your questions over the season so make sure you follow the site. - Justin Leppitsch