Senior Players List

Season by Season

• After stacking on some much-needed extra kilograms during his second pre-season, Polec slotted straight into the Lions’ senior team for Round 1, and went on to play in each of the side’s first eight matches.

• Playing mainly across half-forward, he didn’t accumulate huge numbers of possessions, but proved dangerous around goals with his raking left boot and creativity.   

• After being used as the sub on occasion, Polec was sent back to the Reserves in Round 9 and spent the next two months in-and-out of the senior side as he battled a foot complaint.  

• He eventually succumbed to an adductor strain after Round 17, which was expected to keep him out for the remainder of the season.

• However, Polec returned for one final match – the Reserves’ all-important Semi Final showdown against NT Thunder in Darwin – before being put in cotton wool until 2013.

• After his first ever AFL pre-season, Polec lined up in Lions colours for the first time in the Club's NAB Cup opener against Essendon at Etihad Stadium. While the result wasn't pretty, the South Australian provided one of the few Lions highlights with an exciting running goal.

• The slightly built midfielder missed selection in the senior team for Round 1, but was eventually called-upon for the side's Round 3 match against Melbourne at the MCG.

• Polec made an immediate impact at senior level, collecting 11 disposals in the first quarter alone, before finishing the game with 18 possessions. Senior Coach Michael Voss also praised the teenagers courage.

• After three senior games, Polec was sent back to the Reserves side where he built on some of the more specific areas of his game.

• He performed a variety of different roles in the NEAFL and seemed close to a senior recall until a medial ligament injury forced him to miss a month of football.

• The injury re-surfaced later in the season, which largely interrupted Polec's chances of another senior berth.

• In what proved a largely developmental year, the Club's prized draft pick averaged 13.3 disposals during his brief taste of AFL, but showed plenty of promising signs for the future.