4 Jared Polec

Choose another player Adcock, Jed - [7] Banfield, Todd - [18] Bartlett, Callum - [13] Beams, Claye - [17] Bewick, Rohan - [43] Black, Simon - [20] Brown, Jonathan - [16] Buchanan, Amon - [33] Cornelius, Aaron - [44] Crisp, Jack - [47] Docherty, Sam - [1] Drummond, Josh - [39] Golby, Mitchell - [41] Green, Joshua - [6] Hanley, Pearce - [11] Harwood, Ryan - [2] Hawksley, James - [12] Hudson, Ben - [22] Karnezis, Patrick - [28] Lester, Ryan - [35] Leuenberger, Matthew - [23] Lisle, Jordan - [19] Longer, Billy - [5] Maguire, Matt - [36] McGrath, Ashley - [9] McKeever, Niall - [40] Merrett, Daniel - [21] O'Brien, Jesse - [34] Patfull, Joel - [24] Polec, Jared - [4] Polkinghorne, James - [31] Raines, Andrew - [29] Redden, Jack - [30] Retzlaff, Bryce - [8] Rich, Daniel - [10] Rockliff, Tom - [38] Sheldon, Sam - [3] Staker, Brent - [14] Stiller, Cheynee - [32] Wearden, Patrick - [37] Yeo, Elliot - [26] Zorko, Dayne - [15]

Introduction
Jared Polec is a strong and skilled midfielder with blistering pace who has no trouble finding a team-mate either by hand or foot. The impressive left-footer impressed at the 2010 NAB AFL U18 Championships - winning All Australian honours - and promises to be a key player in the Lions' future.

Background
• Henley High School student Jared Polec was a standout junior footballer with local side Woodville West-Torrens who made his SANFL debut at just 16 years of age.

• He made an immediate impact, earning a SANFL Rising Star Nomination in his debut senior match.

• He rocketed up draft boards around the country after a stellar 2010 season when he played for both his State and club (Woodville West-Torrens Eagles).

• The left-footer was outstanding for South Australia at the U18 National Championships, and earned All Australian honours for his efforts.

• While he wasn't able to take part in any testing at the 2010 Draft Combine in Canberra due to a quad strain suffered in the Eagles' narrow Preliminary Final loss to Norwood, he impressed AFL recruiters with his ability to mix it with grown men as a teenager.

• The highly-touted midfielder was eventually selected by the Lions with the Club's first round selection (Pick No.5 overall) at the 2010 AFL National Draft.

2011
• 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.