The past couple of AFL National Drafts have seen the Brisbane Lions invest heavily in versatile medium-tall players with an ability to run.

Marco Paparone (194cm), Michael Close (196cm), Sam Mayes (187cm), Elliot Yeo (189cm) and Jack Crisp (190cm) are all prime examples of this recruiting strategy.

Paparone and Close, in particular, featured prominently in the Club’s pre-season endurance testing last year, while Mayes, Crisp and Yeo are all genuine hard-running utilities.

National Talent Manager Rob Kerr said it was no coincidence that these players have landed at the Lions in recent years.

“That’s by design,” Kerr told Terry Wallace in a recent interview for Channel Nine’s TAC Cup Future Stars program.

“In my own career, I’ve been reasonably influenced by working with Kevin Sheedy for a couple of years, who really did promote running height when he was a coach at Essendon. I quite liked that concept.

“Another Sheedy influence is flexibility – players who have the capacity to play a number of roles.”

With the aforementioned players still in the early stages of their AFL development, it might take some time before the Club gets to taste the fruits of their labour.

But there’s no doubt the introduction of an interchange cap from next season will make players with such abilities an even more valuable commodity.