The cancelation of the 2020 NEAFL season denied the side the chance to compete for back-to-back premierships but it did provide more regular exposure to AFL listed opponents for the Club’s developing players.
Lions development coaches Paul Henriksen and Zane Littlejohn oversaw the reserves program after the Covid 19 reshuffle.
Henriksen, now the head of the Lions Hyundai Help for Kids Academy, said he believed some players’ development had been fast-tracked through the series of scratch matches against other AFL clubs based in Queensland.
Second-year players such as Ely Smith and Tom Joyce, Irish import James Madden and draftees Brock Smith and Jaxon Prior didn’t get the opportunity to make their AFL debuts in 2020 but they did play against some experienced AFL footballers.
Henriksen said the experience had been invaluable and he was confident they would all be pushing their case for senior selection next year.
He said Joyce’s strong finish to the season had the entire coaching staff full of anticipation at what the future held for the West Australian.
“He was as one of our most exciting candidates coming off the back end of the season,’’ he said.
“He’s still working on his running capacity but he is clean and his footy IQ is as good as anyone at the club.’’
Madden returned to Ireland during the Covid 19 lay-off and was forced to undergo two weeks quarantine on his return once the competition had resumed, but he quickly made up for the lost time.
Henriksen said it was obvious the 21-year-old had put effort into areas of his game he felt he needed to improve.
“He came back with an unbelievable attitude,’’ he said.
“His marking has improved a lot and his understanding of the game and the way we play continues to grow.
“He’s always been a good kick and after the improvements, we saw this season we are all excited about where he can take his game.’’
Prior was another who caught the eye with his superb ball use.
The 19-year-old West Aussie was drafted as a hybrid defender and played predominantly across half back before a move up onto the wing late in the season to give him a taste of what it is required to play in the midfield.
“His weapon is his left foot kick and we encouraged him to use it,’’ Henriksen said.
“He’s the type of player who catches the eye.
“He’s developing really nicely as a player and is looking likely to press his claims next year season.’’
Former Gippsland Power captain Brock Smith was given some lockdown roles on AFL quality players, such as former Magpie and now North Melbourne player Jaidyn Stephenson, and St Kilda’s Jack Lonie.
“He worked hard on developing his game on how the Lions play,’’ Henrickson said.
“He was working on intercept marking but he came as a lockdown defender and we gave him some roles on some AFL quality players throughout the year.’’
Henriksen said big bodied midfielder Ely Smith, the Club’s 2018 top draft pick, had spent the season working on developing his outside game to compliment his proven ball wining ability.
“We knew Ely could win the footy and he continued to develop in that area but we also gave him opportunities to play out on the wing to add that outside element to his game,’’ he said.
