On most Thursday evenings throughout the season, fans will eagerly await the announcement of the Brisbane Lions’ senior team for the coming weekend’s game.

It sparks not only interest, but also plenty of discussion surrounding which players ‘should’ or maybe ‘should not’ be named.

The final decision obviously rests with the Lions’ Match Committee who have the most intimate knowledge of each player’s strengths and weaknesses, and formulate the best line-up based on that knowledge.

Aaron Cornelius and Patrick Karnezis are among a host of Lions players who have shown promising form during the pre-season and in the NEAFL, but are yet to replicate it regularly at senior level.

As a result, the pair have managed just three senior games each so far this season. 

Development Coach Gary O’Donnell gave Lions fans a better insight into both players – as well as some of their teammates – during an in-depth interview with Dom Fay and Michael Whiting on LIONS TV on Thursday.

“(Aaron Cornelius) has been able to win a spot, but hasn’t been able to hold it,” O’Donnell said.

“He’s shown some good form in patches of games, more so when he actually comes and presents at the footy rather than perhaps waiting for the long ball.

“Like the rest of our team, his reaction to defence can probably be a little bit better and he’s working on that area of his game as well. He’s certainly got good hands, so when he does get in front the ball is hard to dislodge. That’s a strength of his game.

“(Patrick Karnezis) is a similar sort of player, and he has some deficiencies he needs to work on.

“He reads the ball very well when he’s forward of the ball. Perhaps he’s got to work on the contested situation when the ball’s a bit higher, as well as his reaction to defence.

“He came to the footy club as a forward. He played a little bit on the wing early in the season and inside as well because he has good hands and is quite strong over the ball.

“Probably moving forward, in League footy there’s more chance of him playing forward. He’s just got to continue to improve his game over time.”

O’Donnell said a level of patience was required from the coaches, players and fans in terms of seeing improvements in the team.

“You have to be patient, but we haven’t got a lot of time either,” O’Donnell said.

“From an outsider’s point of view, people need to see that players are improving and that the team is moving forward.

“There also needs to be consistent level of effort all the time. And there have been a few occasions this year when we haven’t had that throughout an entire game.

“People lose patience in you and in the system if that’s not happening, and we can probably tidy that up. We think we’re moving in the right direction, but haven’t had the results yet because of that inconsistency at times.

“Once those guys on the fringe get the improvement, then the team comes on a little bit and we can sell a little bit of hope to our supporters.”