Keidean Coleman showed plenty of promise in his debut for the Lions late in 2020. PHOTO: AFL Media.

The Brisbane Lions look like they’re going to be in the premiership mix again this year on the back of consecutive finals appearances, including a preliminary final in 2020, and having also added Joe Daniher (Essendon) and Nakia Cockatoo (Geelong) to their list.

But despite their best 22 looking relatively settled, with star power on every line, they’ve still got a clutch of promising youngsters who not only look set to apply pressure for spots on their more established teammates, but also threaten to be rewarded with plenty of game time.

KEIDEAN COLEMAN
The 20-year-old got his first taste of the big time last year, and even held his spot in the team for Brisbane’s first finals win in 11 years against eventual premier Richmond. He got dropped the next game, but in five matches late in the season, he demonstrated that he had what it took to become a permanent fixture, particularly in attack as a small forward.

“He’s just a really smart footy player,” Lions assistant coach Jed Adcock told Footyology.

“He gets into good spots, really clean with his possession, sets up his teammates well, generally assists quite a few goals.”

But the key to Coleman’s chances of sustained senior footy will be his ability to become flexible.

“He’s got to continue to develop and understand different roles that he can play for us and not limit himself just forward,” Adcock said. “If you limit yourself to one position with the 75-rotation cap, it does make it hard. We might look to pinch-hit him whether it’s midfield, wing or he played a bit of half-back for us in our academy as an 18-year-old so there’s also that option as well.”

TOM FULLARTON
The young ruckman looks set for more opportunities in 2021, especially with the departure of Stefan Martin to the Bulldogs. Outside of Fullarton, Oscar McInerney and Archie Smith are now the only recognised ruckmen on the list, so the 21-year-old former Category B rookie, who used to play for the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL, is in line for a heavier workload after playing a couple of games last year, including a two-point win over St Kilda in which he kicked a crucial goal.

“Tommy we know now can pinch-hit in the ruck and it’s probably an area that we need to keep developing with Stef leaving and with 75 rotations, there might be more teams playing with one ruck and more of a forward that pinch-hits now,” Adcock said.

“He’s a guy that’s really fit for his size … really good mobility, good hands, agile. It allows you to explore different ways of how you want to set your team, set your forward line. It allows ‘Big O’ [McInerney] to go to the interchange to get a rest but potentially still go forward at the same time. Tommy seems to be coming along really nicely and had a really big off-season which has set his pre-season up really well.”

JACK PAYNE
Taken at pick No. 54 in the 2017 draft, the 21-year-old defender had to bide his time before making his debut, but he finally broke through last year. He only played five matches but after being thrust into the cauldron of finals footy as a late replacement for Darcy Gardiner in the preliminary final against Geelong, he looked right at home on the AFL’s second-biggest stage and it’s that coolness under pressure which has really enthused the Brisbane match committee heading into a new season.

“He slotted in really nicely [against Geelong],” Adcock said.

“He’s a really good size with good speed, so that’s what’s really nice. It allows him to be quite flexible and play smaller and taller … players like Harris [Andrews], Darcy and even Ryan Lester and ‘Richy’ [Daniel Rich] and Grant Birchall down there, they’re only going to help him.”

Round one might still be over a month away but Adcock hoped that Payne would be in the frame for their season opener against Sydney on March 20.

DEVEN ROBERTSON
The highly-touted midfielder got a brief encounter with senior footy in round one last year, but the Lions’ top draft pick from 2019 (No. 22 overall) had to be content with watching on from the sidelines for the rest of 2020 as his teammates surged all the way to the second-last week of the season.

He certainly has his work cut out for himself to break into the Lions’ star-studded midfield, but he could carve out a niche for himself in attack before eventually graduating to the engine room.

“He’s come back really fit, put a bit more weight on, he’s only going into his second year,” Adcock said.

“But he’s nice and clean inside, good hands, good runner, he’s just got to keep knocking the door down, keep playing good footy, keep working hard and you hope over time that he’ll get his chance inside.

“But the guys that are mainly midfielders, you might get your first lick of the ice cream as a half-forward so you’ve got to make sure that you’re doing your work as a forward and understand that role and how to play as a forward and then pinch-hit mid until you find yourself playing more as a permanent mid.

“But he’s doing the work and he’s got a great attitude.”

ELY SMITH
The 20-year-old, who was the Lions’ top pick from 2018 (No. 21 overall), is in a similar boat to Robertson. He’s a big-bodied midfielder that happens to be listed at a club with one of the most stacked on-ball divisions in the AFL.

But despite that, and having still yet to make his debut, Adcock suggested his versatility might just be the key to him getting some decent game time in 2021.

“You’re probably not rotating your team as much so you need to be fit and you need to be able to play multiple positions,” Adcock said.

“So Ely is a player who allows us to do that, he can play inside mid, he’s probably now fit enough that he can play outside mid and he can also obviously play forward.

“He’s come back and I think he did a PB in the 3k by something like 40 seconds or something like that – a really big PB. He did the work and it’s definitely showing at the moment in our match practices.”