Season 2009 - Wrap Up
The Lions finished sixth last year. No good enough for the young Lions coach who wielded the axe and made some big changes.
Voss is mortgaging the future to win now. History shows that you build through the draft, and it's a lesson that the next Lions coach
will learn the hard way if his gambles don't pay off.
The feature stories for the Lions in 2009 was the discovery (albeit by accident) of a genuine ruck star in Mitch Clark and the
ready-made player in rookie midfielder Daniel Rich. We all know it's Brendan Fevola for 2010 ...
While Daniel Rich showed star quality from day one, the Lions blooded players in James Polkinghorne, Sam
Sheldon and Jack Redden who have all become regulars. So look for improvements from the Lions as a team as the
younger players contribute more and make less mistakes.
Stat Leaders
Leading goalkicker: Johnathon Brown (78)
Leading possession winner: Luke Power (560)
Most kicks: Luke Power (279)
Most handballs: Simon Black (311)
Most marks: Johnathon Brown (179)
Most tackles: Luke Power (109)
Most hit-outs: Mitch Clark (528)
Most Dream Team Points: Luke Power (2107 - 22 games)
Most Dream Team Average: Luke Power (96)
Most Super Coach Points: Johnathon Brown (2176 - 22 games)
Most Super Coach Average: Johnathon Brown (99)
Awards
Merrett-Murray Medal:
- Johnathon Brown (57.5 votes)
- Simon Black (56.5 votes)
- Mitch Clark (54 votes)
- Luke Power (51.5 votes)
- Justin Sherman (45 votes)
- Daniel Rich (41.5 votes)
- Ashley McGrath (41 votes)
- Joel Patfull (35 votes)
- Jared Brennan (31 votes)
- Josh Drummond (30 votes)
Best First Year Player:Daniel Rich
What They Lost?
Lachie Henderson (traded to Carlton)
Bradd Dalziell (traded to West Coast)
First-round draft pick No. 12 (traded to Carlton)
Second-round draft pick No. 28 (traded to Sydney Swans)
Third-round draft pick No. 30 (traded to Sydney Swans)
Third-round draft pick No. 44 (ttraded o Richmond)
Fourth-round draft pick No. 60 (traded to St Kilda)
Daniel Bradshaw (pre-season draft)
Tim Notting (retired)
Scott Clouston (delisted)
Scott Harding (delisted)
Rhan Hooper (delisted)
Kieran King (delisted)
Joel Macdonald (delisted)
Jason Roe (delisted)
Matthew Tyler (delisted)
Daniel Dzufer (rookie listed)
Pat Garner (rookie listed)
Daniel Murray (rookie listed)
Adam Spackman (rookie listed)
Joel Tippett (rookie listed)
Who They Gained?
Andrew Raines (from Richmond)
Brent Staker (from West Coast)
Amon Buchanan (from Sydney Swans)
Xavier Clarke (from St Kilda)
Brendan Fevola (from Carlton)
Second-round draft pick No. 27 (from Carlton)
Third-round draft pick No. 39 (from West Coast on-traded to Sydney Swans)
Third-round draft pick No. 47 (from Sydney Swans)
Under The Gun
In the end, the Lions didn't exactly pay a king's randon for Fevola. But, there are questions as to how you satisfy to premier players in the forward line
who demand the ball. The spotlight will be on Fevola from day one and everyone who has Johnathan Brown in the lineup will wait anxiously how his production
will be affected.
Burning Question: What does Rich do as an encore?
What separates Daniel Rich from the pack is, not only does he win the ball, his kick is probably up there with the best in the AFL right now.
That should bode well for his Super Coach numbers this year. Averaged 77 in DT and 85 in SC, these solid numbers in isolation and superb numbers
considering he was a rookie. Look for Rich to add atleast 10 points to those averages with more playing time and another preseason to adjust to
the speed of the AFL game.
Some fantasy football stats for Daniel Rich:
Averages DT (77) SC (85)
High DT (116) SC (149)
Low DT (50) SC (47)
90+ Points DT (3/22) SC (8/22)
From the numbers above, it's not hard to see Rich is going to be star SC performer.