Josh Dyson was named the Lions’ best from Josh Green, who according to Clarke “looked a cut above when he was involved”.
Brisbane muffed their recruitment and responsibility has to be taken by someone. Swans star Luke Parker could have been a Lion. The recruiters wanted him but got overruled by the football department who opted for Josh Green, who has been unable to command a permanent spot in one of the weakest sides in the comp. Parker is shining in one of the best.
“Josh Green continued to be nippy around the contest, but he’s probably still another pre-season away from being a real power-runner at AFL level and running out four strong quarters in the seniors,” he said.
“Josh is a very good player when he’s around the footy, and on the weekend he was able to get possessions where he got over the back of Sydney’s zone and set up a lot of shots on goal.”
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Todd Banfield's foot injury opened the door for Dayne Zorko and Josh Green last Sunday and both grabbed their opportunities with open arms. Switching between small forward and midfield roles, both men had 18 disposals and combined for eight tackles. They were terriers in the forward half and Voss will be hoping for more of the same against North.
The introduction of Green proved critical with the 19-year-old kicking three goals in the final quarter while playing a hand in another.
"To come on and play a role, I'm happy with that," Green said in a jubilant Lions' dressing room post-match.
"Come on when everyone's a bit tired and make an impact, whether it's goals or tackles, because you're a bit fresher than everyone, and just help the forward line out - that's the message the subs get.
"It's good to come in and play your role and if they keep playing me as the sub I'm happy to do that. I'm just happy to be in the team."
"We've got that good bit of chemistry me and him (Zorko), both smaller players, so hopefully Toddy can come in and we can all play the small forward role."
"I've only played as the sub once before that and I wasn't sure how to attack it," Green told the Mercury yesterday.
"But I spoke to one of the coaches and he said just go on and run around, apply pressure, and I tried to do that.
"The ball just fell into my hands a couple of times so I was pretty lucky."
"It was a little bit frustrating [not starting the year in the seniors] but I knew what I needed to work on and I went back to the twos and worked hard on my deficiencies.
"'Vossy [coach Michael Voss] was happy with that and gave me a chance because Todd got injured and he backed me in, which was good.
"I would like to eventually be in the middle but at the moment with my fitness, it's probably not up to midfield AFL level yet."
"Maybe another pre-season and I can push for that midfield role but at the moment myself and the club are quite happy playing as a small forward."
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I love you Josh Green
B: Rhyce Shaw Luke McPharlin Ted Richards
HB: Jack Watts Matt Maguire Josh Drummond
C: Dale Thomas Jude Bolton Rory Sloane
HF: Hamish Hartlett Lance Franklin Steve Johnson
F: Harry Taylor Jack Riewoldt Colin Garland
R: Ivan Maric Gary Ablett Nathan Jones
I: Sam Mitchell Kieren Jack Matthew Broadbent
S: Josh Green
Josh Green came on and had an immediate impact. Is that really a requirement of the super-subs now?
Well certainly the requirement of the sub is to be able to give you some intensity... give you some running intensity, because as the game starts to peter out (and) guys start to get tired, the player who comes on as a sub can turn up in some space and create that extra little bit of run and fire, that's what you're after. It doesn't always work that way. We've had some good impact in previous years with it. Rohan Bewick's been pretty good at it, but Josh Green to be able to come on and have four possessions, kick three goals, set up Zorko (for a another), that's a pretty impressive display for a sub.
