The Brisbane Lions are looking to continue on from where they left off in 2024, as the reigning premiers begin their premiership defence with a highly anticipated grand final rematch against the Sydney Swans.
Speaking to the media ahead of their Wednesday trip south, Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews tempered expectations of a repeat grand final performance, claiming Saturday's SCG fixture to be a tough affair.
"They're obviously such a great team, they had an awesome year last year and I got no doubt they're going to come out hard and ready to go," Andrews said.
"They're a really proud footy club Sydney so we'll expect their best and make sure we're up for the fight.
"The way they're able to move the ball by foot is incredible, they're a great offensive team, their team defence is awesome as well, so we recognise it's going to be a great challenge for us down in Sydney."
The two-time All-Australian defender further spoke on the fresh set of challenges the 'new look' Sydney side pose since their last meeting, pinpointing the Swans' positional changes as a potential area of concern.
"Obviously with Dean Cox coming in there's a few things they've sort of moved around, a few guys have had positional changes which provides another challenge for us," he said.
"Obviously Tom McCartin played as a forward last week and he's spent the majority of his career down back so that's someone I'll be paying a bit more attention to."
Another positional switch to monitor on Saturday is Sam Wicks' recent move into the backline. The former forward impressed in his first foray behind the ball, keeping the highly touted Nick Watson to only four touches while also gathering 18 himself.
The 25-year-old could be in for an even tougher test this weekend, with a matchup against two-time All-Australian Charlie Cameron potentially on the cards. This is compounded by the fact that Cameron's usual direct opponent, Harry Cunningham, is set to miss at least the first five games of the season through injury.
In an exciting development for Lions fans, the Queensland club could also be set to unleash last year's top five pick Levi Ashcroft, with the father-son addition impressing over pre-season.
"He's been awesome for us, he's attacked the preseason and he's come in during the last few weeks in match sim and drills and you see how prominent he is as a footballer," Andrews said.
"His decision making around the contest is unbelievable, the way he presses up is great as well, it's really exciting just to see how hard he works on his game."
The game against Sydney will kick off at 4.15pm AEDT.
