HAVING been made to wait until night two to get on the board at this year’s AFL Draft, Brisbane targeted talls and ended up with a bonus selection just as things looked to be wrapping up at the very end of the intake. Let’s recap what the Lions managed do on night two.

>> UPDATED: Every Pick in the 2023 AFL Draft

NATIONAL DRAFT:

31. Logan Morris
42. Luke Lloyd
51. Zane Zakostelsky
64. Reece Torrent

PRE-LISTED ROOKIE:

Bruce Reville (Category B)

National Recruiting Manager Stephen Conole addressed that the Lions hadn’t drafted a young key forward in some time, so took the opportunity to recruit two in the second round this year. While arguably both a shade under true key position height, both project as fantastic aerial assets.

While night one was relatively uneventful for the Queensland club, they were on the board with the second pick of night two. West Coast snapped up Archer Reid and left Logan Morris for Brisbane, a 191cm goal kicker with buckets for hands and sound reading of the ball in flight.

Morris booted 30 majors across consecutive Coates Talent League seasons for the Western Jets and broke out on the representative stage with four goals in Vic Metro’s trouncing of Western Australia. He has improved his running capacity to be a more dynamic and versatile second or third tall forward.

Next was Luke Lloyd, a 193cm link-up forward taken with pick 42. A premiership player with Sandringham this year, the 18-year-old is lauded for his natural talent and came to prominence after booting 19 goals in a school football outing with De La Salle.

After missing the start of the season through injury, he quickly made up for lost time and even went as far as to earn a VFL berth with Frankston. As far as late-season developers go, Lloyd is right up there could continue to come on quickly in an elite environment where he’ll have time to grow.

Speaking of, West Australian Zane Zakostelsky was next up for the Lions at pick 51. The West Australian is extremely raw in a footballing sense, but possesses rare athleticism. He impressed enough to make the state team this year and was best afield in the winning WAFL Colts Grand Final for Claremont.

Conole noted Zakostelsky’s athletic profile as being the most prominent trait which appealed to the Lions, and says there is plenty of talent to enhance in the long-term – potentially as a player who can be utilised across each key position post at 196cm.

Brisbane managed to package up a pair of West Australians after landing somewhat of a bonus pick in Reece Torrent. The Peel Thunder product was taken with the very last pick of the National Draft and is a balanced midfielder with real poise in the way he plays, finding space and hitting targets effortlessly.

A story perhaps lost in the larger draft hysteria was that of Bruce Reville. Born in Papua New Guinea, the 22-year-old is a graduate of the Lions Academy and toiled away over the last few years at VFL level to eventually earn his spot on Brisbane’s AFL list.

A smooth mover in each third of the ground, Reville represented the Allies in 2019 – his top-age year – and was rated as a highly developable forward who could also operate on either side of midfield. Now, he gets his chance in the big leagues as a Category B rookie.