Lions vice-captain Hugh McCluggage admits he’s nonetheless adjusting to life in Brisbane’s new-look midfield as he battles to regain the shape which made him one of many AFL’s most elegant gamers.
Similar to the Lions’ begin to the season, McCluggage has been patchy and has lacked his regular “composure”.
He stated a part of the rationale for his up and down type has been having to search out “synergy” in a Brisbane midfield which now contains star pair Josh Dunkley and Will Aschroft.
“When you add two amazing midfielders into the mix, and they’re playing large minutes in there, you’ve got to work out what they do, what they like to do, how they use their hands, where they run, so throughout the pre-season, and throughout the first few rounds, we’ve been working on that synergy and that mix,” McCluggage stated.
“We’ve played with quite a similar mix throughout the past three or four years with Lachie (Neale), myself, ‘JL’ (Jarryd Lyons) … so it’s always going to take a little bit of time to get used to that new personnel going through there.
“There are probably a few little things that I need to work on. My ball use probably can improve a little bit (and) just making sure I have that composure and have impact with possessions I get.
“I don’t think I’m where I want to be entirely, but there’s still improvement left in me and in the team as well. We just want to keep getting better as the year goes on.
“We know that we’ve got the cattle here, and we’ve got a really good environment, so we just need to keep sticking to our processes and working really hard to keep the group happy and hopefully the footy will just care of itself.”
The inconsistent Lions are intent on securing back-to-back wins for the primary time this season after they meet North Melbourne at Summit Sport and Recreation Park in Mt Barker as a part of the AFL’s Gather Round in South Australia.
Country boy McCluggage is wanting ahead to taking part in at a regional centre and is assured the Lions may have no issues adjusting.
“It’s something we speak about. It will be probably a little bit of a smaller crowd than what we’re used to playing at those bigger venues, but we’ve played in Ballarat, we’ve played at venues like that before … those boutique stadiums.” he stated.
“It’s good fun, to be honest. I enjoy getting back to those places and playing. It’s like local footy again, like you’re back in South Warrnambool playing.
“It’s good; you’ve just got to bring your own energy but we’ve done that, so we know how to make sure that happens.”
Veteran Daniel Rich is ready to be accessible for choice after lacking Brisbane’s previous two video games with a quad harm, whereas fellow defender Darcy Gardiner will make his long-awaited comeback from shoulder and ankle issues for Brisbane’s VFL staff on Saturday towards the Southport Sharks at Springfield.
Originally printed as Lions vice-captain hoping to enhance on patchy type
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
