Brisbane legend Jason Akermanis has challenged 2017 No.1 draft choose Cam Rayner to lastly ship on his potential because the Lions claw to salvage their season.
After a promising three weeks, the Lions got here crashing again to earth on Sunday with a 25-point defeat to bogey workforce Hawthorn – their fifth-straight loss in opposition to the Hawks.
It has left the Lions reeling in twelfth with a 4-6-1 document heading into the bye after making final 12 months’s grand closing.
Rayner had simply seven possessions in opposition to Hawthorn – solely touching the ball greater than sub Harry Sharp and tall Brandon Ryan, who was making his Lions debut.
That quiet efficiency got here simply six weeks after Rayner produced arguably the perfect recreation of his profession in a match-winning midfield flip in an upset of Melbourne on the MCG.
Since being heralded for what formed as a breakout recreation, the 24-year-old has once more slipped again into inconsistency.
“Cam Rayner, he’s an incredible player, but he hasn’t really produced now he’s in his seventh season,” Akermanis instructed AAP.
“He’s really due to play way better footy.
“More within the midfield, 20 plus possessions and a few photographs on aim (a recreation) and he is simply not even doing any of that – win, lose or draw.
“You watch a guy like (West Coast’s No.1 draft pick) Harley Reid in his first year play incredibly well at home.
“For Cam there’s probably not a motive, except he is injured and we do not find out about it.”
Akermanis played tagging roles in defence and in the midfield before he became a Brownlow medallist and a genuine superstar of the AFL in 2001 when the Lions won the first of three-straight premierships.
The Australian Football Hall of Famer suggested the Lions try something similar with Rayner to boost his output.
“Unless you are a pure ball-winner, which he he does not actually appear to be a man that accumulates and will get in the proper spots, like different gamers who play midfield on a regular basis,” Akermanis stated.
“He’s not getting anyplace close to the ball so let’s put him in a spot, whether or not he tags straight out within the midfield and learns the place to run and the way to run on good gamers who can take him close to the ball.”
Despite the Lions staring at missing the finals for the first time since 2018, Akermanis insists the future is bright for Brisbane and they could use the second half of the season as a springboard into 2025.
The Lions have been hit hard by injury with five players – Will Ashcroft, Keidean Coleman, Tom Doedee, Lincoln McCarthy and Darcy Gardiner – sidelined with long-term knee issues.
“The youthful guys are getting a style, the place they’ve simply been denied for the final variety of years,” said Akermanis, adding there was “a lot to love” amongst the Lions’ group of less experienced players.
“If I used to be Chris (Fagan) I might hold engaged on the six, seven function gamers you want, to maintain them hungry.
“Get them playing a brand that is slightly different to what it is now – even though when they play it well, it works – but the tweaks that they need.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
