Injury-hit Lions to select “at least three” players in mid-season draft

Brisbane will be very active in this year’s mid-season draft, Danny Daly has confirmed.

The Lions now have four vacancies on their list following season-ending ACL injuries sustained by Darcy Gardiner and Lincoln McCarthy in last weekend’s win over Gold Coast.

That pair have joined fellow knee victims Keidean Coleman and Tom Doedee on the sidelines for a lengthy spell and their GM of footy Danny Daly insists they will fill at least a trio of those slots.

“We’ll be pretty active,” Daly said on SEN Afternoons.

“We’ll at least take three, if not four.

“So Steve Conole (recruiting boss) and Dom Ambrogio (list manager) are hard at work scouring the country. They're doing their due diligence.

“We’ll get a few players in at the mid-season draft for sure, 100 per cent.”

While Daly revealed no names, he did indicate that there could be a couple of “Bruce Revilles in the background”, referencing last week’s debutant who is a Lions Academy product out of QAFL club Sherwood Magpies.

The likes of Jack Hutchinson (Collingwood VFL), Jasper Scaife (West Perth), Jacob Blight (Peel Thunder) and Will McLachlan (Geelong Falcons) are among the names being touted to go early in the mid-season draft.

The AFL’s Mid-Season Rookie Draft takes place on Wednesday, May 29.

Daly also provided an update on Brisbane’s other recent ACL casualty Will Ashcroft.

The gun youngster, who suffered the injury against Geelong in Round 19 last year, will undoubtedly return for the Lions at some stage in the second half of the season

“He was kicking the ball around at training today,” Daly said of the 20-year-old.

“He’s progressing really well. We’re not putting a timeframe on it as yet, but he’ll definitely play against this year.

“He’s in a good frame of mind and he’ll be a good asset for us in the back half of the season.

“We look forward to him coming back.”

After conjuring a win against the odds last weekend, the Lions will be looking to back that up when they meet the Crows in Adelaide on Sunday night.