Brisbane captain Jonathan Brown is tipping a lift in the Lions’ performances after some lean years, but says they haven’t earned the right to talk about returning to the AFL finals.
Currently sidelined by his third facial injury in the past 12 months, 30-year-old Brown confirmed he was on course to return in round three.
Brown and Simon Black are the only remaining players on the Brisbane list from their three flag-winning teams.
The Lions have made the finals only once in the past seven years, and finished a lowly 15th in 2011, notching just four wins.
“As a veteran, to not be able to taste any success or any big games over the last few years has been extremely frustrating,” Brown told AAP.
“But I’m excited by the group that we’ve got here and hopefully we can get there quickly before I have to call it a day.
“I think the club is going in the right direction on and off the field and I’m a lot more encouraged than probably what I was 18 months ago.
“We’re still in a rebuilding phase, there’s no question about that, but we should see improvement.
Brown was circumspect about the prospects of Brisbane making their first finals appearance since 2009.
“All things being equal, if everything went right for us, we could, (make the finals),” Brown said.
“But it’s certainly something that is not on the radar for the club at the moment.
“We haven’t deserved the right to even talk about finals.”
Brown pretty much ruled out wearing any protective gear on his face or head.
“It’s a bit hard to, even the surgeon is not a huge fan of that,” Brown said.
“It’s not a head injury, it’s facial so unless I was wearing a hockey mask it would be a little bit hard.”