Could we be about to see the potential of former first round selection Nakia Cockatoo unleashed on the competition?
Plagued by injury, the former Cat has strung three consecutive games together for the Brisbane reserves, after making just 34 senior appearances in six years at Kardinia Park.
He is tracing the steps of former Geelong teammate Lincoln McCarthy, who managed 29 games in the hoops in seven years, and has played 50 of a possible 52 since he moved north.
Joe Daniher has also played every game this year, after making just 15 appearances in his last three seasons with Essendon.
Andrew Stafford reported in The Age on Thursday that the Lions perceive their conditioning program as a recruiting weapon.
“Our biggest selling point with the Joe (Daniher)s and Nakias of the world was our ability to get them on the paddock as much as we could,” Brisbane football manager Danny Daly told Stafford.
Former Geelong teammate Sam Menegola compared Cockatoo’s profile to a Brownlow Medal-winning teammate.
“He’s got some freakish athletic abilities, the mix between speed and power. It’s like (Patrick Dangerfield), he’s got a mix of that but not many players do,” Menegola told SEN Breakfast.
“If he can stay fit, he can do some things around the ball that other guys just aren’t built to do. He’s an amazing person, we all loved him.”
Menegola says the Cats are hopeful Cockatoo can find his feet at the elite level.
“We’re really hoping he gets a clean run at it, and gets to playing his best footy… his potential is through the roof,” he explained.
“It would just be good if he couldn’t do it to us like ‘Linc’ did once he got going up at Brisbane.”
Tim Watson believes the lure of the sunshine state would be strong for players looking to reboot their careers.
“It might just be the warmer weather, your ability to do things when you train…” Watson pondered on SEN Breakfast.
“When they speak to prospective recruits (they can say) ‘mate, come up here, you’re going to love the way the weather is, it helps you to train.’
“Even if you’re doing rehab you’re out there in the sunshine, it lifts your spirits.”
Garry Lyon says it gives the Lions a competitive advantage as they look to piece a premiership list together.
"You get them at a premium, you’re not paying through the nose, you’re not giving up two first rounders,” he enthused.
“Here’s a bloke who is broken, who most people in the footy world - certainly the club he was at - acknowledge has unbelievable upside…
“It doesn’t cost anything and they turn him into a player.”
Cockatoo will line up for a fourth consecutive game with the Lions' reserves when they host Richmond at the Gabba on Saturday morning.