LEOPOLD will have a different look to the side that lost to St Mary’s in last years GFNL Grand Final, with up to ten new faces set to take on the Swans.
Lions skipper Marcus Thompson said the Lions will approach Saturday’s decider against South Barwon ‘looking through a different lens’ compared to 12 months ago.
Thompson said those who played in 2022 aren’t thinking too hard about the loss, but it’s something the team can learn from.
“It’s all part of the journey,” he said.
“When you lose a Grand Final I think you sort of reflect on what you did right and what you did wrong and you just try and learn from it.
“You go into pre-season and you try and find ways to be better, we think we’ve done that.
“Right back from November, bringing in new fitness staff and obviously Garry Hocking being able to change the way we play just slightly.
“Bringing in some new players and a bit of youth coming through as well, I just feel like it’s a different group.
“We take those lessons from last year and we’ll look to make the most of them this weekend.”
Thompson said Leopold will have to make some tough calls at selection with a health list to choose from, with the reserves side also playing in the Grand Final against the Saints.
“Unfortunately that’s part and parcel of having a really competitive group,” he said.
“We’ve got two sides in the Grand Final so it’s quite obvious to say that our list is in a really good spot.
“There’s going to be some really tough calls but we’ll put our arms around those guys, no doubt they’ll feel flat, but everyone knows it’s much bigger than themselves.”
The Lions will have the obvious advantage of playing at their home ground, as they did in last weeks thrilling Preliminary Final win against St. Mary’s.
Thompson said the support from the sidelines certainly gave them an extra boost in the 9-point win and is keen to play in front a big crowd again.
“(Last weekend) to have such a huge crowd and I think everyone would have seen on the weekend who was there, just how passionate Leopold people are about this club and about footy.
“It’s really special.
“When it was announced Round 9 I think we might have been five-and-four so we weren’t really dominating the season at all, in fact we probably had some doubts about where we were heading.
“We’ve been able to sort of put our best foot forward and play some really good footy.
“We’ve put in a lot of hardwork to get into a Prelim Final and a Grand Final as well.
“Obviously it’s really exciting we get to play in a Grand Final on our home deck.”
K rock Football will be live from Memorial Park from 12pm Saturday- and can be heard on FM 95.5 across Geelong & the Surf Coast or via krockfootball.live, with live streaming via aflbarwon.com.au.
