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Brisbane have moved a step closer to solving their premiership woes by recruiting veteran Hawk Jack Gunston, Dermott Brereton believes.
The Lions have been one of the most dominant home and away teams in recent years, with three top four finishes in the space of three years before their 6th placing in 2022.
But they’ve got nothing to show for their successful run, with their last grand final appearance coming back in 2004.
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On Tuesday, Gunston landed at the Lions for pick 48 and a future fourth in a move that will easily offset the loss of forward Daniel McStay, according to Brereton.
“He’s a better player than McStay. He’s a more capable forward who knows how to get the ball,” he said on Trading Day.
“If you’re talking about Moneyball, he gets on first (base). He gets the ball through the goals. He kicks goals.
“I saw them get scores on the board, but they laboured against the good teams.
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“A player who can get the ball through the goals against the good teams, forget abut kicking it against the bunnies down the other end, it’s about beating teams in the top eight.
“I don’t think they could really do it all that well – they laboured their goals against good teams. (Gunston) will help them.”
McStay kicked 25 goals in 22 games this past season, with his career-best being 28 goals in 2021. Gunston kicked 32 goals in 16 games, and he has kicked 50-plus goals four times.
According to Champion Data statistics, Gunston was rated above average for marks inside 50, goals and score involvements in 2022.
Nick Dal Santo said Gunston’s goal return was “fantastic” in 2022, but was concerned his addition to the squad wasn’t going to address the Lions’ biggest issue.
“I don’t know if the forward line is their issue – they haven’t had a concern scoring,” he said on Trading Day.
“It’s defending. They were just under 100 points per game this year the Brisbane Lions.
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“Scoring is not the issue – it’s team defence. They average 81 points against per game.
“They need to defend better individually.”
Former Hawk Ben Dixon said he’s predicting Gunston to kick 50 goals for Brisbane this year, given the service he’ll get from the Lions mids.
“He will trip over 50 goals next year,” Dixon predicted. “He wanted inside 50s – it wasn’t money, it was just going to a team to get inside 50s.”
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