ID :
113133
Tue, 03/23/2010 - 21:22
Auther :

Simon Black avoids Fevola fever at Lions



Level-headed midfielder Simon Black has refused to fuel talk the addition of big gun
Brendan Fevola has made the Lions top four material in 2010.
With Fevola joining forces with Johnathan Brown to form a forward partnership
capable of reaping well in excess of 100 goals for the season, confidence is
understandably high in Brisbane.
But Black is just not weighing into it.
"Fev's not going to win us a premiership, I can tell you that right now," said the
soon-to-be 31 year-old Black who could find himself playing a little more forward
this season with several young midfielders emerging on the scene.
"As the coach (Michael Voss) said, there's a lot of parts of the ground and Fev is
only one of 18.
"We need improvement in all areas, we can't just rely on one guy.
"It doesn't matter who you are, put the equivalent of Michael Jordan out there, it
doesn't work that way because the ground is too big and there's 18 guys out there."
Black did admit having the pair was a boon for the fans but said the team's own
expectations actually surpassed anyone else's.
"It's an old cliche but it's one week at a time. We need to build the castle, and
that starts this Saturday (against the Bulldogs)," he said.
"How good we could be, we don't know.
"You can only win one game at a time, West Coast first up, we're really looking
forward to that and hopefully getting off to a good start."
Black said the players were not thinking about September, aware they have to make
some big improvements to match the top drawer teams.
"We're not kidding ourselves about that, we've got to improve a lot to compete with
the better sides in the comp," he said.
"We have to make some marked improvement in the midfield to match the quality
midfields in the AFL and for that you need a lot of contributors week-in and
week-out.
"The one thing you learn though is you can't play finals until September and there's
a lot of work to do before that."
Black nominated Saturday night's Gabba rivals the Bulldogs, along with Geelong and
St Kilda as teams to watch.
"It will be interesting to see how Geelong go coming off the last three years, said
the 256-game veteran and three-time club best and fairest.
"I'm with you guys (media), I think the Bulldogs are the ones with a fair bit to prove.
"They're very hungry and have a really talented squad."

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