It's lunchtime on day 6 of the Brisbane Lions pre-season camp, and I find myself sharing a meal with the players.

I was invited to join the group by coach Chris Fagan after I said on SEN I didn't think Brisbane can win the flag in 2020.

LIONS EXTEND TRAINING INVITE TO POWER PREMIERSHIP PLAYER

"Let me take that for you," says Lions captain Dayne Zorko as he continues to play waiter by cleaning up the dirty plates of everyone on his table.

The four-time best and fairest winner is setting the standard - not only on the football field but importantly off.

The young Lions group, who finished the minor round in second place, but disappointingly ended the season without winning a final, are a close group willing to do the extras that may give them an advantage on the rest of the competition.

I shared a table with Zorko, fellow All-Australian Lachie Neale, veteran Daniel Rich and young gun Jarrod Berry.

The conversation is casual and relaxed, but it's clear to me how tight this Brisbane group are off the field.

To counter a shortened pre-season due to finals exposure, a large group of 20 players committed to training together in the off-season to maintain fitness.

On their mandatory day off you'll find similar numbers on the golf course trying to relax away from the grind of an AFL season. Zorko and Rich are off an impressive handicap of seven while Jarryd Lyons is the most gifted of the golfing bunch having reached an enviable handicap of five.

Berry, who is into his fourth year, expresses to me his gratitude of arriving at the club at the start of the rebuild under footy boss David Noble and head coach Chris Fagan.

Neale politely addresses my fascination with his former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon, and we debate which club Ross might end up at next.

Neale and defensive gun Harris Andrews were the last two players to leave the training track following a brutal three-hour match simulation session.

As his teammates are showering, Neale continues to work with midfield mentor Dale Tapping by using only one hand to grab the ball and fed handballs back to his coach. Andrews spends his extra time gathering difficult ground balls fed to him by defensive coach Murray Davis.

It's no surprise as to why these two were All-Australians last year.

Upon my arrival to training, Fagan greeted me with a smile and an infectious enthusiasm that is synonymous with someone who loves their job.

We quickly strike up a conversation that revolves around our mutual love of footy. I ask him about defensive set-ups and whether he prefers man on man or a zone set-up behind the ball. Why did he prefer to coach from the interchange bench? What is the secret to his near-empty rehab group?

Fagan does most of the talking, and I am his captive audience.

Footy tactics have changed, he explained, but in the end, footy is footy. There is a simplicity to his philosophy that I appreciate.

Later on, footy boss David Noble explains to me that Fagan has embraced the player's personalities and has brought the fun back. On Fridays, Fagan dictates a dress-up theme and the players go to extreme effort to deliver on the brief.

On cue, the players gather in the middle of the ground in a tight huddle and let out a war cry in unison.

The bulk of the Lions main training session in the cold and damp Hobart conditions involved three 15-minute quarters of match simulation that pitted the best against the rest.

The other members of the media and I sit in the coaches' box with Noble and Lions CEO Greg Swann. Noble encouraged us to ask any personnel or game-style related questions while their chargers slugged it out.

The usual suspects like Neale, Charlie Cameron, Hugh McCluggage and Lyons dominated proceedings. But it was a one-game forward by the name of Sam Skinner that stood out in attack by clunking everything in the air.

Noble and development manager Andrew Crowell explain that Skinner had forced himself into the A-team through an impressive pre-season after overcoming three knee reconstructions.

I felt sorry for the B team as it's hard to impress the coach when you're playing in a side that barely touches the ball. Fagan explains the reason the lopsided teams is because he believes it builds continuity and connection when the players get used to playing with one another throughout the summer.

At the breaks, Fagan only addresses the A-side and is calm and measured; he never once raises his voice. Like most coaches, he emphasises a team-first mindset.

Inexperienced small forward Ely Smith was given a stern word from the coach for ignoring a team member in a better position in front of goal. "I don't care who kicks the goals, as long as we kick the goals," Fagan demands through gritted teeth. Like a father who has been let down, he reaffirms his message to Smith: "Don't do that again!"

Tactically, Fagan only makes a few moves like holding six forwards deep and getting his defenders to drop off the high half-forward from the opposition to give them a spare behind the ball.

It's true, I genuinely thought it would be hard for the young group to maintain the focus and intensity this year. I feared the extra attention that will come from the opposition would take too much adjusting.

I said that I hoped the group wasn't sitting back and enjoying the work they had done last year. I wondered if they'd subconsciously gotten ahead of themselves?

From what I saw in the 24 hours I spent with the Lions in Hobart, I couldn't have been more wrong. The pride looks set to pounce, which could be scary for the rest of the competition.

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