Brisbane co-captain Jonathan Brown says he has a new appreciation for Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola after the pair combined to lead Victoria to victory over the Dream Team in Saturday night's AFL Hall of Fame tribute match.
And after watching Fevola kick six goals and win the Allen Aylett Medal for best afield on Saturday night; Brown is in no doubt as to how big a threat Fevola poses to his own Lions outfit when they take on the Blues at Telstra Dome this Saturday night.
Brown, who booted three goals on Saturday night as he captained the Big V to a 17-point win, said he revelled playing alongside Fevola.
"He was terrific, we played close together and we worked well together," he said on Monday after returning to Brisbane.
"It's always difficult when you have key forwards from opposition teams (playing together for the first time) but we blended together and mixed really well."
And after seeing Fevola at close-range; Brown described the 2006 Coleman Medallist as "a great player."
"He is so dangerous anywhere within 60 metres of goal because he is such a good kick (for goal)."
"And even though he is shorter than some of the other key forwards, because he judges the ball so well in the air he plays more like a six-foot-five marking forward."
Brown said the other player the Lions would have to shut down on Saturday night is another of his Victorian team-mates in Chris Judd because the Blues skipper "is capable of putting it on Fevola's chest at any time."
However Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews believes he has just the player to shut down Fevola, in a match that pits together two teams separated by just percentage after seven rounds, in full-back Daniel Merrett.
"Merrett has done well (in the past) on Fevola-type full-forwards," Matthews said on Monday.
"Most sides we have played in the last month haven't had top-notch full-forwards so we have been playing Daniel away from full-back, which doesn't suit him as well."
"But he (Merrett) has got height, speed and spoiling ability to be a good match-up on those guys so we have got someone to make Fevola earn his kicks."
Meanwhile Brown says he is ready to go for the Lions this week after admitting he carried an injured quad into Saturday night's game - such was his desperation to represent Victoria for the first time.
"The body feels good and I feel better off for (playing) the (Victorian) game," he said.
"If I had missed the state game I would have been a risk for the Carlton game but I feel better for having played (for Victoria) and I feel like I am back to 100 percent."
But Brown said while he was happy to risk worsening his quad injury because of the one-off nature of Saturday night's game, he doubted players would do the same thing if state of origin matches were again played on a yearly basis as was the case in the 1980s and 1990s.
"Every four years would be good," Brown said, when asked on Monday how often state football should be played after what was the first such match for nine years.
"If it was played every year it would probably put too much strain on the players and the clubs."
"Last week I was one of the guys fighting injury (to play) but if you had to go through that emotional commitment every year, players might not give it everything to get up for the game but if it was only once every three or four years - like the Olympics - players would do more to get up for it."
And after watching Fevola kick six goals and win the Allen Aylett Medal for best afield on Saturday night; Brown is in no doubt as to how big a threat Fevola poses to his own Lions outfit when they take on the Blues at Telstra Dome this Saturday night.
Brown, who booted three goals on Saturday night as he captained the Big V to a 17-point win, said he revelled playing alongside Fevola.
"He was terrific, we played close together and we worked well together," he said on Monday after returning to Brisbane.
"It's always difficult when you have key forwards from opposition teams (playing together for the first time) but we blended together and mixed really well."
And after seeing Fevola at close-range; Brown described the 2006 Coleman Medallist as "a great player."
"He is so dangerous anywhere within 60 metres of goal because he is such a good kick (for goal)."
"And even though he is shorter than some of the other key forwards, because he judges the ball so well in the air he plays more like a six-foot-five marking forward."
Brown said the other player the Lions would have to shut down on Saturday night is another of his Victorian team-mates in Chris Judd because the Blues skipper "is capable of putting it on Fevola's chest at any time."
However Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews believes he has just the player to shut down Fevola, in a match that pits together two teams separated by just percentage after seven rounds, in full-back Daniel Merrett.
"Merrett has done well (in the past) on Fevola-type full-forwards," Matthews said on Monday.
"Most sides we have played in the last month haven't had top-notch full-forwards so we have been playing Daniel away from full-back, which doesn't suit him as well."
"But he (Merrett) has got height, speed and spoiling ability to be a good match-up on those guys so we have got someone to make Fevola earn his kicks."
Meanwhile Brown says he is ready to go for the Lions this week after admitting he carried an injured quad into Saturday night's game - such was his desperation to represent Victoria for the first time.
"The body feels good and I feel better off for (playing) the (Victorian) game," he said.
"If I had missed the state game I would have been a risk for the Carlton game but I feel better for having played (for Victoria) and I feel like I am back to 100 percent."
But Brown said while he was happy to risk worsening his quad injury because of the one-off nature of Saturday night's game, he doubted players would do the same thing if state of origin matches were again played on a yearly basis as was the case in the 1980s and 1990s.
"Every four years would be good," Brown said, when asked on Monday how often state football should be played after what was the first such match for nine years.
"If it was played every year it would probably put too much strain on the players and the clubs."
"Last week I was one of the guys fighting injury (to play) but if you had to go through that emotional commitment every year, players might not give it everything to get up for the game but if it was only once every three or four years - like the Olympics - players would do more to get up for it."
