{"id":44163,"date":"2025-08-05T01:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44163\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T01:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:27:10","slug":"lions-defender-in-frame-for-top-line-return-after-two-years-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44163\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions defender in frame for top-line return after two years out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__summary\">\n                Tom Doedee is one of several Lions pushing their case to replace Ryan Lester in Brisbane&#8217;s back six\n            <\/p>\n<p>                                Tom Doedee in action during Brisbane&#8217;s clash with Box Hill in VFL round nine, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n<p>MORE than two years after his last senior game, Tom Doedee is a chance to run out in Brisbane colours for the first time on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>A backline position has become available for the premiers after Ryan Lester suffered a concussion in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/afl\/matches\/7133\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the win over Collingwood at the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Doedee is one of a handful of players vying for the vacant position.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old moved north from Adelaide at the end of 2023 and has overcome back-to-back knee reconstructions, the second of which occurred <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/news\/1095349\/incredibly-heartbreaking-tom-doedees-brisbane-lions-debut-ruined-by-fresh-acl-injury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">on the eve of his Lions debut last March<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The last time he played in the AFL was June 2023, for the Crows against Gold Coast in Darwin.<\/p>\n<p>                    Tom Doedee during the round 12 match between Gold Coast and Adelaide at TIO Stadium, June 3, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n<p>Doedee has played 12 games in the VFL this season as he tries to regain his best form.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Tuesday morning, Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews wasn&#8217;t sure which way Chris Fagan and his match committee would go, but said he was impressed by Doedee&#8217;s form.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s been playing really well,&#8221; Andrews said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I watched a little bit of the VFL game from the weekend, and he looked to be in good form. There&#8217;s potentially an opportunity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>                    Hugh McCluggage and Tom Doedee during Brisbane&#8217;s training session at Brighton Homes Arena on February 5, 2025. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Darragh Joyce is also waiting in the wings. He played six games last season when the Lions&#8217; backline stocks were thin, and was an emergency for the game against the Magpies.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce Reville filled in superbly in defence when he came on as the substitute to replace Lester, while Brisbane could also opt for a smaller replacement up against a Swans forward line that has been rocked by injuries to its taller players.<\/p>\n<p>Andrews said it had been a &#8220;tough ride&#8221; for Doedee since moving to the Lions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s been so unfortunate with some of the setbacks he&#8217;s had to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I truly admire the resilience, the grit, the ability to just get on with life.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s someone regardless of the fact his body has let him down at times, the way he turns up at the club every day with a real energy and real vibe is just great.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve really enjoyed his time at the footy club. Obviously, it&#8217;d be great to get him out there on the field with us and playing, but I&#8217;m sure that&#8217;ll come at some stage.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Doedee is one of several Lions pushing their case to replace Ryan Lester in Brisbane&#8217;s back six&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-44163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}