Jack Kovacic
Marcus Lentini has been named Lion of the Round following his stand out performance in Saturday’s loss to Collingwood.
At just 18 years old, Lentini came to the club from the Northern Knights after enjoying a good 2017 season at TAC Cup level.
He has picked up right where he left off this season adapting well to VFL level.
He played his best game of the season on the weekend, racking up 30 disposals, 21 contested possession and 10 clearances.
He also picked up five free kicks thanks to his tough play and attack on the ball.
“I had to start on Brayden Sier, and then was asked to just play my normal midfield role and push hard at the contests,” he said.
This was a tough head to head battle but Lentini won his fair share of the ball against a tough opponent.
He rates his kicking as his biggest strength but thinks he can still improve on his contested ball.
While the Lions couldn’t come away with the win, Saturday was their best performance yet and Lentini thinks the team had been building all week.
“We had a hard talk during the week about where we are at and that kind of set the tone for the whole week,” he said.
The scoreboard still wasn’t what Coburg fans wanted to see but there was plenty of upside from the performance.
“One of the positives was the way we moved the ball, we didn’t overuse it,” said Lentini, “I also feel like we are getting better with our pressing up.”
He also thinks that there is still plenty of improvement to come from the Lions, specifically on the defensive side of the game.
“We just need to keep working on our pressure, keep hunting our opponents and stick our tackles.”
Coburg will be on the hunt for a win next week against Richmond and you can catch Lentini and his teammates in action at the Swinburne Centre at 10:45am on Saturday morning.