Livewire Lion ready to wing it in new role

NEW ROLE: Terang Mortlake export Lewis Taylor will play on a wing for Brisbane in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

LEWIS Taylor hopes a change of position will coincide with a Brisbane Lions' charge up the ladder.

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The 2014 AFL Rising Star winner is earmarked for a wing role after spending much of his 107-game career as a small forward who would pinch-hit in the midfield.

Taylor, 24, said he was excited for the challenge and believed his ball use and speed would help the Chris Fagan-coached Lions.

"I am playing a bit more up the ground this year. I will run through the wing a bit more," the Terang Mortlake export told The Standard.

"I am looking forward to that. I have played there before a little bit and I've been training there the whole pre-season.

"It'll be good for me to get up the ground a bit because when you find yourself in the forward line you don't have much room to work with."

Taylor, who will line up for Brisbane in its final JLT Series pre-season match against Melbourne at Casey Fields on Saturday, is enjoying his time in Queensland.

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STANDOUT: Lewis Taylor, pictured during a 2011 Hampden league senior match, drew Terang Mortlake faithful through the gates with his flair.

The Mortlake-raised Taylor is out of contract at season's end.

"Every case is different but I am going to try and put my best foot forward and that will all work itself out as it comes along," he said.

"I don't think about that too much, I am pretty easy-going so I'll try and play some good footy and go from there."

Taylor said his dad Simon and brothers Toby and Lachie visited him in Brisbane as often as they could.

"Dad and Lachie are coming up around Easter for a couple of weeks and 'Tobes' sort of floats in and out a little bit," he said.

"He's working in Geelong. He's a builder down there so he's pretty flat out but he gets up when he can. They love getting up to Queensland.

"It's always good when your family gets up for a bit because you don't get to see them as much as you'd like."

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: AFL footballer Lewis Taylor, pictured here in 2009, was a creative Terang Mortlake junior.

Taylor is yet to play a final in his AFL career but believes his family will have more reasons to cheer at the footy, predicting a Brisbane rise up the ladder.

He said belief among the Lions was high with competition for spots in their best 22 the toughest in his time at the club.

"It's definitely a healthy thing to have at a club," Taylor said.

"There are plenty of guys going really well at the moment, so it's only going to benefit the team."

Midfielder Lachie Neale, a two-time Doig Medallist who crossed from Fremantle in the off-season, and the emergence of high-draft picks, including South Warrnambool's Hugh McCluggage and Camperdown's Cedric Cox, are expected to boost the Lions' chances.

Brisbane launches its season against reigning premier West Coast at the GABBA on March 23.

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