Linking with a pilates instructor who conditions Melbourne's leading ballet dancers has finally got Brisbane defensive menace Noah Answerth back in the AFL frame.
He missed the entire 2021 season with a groin injury, just as he had cemented himself among the title contenders' top side.
Home renovations and a TAFE building diploma kept his mind off football but it wasn't until he ducked his head into a pilates session that he finally saw progress.
"I just had to stay busy ... so you get into a groove but then suddenly it's 10 months (without playing)," Answerth told AAP before Saturday's round one clash with Port Adelaide at the Gabba.
"I hadn't done pilates before, gave it a try and pretty instantly I guess I'd walk out and go 'oh I can feel that'."
Many of his Lions teammates are on the pilates bandwagon, including veterans Daniel Rich and Ryan Lester.
Answerth combines sessions at the Gabba with trips to Melbourne to link with a specialist who's popular with ballet dancers.
The 22-year-old and Cameron Rayner (knee) will both return from season-long absences to face Port, who were disappointed preliminary finals losers to the Western Bulldogs last season.
"He's a bit like Cam (Rayner); he's tough, hard as they come and difficult to play on, just ask his teammates," Lions coach Chris Fagan said.
"It's been a tough 12 months for him, but he's used the time well."
Brisbane, beaten by one-point in a semi-final by the Bulldogs last season, have won their past four games against Port.
Gun forwards Charlie Dixon (ankle) and Orazio Fantasia (knee) will both miss the trip north for the Power.
Jackson Mead, who missed last season with a lacerated spleen, will make his AFL debut -- his father Darren was best and fairest in Port's inaugural AFL season.
Recruit Jeremy Finlayson is also set for a club debut, pulling up well from a back complaint on Thursday.
"He plays footy in the right way," Port coach Ken Hinkley said of Mead.
"He's so talented on both sides (of his body), he competes really hard and to be the first father-son from the AFL era is really important for us as a football club."
Fagan couldn't identify a strategic reason for their recent success against Port, leaving Hinkley to admit the Lions had simply been too good.
"They have been able to dominate us around the footy a little bit, there's no doubt," he said.
"They have got some power in their front half. They're exposed (reasons), they are not new things."
Skipper Dayne Zorko (achilles) didn't take part in Friday's captain's run but Fagan insists he'll play, as will Mitch Robinson after the wingman exited COVID-19 isolation on Thursday.
