High Performance Manager Stephen Schwerdt couldn’t be more impressed with the start Sean Lemmens has made to his fledging AFL career with the South Australian rocketing in to calculations for a round one debut.
With key defender Rory Thompson recovering from illness and in some doubt to take on the Tigers, and backline options Seb Tape and Nathan Bock restricted to the training track, Lemmens is shaping as a key member of the SUNS’ defensive corps after some eye-catching efforts in the pre-season.
Lemmens played predominantly in the reserves for Port Adelaide in the SANFL last season, but Schwerdt says the 19-year-old has adapted particularly well to life as a senior AFL player.
“There is a couple (first-year stand-outs) but one that comes to mind is Sean Lemmens,” Schwerdt said.
He’s a young player out of the SANFL last year, with this being his first year in the AFL system.
“He is probably one who has taken on board what it means to being an elite athlete and how to prepare properly. He has probably been one who has caught my eye.”
And Schwerdt is not the only person Lemmens has left a lasting impression on.
After the side’s most recent performance against Collingwood, Guy McKenna expressed similar sentiments, with the Gold Coast coach revealing it would be hard to omit Lemmens from earning a round one debut against Richmond.
Defensive coach Dean Solomon echoed his mentor’s post-match assessment, as he heaped praise on the young defender’s aggressive, no-holds-barred style of play.
But what has impressed Schwerdt most has been the teenager’s willingness to transform himself as a complete athlete.
“They go from being part-time footballers to being in a full-time sports environment, so for a lot of them it is a big change and adjustment period, and quite often the guys who adjust the quickest seem to progress the quickest.”
“That’s why whenever I say being an elite athlete it is all about the one-percenters; what you do away from here including your diet, sleep, recovery and the decision on make that can help the high performance side of things on the training field and on game day.
“And Sean has definitely ticked those boxes.”
