Brisbane has lost prized off-season recruit Oscar Allen for at least 12 weeks, with scans revealing the former West Coast Eagles co-captain has a broken foot.
Allen experienced soreness in his right foot after Brisbane’s 52-point win over Adelaide at the Gabba on Sunday.
The subsequent scans revealed there was a fracture. Allen will have surgery this week and is set to be sidelined for 12 to 14 weeks.
Allen’s long-term absence means Ty Gallop could make a quicker-than-expected return to Brisbane’s forward line after being switched to defence in recent weeks due to the Lions’ casualty list.
Gallop has embraced his new role as a member of Brisbane’s backline, believing it will make him a better forward when he rejoins the Lions’ attacking arsenal.
He was particularly impressive in the Lions’ weekend win over the Crows.
“It was good to learn a different role.” said the 20-year-old Sunshine Coast product, who is only 13 games into his AFL career.
“I’m only in my second year. Just to be playing (in the) AFL is still amazing to me.
“Wherever they need me. I’m happy to do whatever. When ‘Fages’ (Lions coach Chris Fagan) gave me the call and said ‘you might be down back this week’, I was just pumped to still be having a run.
“It’s great to be able to get as much experience under my belt as I can. Whether that’s up forward or down back, I’m happy.”
Gallop was grateful to Lions co-captain and star backman Harris Andrews and Brisbane assistant coach Dale Morris for helping him improve his defensive qualities.
“I played one game down back in the QAFL when I was coming through and that’s it,” he said.
“I went to Harris, sat down with him, (and) watched a lot of tape with him. (Andrews) and Dale Morris, the backline coach, are two great roles models and people to work with.
“I sat with them, worked out how we’re going to do it, and I had to go out there and give it a crack.
“With positioning, I’m still obviously pretty raw to it all, so he (Andrews) has helped me where to stand and hopefully, I haven’t put too much on his plate in terms of having to carry the load a little bit.
“I think we’re working well together, and we’ll just keep building down back.
“We’ve got so many talented forwards that if my spot’s down back for now, I’m more than happy to do that.”
Gallop doesn’t know how long he will remain in Brisbane’s backline but was confident that having responsibilities to nullify some of the competition’s top forwards would help him when he returned to the other end of the park.
“A good way to pick up a few tips and tricks from the best forwards in the league is just by playing on them and learning how they go about it and what they do,” he said ahead of the back-to-back premiers’ battle with Essendon on Saturday at Marvel Stadium.
Lions veteran Dayne Zorko is set to be available for selection this weekend after recovering from a calf injury, however fellow defender Noah Answerth is set to be given another week off as he continues his recovery from concussion.
