Brisbane's NAB Cup win over Carlton has inspired Simon Black to get back on the field Simon Black in action at Lions training. Picture: Tim Marsden. SIMON Black may be struggling to get miles in his legs ahead of his 16th and final AFL season but the Lions great is not battling for motivation. The 33-year-old yesterday trained with Brisbane's main group for the first time this pre-season and still faces an indefinite time on the sidelines because of a nagging knee injury. But seeing Brisbane win the NAB Cup last week and mingling with his former teammates at Thursday's Three-Peat Anniversary lunch has the Norm Smith and Brownlow medallist desperate to get back on the paddock. "I'm chomping at the bit," Black said. I've definitely turned the corner with my knee in the last week so which is an encouraging sign. We are just gradually building things up with my training but we still don't know for sure when I'll be back playing. Black yesterday spent the first half of the session with the main group before running laps and icing the knee. The most decorated active player in the AFL is no chance of playing against the Western Bulldogs next Saturday at Etihad Stadium given his abbreviated training schedule following off-season surgery. He could not help but to be impressed by the nature of Brisbane's NAB Cup win and is desperate to take his place in the Lions midfield. One thing that hasn't been spoken about much was the defensive pressure we put on Carlton in the final. It was outstanding," Black said. If we want to beat these top sides we have to defend well. The boys set the benchmark against the Blues the other night. We are also showing we can attack a bit too when we get the ball which is very pleasing so I can't wait to play some footy with the boys again and be a part of it. Black also had a spring in his step after attending the Three-Peat lunch when he and 26 of his premiership teammates were feted by a 1200-strong crowd. He said the buzz around the room would inspire the current Lions team - including himself. You don't get the chance to catch up with a lot of those boys very often. The memories are fantastic," he said. Black said he saw Brisbane's resurgence coming over summer. "The last few pre-seasons, we've done a fair bit of structure and set-up stuff but this pre-season, the boys have been doing more pure footy-related things," he said. There's been a lot of game-specific drills. Lions players ran yesterday's training session at Coorparoo with the Brisbane coaching staff in a planning meeting. The hit-out featured running drills mixed in with game simulation in Brisbane's first main session since winning the NAB Cup.