Lions aim to lessen the focus on Jonathan Brown A refreshed Jonathan Brown was an enthusiastic trainer this week as Brisbane prepares to play Collingwood tonight. Picture: Peter Wallis Source: The Australian JONATHAN Brown's altruistic desire to leave his club better placed than when he joined it was always going to be problematic. A September campaign in his first season at Brisbane and then three straight premierships made it almost inevitable in this era of equalisation that the Lions would endure many barren winters at a time when Brown was reaching full maturity. Yet, as he said yesterday, his enthusiasm has not been dulled by years in which Brisbane's fortunes rested largely on whether he could get his frame on to the park. Importantly, he sees a brighter future at Brisbane now and is hopeful that by the time he bows out, the Lions will again be a finals fixture. "At this stage of your career you're really only focusing on team success," he said. I've been fortunate enough to feel what team success is like, and you'd love to get that feeling again. I'm really excited by where the group's going and as long as we keep improving and I can keep contributing, I'll be enjoying my footy, which is the main thing. Arriving in Melbourne yesterday for tonight's NAB Cup match against Collingwood, with the winner to progress to next week's grand final, Brown is still a formidable figure, even if he is now 31 and playing "year by year." The gaze seemed defiant, his jaw made of steel. Considering the number of plates Brown has had surgically inserted in a face that has been smashed to bits on more than one occasion, it probably is. With Brown now at an age where his predecessors as champion centre half-forward of the game, namely Dermott Brereton and Wayne Carey, were well past their best, this season shapes as an intriguing year. His coach, Michael Voss, said a primary focus this week was to lessen the focus on Brown. "One of the things that we are hell-bent on is that we don't become reliant on Brownie," Voss said. We have to make sure we have five to six guys who demand attention. We need to put a structure around him to make sure he does not become the single focus - if he does we have almost gone backwards as a group. But over the last 18 months we have been able to build a group that we hope will kick multiple goals in multiple ways and we hope Brownie gets into better form because of that. The opposition agrees, with Collingwood's strategist and former Bulldogs and Sydney coach Rodney Eade quoted this week as saying that the days of the belief that "no Jonathan Brown meant no Brisbane" were dead and buried. For his part, Brown feels in rude health before his first hit-out for the year. As folklore will record, even a taxi came off second-best when a collision with Brown sent the Lion flying off his bike during a pre-season ride. Brisbane made the deliberate decision to ease his workload before Christmas and then focus on a solid training block in January and last month before exposing Brown to the fray. As a result, he feels as fit as he has in recent years. "The game gets harder and harder every year, but it's very enjoyable," Brown said. No doubt it takes a fair bit longer to recover these days at the end of the season but I feel freshened up and rejuvenated. How long that lasts into the season I'm not sure, but the way they've managed me throughout this pre-season has put me in really good shape.