Josh Drummond Biography

Ex-Brisbane Lion Josh Drummond has joined North Melbourne as a development coach.

"When I first pulled the pin on playing I came down to see [North medical services director] Steve Saunders who is a bit of a hip guru," Drummond said.

"I came to get a bit of closure on where I was at and whether there was anything worth salvaging from a playing point of view. Once we came to the agreement that there probably wasn't much to do, we spoke about the coaching thing.

"It's really exciting to be down here and get stuck into it."

Lion Josh Drummond has retired, saying he can't put his body through another season.

"It's a tough decision because I love footy so much and I love being a part of the Brisbane Lions, but I had to accept that I just can't do it any more," Drummond said.

"I didn't want to be a burden on the club and I had to start thinking about life after football. 



"I would have loved to play on because I sense the club is on the verge of some really exciting times, but I would have been asking too much of my body to try to go through it all again."

Brisbane Lions backman says his side can cope in the back half with regular full-back Daniel Merrett re-assigned to the forward line.

"It's very easy to look from the side and say 'Rodge' should be playing back but the guys down there, our backline, have held up reasonably well so far this year so it's given us that ability to play 'Rodge' in a different role," Drummond said.

"I know he loves being back there, and as a fellow defender it's great having him back down there. I guess it'll come down to match-ups and where it's best to use him week by week."

Josh Drummond will miss the opening round of the season after taking longer than expected to recover from a hip operation.

"It's probably unrealistic to think Josh will be available for round one," Lions coach Michael Voss said.

"He's had a fairly big surgery so we've got to go slow with him. His ball use is second to none, we know how valuable he is for us. We want to get him out there."

After two seasons blighted by injury, Brisbane Lions defender Josh Drummond is expected to be ready for round one.

"In the early part of my career I had a lot of soft tissue injuries and things that kept popping up and I did a lot of work to get stronger and get resilient enough to handle an AFL season," Drummond said.

"So to get freak accidents like the knee that you can't predict was definitely frustrating, but I feel a lot stronger this pre-season. I've been able to get really strong and I think it'll help me the next couple of years."

Brisbane Lions defender Josh Drummond has been sidelined by yet another injury and will undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

"It wasn't anything too serious and I was initially keen to just play through it. But after speaking with our Club doctors, physios, and medical staff, they saw it as too big of a risk going forward and suggested I get it cleaned up," Drummond said.

"It's definitely frustrating, particularly as I was just getting used to playing senior footy again and building my match fitness."

Brisbane Lions defender Josh Drummond will sign a new contract on his return from China, saying he had no intention of leaving.

"I never wanted to go anywhere else and I wanted to stay at Brisbane because I love the footy club," he said.

"So rather than keep getting asked the same question it'll be good to sign and then I can concentrate on footy and the pre-season and not have to worry about answering that question again."

Brisbane Lions defender Josh Drummond has had radical LARS surgery on his damaged anterior cruciate ligament.

The Brisbane Lions will be missing five key players in their elimination final against Carlton.

Daniel Merrett (hamstring), Daniel Bradshaw (quad) and Jed Adcock (knee) will all be sidelined for at least another week, and are likely to be joined by Simon Black (hamstring) and Josh Drummond (quad) who were injured in their final regular season match against the Swans.

''All those players are probably registered down as 'test' but are fairly likely to be unlikely to play, so we've got to plan ahead without them there,'' Lions coach Michael Voss said.

''Normally I'd sit here and say they're 50:50 but they're probably less than that so there's no real point dragging out that process any longer than we need to. If they come up then good, but we're not expecting them to.''

Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss says Josh Drummond is carrying an injury but won't reveal details.

Josh Drummond has been ruled out of Saturday's clash with Port Adelaide as he recovers from a calf injury.

"You've got to be very careful with injuries now, particularly with soft-tissue injuries," Brisbane assistant coach Justin Leppitsch said today.

"We're very mindful with him, he's got a bit of a history with ongoing injury, so we've just got to manage him very carefully."

The Brisbane Lions will decide on Thursday whether to take a punt on injured defensive lynchpin Josh Drummond against Melbourne at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Drummond's strained calf was set to undergo a rigorous workout in the Lions' main hit-out for the week, an intensive closed session on Wednesday night at the Gabba.

"We pick our best side week in, week out and if Drummo is fit and we believe he can play his percentage of game time, we've got to pick the best side," Lions assistant coach Adrian Fletcher said.

Josh Drummond has been ruled out of Brisbane's next clash with Hawthorn, worsening the Lions' defensive injury crisis.

The Brisbane Lions have the depth to cover a defence further depleted by another injury, says ruckman Mitch Clark.

Rebounding half-back Drummond suffered a calf injury in the first quarter of Saturday night's six-point loss against Carlton and did not return to the field.

"You always want Drummo in your side," he said.

"He's a great kick, probably one of the best kicks going around a the moment so he provides a lot of that drive, but hopefully the boys can pick up the slack in that sort of area if Drummo misses."

Lions defender Josh Drummond says winning the contested ball will be crucial when his side plays Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Sunday.

"It's a great test to go to Geelong and play probably the best team for the past couple of years," Drummond said.

"The contested footy is going to be crucial and we probably have to nullify their ball winners.

"But you can worry about them all you want and all their stars but it's going to come down to us."