Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has a warning for rival AFL teams hoping to intimidate emerging star Will Ashcroft with rough-house tactics, saying “it doesn’t work”.

Father-son pick Ashcroft will make his AFL debut on Saturday in Brisbane’s season-opener against Port Adelaide.

Fagan had no hesitation choosing Aschroft, the son of Lions triple premiership-winning player Marcus Ashcroft, following impressive pre-season form.

The manner in which Ashcroft handled being targeted in trial wins over the Sydney Swans and Geelong – last season’s two grand final teams – also stood out.

“He’s not the only one they’ll come after, but I think what we’ve seen in the pre-season is it doesn’t work, so good luck to them,” Fagan said.

“I expect that he’ll take his transition into AFL footy in his stride.

“He lives well with his reputation, and the bottom line with him is he’s a level-headed lad who works really hard on his football.”

Ashcroft will be part of a star-studded Lions midfield at Adelaide Oval, with another of Brisbane’s prized off-season recruits, ex-Western Bulldog Josh Dunkley, also expected to shine – and cop his fair share of attention.

“He cops that because he goes in hard,” Fagan said of Dunkley.

“They’re mostly self-inflicted. That’s the way he plays, which is good.”

Fagan was more than comfortable with the team he had chosen for Saturday’s match.

“A lot of guys have been in good form, but we had some solid form against the Swans and Geelong with pretty much the same team each week, and those guys are all available this week, so they make up the bulk of the team,” he said.

The Lions’ good pre-season form meant there was no need to rush back former captain Dayne Zorko from a hamstring injury.

“Probably if we were really desperate we would have played him this weekend, but we just want to make sure he’s right,” Fagan said.

“He’s in career-best condition. I’ve never seen him look so fit, so hopefully when he coms back he can make an impact.”

Fagan also confirmed that the versatile Cameron Rayner would spend his fair share of time in Brisbane’s defence despite being named in the Lions’ forwards for the battle with Port.

“You’ve got to be careful when you look at teams in the paper, they’re not always truthful – that’s for every team.

“We know we can play Cam at either end, so we’ll give that a bit more thought.

“There’s still a bit more to learn for him as a backline player, but I guess what we’ve seen is encouraging.

“We think he’s got the capacity to develop into a good player back there, but he’s not there yet.”

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