Martyn confident Lions can hit the ground running as his coaching career begins

The new Lions coach was lavish in his praise of Osborne recruit George Alexander, who looks set to get first crack at centre half forward.

GGGM will also have full forward Riley Corbett back to his best after an injury-interrupted 2020, while former Greater Western Sydney Academy goal machine Kai Watts has also signed after a stint with Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies

"George has been training fantastic. I've been super impressed and kudos to our recruiting team for getting such a great person and footballer to the team," Martyn said.

"We need blokes who have won premierships and tasted success, those guys who can lead by example."

Small forward Watts, who can also play through the midfield, is a handy crumbing option after goalsneak Louis Miller left the Lions for the AFL Barwon League.

"I've moved back down to Wagga and looking to push myself harder in footy. I spoke to a few teams in the Riverina League and Ganmain were pretty keen on having me," Watts said.

"Hopefully I'll mesh with them (Corbett and Alexander) pretty well and get to their feet when the ball comes to ground."

Martyn said he had put major focus into speeding up the Lions' ball movement and has worked them hard in the first pre-season of his two year deal.

"I've thrown a fair bit at them this pre season, but they've smashed it and taken it on the chin," he said.

"We want to move the ball a bit quicker and not be a team that just goes down the line. There'll be some structural tweaks and we want to be a really fit side and hard to play.

"We've done a lot of running and they've attacked it with enthusiasm and gone about it the right way.

After winning the club's best and fairest in his first season at the club last year, Martyn is confident he can juggle playing and coaching duties.

"'Whip' (predecessor Christin Macri) laid the foundation, hopefully I can take some of his leadership traits and apply it to how I want to coach," Martyn said.

"It's difficult because I'm trying to do everything the players are doing, and trying to explain the next drill when I'm buggered.

"We've got a really strong coaching group in Dave Rava and Mitch Fennessy, and guys like Ben Walsh and Riley Corbett who have played a lot of good level football.

"I won't coach blokes how to take a contested mark because that's not my game, I'll leave it to those guys. It's going to take a team to take us to where we need to go, not just me instructing the guys."

Martyn is also doing some coaching with the Giants' women's players based in Wagga, and helping coach the club's under-17s.

"That's been really beneficial for my coaching development, working with the guys at Wagga but also learning from Jason Saddington and the other Giants coaches," he said.

"I've been doing a bit with the boys too, getting to know the next crop of players coming through."

The Lions' were originally scheduled to play Coleambally in a practice match this weekend, but it has been cancelled.

They will be an interclub game on March 20 before they playing Osborne a week later.

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