NICK Maxwell and Daniel Merrett are quick, Tim Notting and Paul Licuria cover lots of ground, and you don't want to be hit by Jamie Charman.

These were some of the lessons learned and confirmed as Channel Ten unveiled its newest toy — Global Positioning System vests — during last night's telecast of the Brisbane Lions' win over Collingwood.

Data fed live to the broadcaster revealed Collingwood forward Maxwell reached a fastest speed of 30.2 km/h during the first half, and that Lions full-back Merrett was not far behind, reaching 30 km/h while no doubt chasing an Anthony Rocca lead.

Ruckman Charman collided 144 times with other players in the first half, with one collision measured at a g-force of 9.2. The maximum is 10.

The players who agreed to be fitted with the radio transmitters — Magpies Licuria, Maxwell, Harry O'Brien and Guy Richards, and Lions Charman, Notting, Merrett, Jed Adcock and Robbie Copeland — ran at a jog for about 70 per cent of the time.

Notting covered 6.21 kilometres in the opening half — more than four in the second quarter — as the Lions rushed to a 54-point lead. Copeland was the next hardest worker, notching 5.6 kilometres.

The pace of the match and Brisbane's dominance allowed few breaks in which to showcase such information as heart-rates and average speeds.

After 15 minutes, the TV audience was informed that Maxwell had an average speed of 5.5 km/h. Essendon conditioning coach John Quinn, hired to comment on the GPS displays, informed viewers that Olympic sprinters can hit speeds of more than 40 km/h.

With four minutes of the first quarter remaining, the focus fell on Charman, a graphic displaying his "impact index" at 7.4. That this figure's meaning was lost in a blizzard of terms such as g-force, direction change, acceleration and deceleration left more than a few observers none the wiser.

As the Lions romped to a 39-point lead at the first break, one commentator quipped: "I wouldn't mind seeing a heart-rate reading on Mick Malthouse right now."