BRISBANE Lions coach Leigh Matthews was full of praise for his young side after the team's core of second- and third-year players dominated the match against St Kilda last night.

Matthews compared Michael Rischitelli — who gathered 26 hard possessions in a best-on-ground effort — to Simon Black, justifying his prediction that the kid from Keilor was a future All-Australian.

"I think Michael's capable of being in that top bracket," Matthews said. "He plays a lot like Simon Black. He works hard defensively, he chases, he tackles, he chases, he pressures, he smothers and he gets the ball. He's a good all-round player.

"You know your Black and (Jonathan) Brown and (Luke) Power have been very good players for a long time, but Rischitelli's really elevating himself; (Scott) Harding and (Marcus) Allan and (Cheynee) Stiller, guys like that.

"I guess we're all pretty thrilled that we're seeing it, rather than just talking about potential."

Others to win Matthews' eye were Irish rookie Colm Begley, playing his fourth senior game, and emerging full-back Daniel Merrett, who came to the club as a power forward but is finding his niche in the back line.

"We decided late last year that he was going to play full-back. Mal (Michael) left, so that made it easier for him to play full-back, to be honest, but we identified late last year that he was the man most likely to be the next Mal Michael-type player. He's got enormous speed, so every ball tends to be a contest."

Begley, who lined up against Robert Harvey, was anything but overawed and was a match for the ageing Saints' legendary running ability.

Matthews said: "The first time I spoke to him, he had enormous spunk and character … the fact that he comes from Ireland, he's probably not in awe of Robert Harvey because he doesn't know who he is. But he's got confidence in himself."

Matthews said Nigel Lappin was expected to return next week and would have played this weekend if not for the short turnaround between matches. Jamie Charman is also expected to return.