British and Irish Lions assistant coach Andrew Goodman enjoying company of brother and Western Force GM Chris

It will be a family affair for British and Irish Lions assistant coach Andrew Goodman on Saturday when he plots a path to success against Western Force at Optus Stadium. Goodman is the brother of Force general manager of rugby Chris Goodman, who has risen up the ranks of the Force over the past five years. And while Goodman’s work with the Lions ahead of their first game in Australia in 12 years comes first, he said catching up with his brother had been a wonderful start to their nine-game tour. “It’s been great to catch up with him and his family, and I’ve got my older brother over from Seoul as well, so it’s a bit of a family occasion for us,” he said. “My nephews were asking who they reckon grandma is going to be supporting — I’d say she’d have both (colours) on Saturday.” It is not the first time Goodman has come up against the Force, with Goodman entrusted to help out with an Emerging Ireland side against his brother’s team on last year’s spring tour of South Africa. “I obviously keep a good eye on the Force, because I’m wanting them to do well during the Super Rugby season,” he said. “The Force came over and played a tournament in South Africa recently, I was helping out with Emerging Ireland, so we had a little battle there. “This will be the second one in a number of months; there’s always some good banter that goes on.” In terms of the game itself, Goodman denied the knock Irish full-back Hugo Keenan was carrying put pressure on their options for the 15 jersey. “We’ve got pretty good versatility there, Marcus (Smith) was there on the weekend, we’ve got Elliot Daly who’s played a lot of full-back,” he said. “Mack Hansen has played a number of times there for Connacht and even covered there for Ireland, so there’s plenty of guys that we feel comfortable to put in full-back. “It’s part of a Lions squad, having that versatility, where guys can fill in.”