Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has revealed star ballwinner Lachie Neale was battling damage and sickness through the lean interval earlier than he roared again to his greatest kind towards Collingwood.
After subdued performances within the loss to Gold Coast and their final two wins, the co-captain fired with 31 disposals and 10 clearances because the Lions claimed their sixth victory in a row over the Magpies.
Fagan performed down the importance of the prolonged successful streak as he praised changes the aspect had made since its disastrous closing quarter towards fellow flag contenders Melbourne in spherical 18.
Neale mentioned his kind had been “average” when chatting with AFL360 earlier within the week, however his coach mentioned the Brownlow medallist was being unfair to himself.
Fagan mentioned he tried to persuade Neale to have a relaxation after final week’s win towards Adelaide, however the skipper had been decided to remain on the sector.
“To be truthful, he didn’t really say it during the week when he was asked, but he’s had a bit of flu and he’s been a little bit injured as well,” Fagan mentioned.
“This week was the first time he’s been able to get out on the track and train normally, and I think he got a lot of confidence from that.
“He’s a pretty tough sort of guy, but just the season had worn him down a little bit physically.”
Fagan mentioned the overview of their dealing with of the ultimate moments towards the Demons had helped the Lions ship the five-goal closing time period which crushed Collingwood’s hopes.
“That’s the thing about your losses – they actually help you more sometimes than your wins, because you do learn a bit from them,” Fagan mentioned.
“I’m not taking any credit away from Melbourne, but we, and I, botched the last five or six minutes of that game. It was a hard lesson to learn, but a good lesson.
“When we’ve found ourselves in that situation the last four times since that game, funnily enough it’s worked out OK for us.”
Fagan mentioned Callum Ah Chee’s again damage was doubtless a “short term” challenge, whereas small ahead Lincoln McCarthy was taken out of the sport as a precaution with calf tightness, though a pressure couldn’t but be dominated out.
He was cautious of the added problem the Magpies would deliver if the 2 sides met once more in finals, as he poured chilly water over the notion the Lions are their bogey aspect regardless of the six straight wins.
“If we meet again they’ll have some good players back in, so it’ll be a tough task, but on the back of two six-day turnarounds, off a Perth trip … pretty special effort by our players,” Fagan mentioned.
“Probably the theory that you guys will come up with is we just haven’t played them at the MCG.
“That’s probably the reason, we’ve played at the Gabba more often than not – we’re hard to beat there.”
Fagan was amused by Deven Robertson’s a number of minute stint taking part in with out a guernsey through the second time period, which he wasn’t certain was authorized.
“I wasn’t sure what the rule is, to be honest … I suppose if I had the build that Deven Robertson’s got, I would be pretty happy running around for a couple of minutes with no top on,” he mentioned.
Source: www.news.com.au
