Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says he’s partly guilty for the Lions’ poor end of their one-point loss to Melbourne and to not anticipate an analogous fade-out from his facet for the remainder of the season.
The Lions will on Saturday search redemption in opposition to Geelong after throwing away what appeared a sure victory over the Demons on the MCG final Friday evening.
Down by 28 factors, Melbourne staged a exceptional final-quarter comeback to kick the sport’s profitable aim with lower than 40 seconds remaining.
The loss may show extraordinarily pricey in third-placed Brisbane’s bid for a top-two end.
However, Fagan stated the teachings learnt from the defeat would show useful in the long run to his gamers and himself.
“The learnings we took were mostly (from) the last 15 minutes, (and) what we can do better in that scenario,” he stated.
“The coach is a little bit guilty there. We haven’t had a close finish for a long time, so it hasn’t been on our agenda, but we should have been probably practising that situation a little bit more at training.
“That certainly prompted us to do that. We had a good chat about those situations, and what we’d do differently, so it’s valuable learning.
“We got so much out of that game last week, except for the four points. It would have been nice to get the four points but we didn’t, but we learnt a lot about ourselves and we came away from that game feeling really confident about our brand on the MCG.”
Confidence isn’t a difficulty for the Lions on the Gabba, the place they’re unbeaten this season.
However, this weekend’s go to of the Cats will probably be one other check of the Lions’ premiership credentials, with the reigning premiers having discovered kind in latest weeks.
“They’ve had the edge on us, it would be fair to say,” Fagan stated.
“The game on (Saturday), there’s a lot riding on it. It’ll be a big occasion for a finals-like game. I’m sure both teams will be looking forward to playing it.”
Attacking weapon Zac Bailey will miss the match with a calf harm, with Fagan additionally saying Bailey was doubtful for Saturday week’s QClash in opposition to the Suns.
His absence offers the versatile Callum Ah Chee – who has simply re-signed with the Lions for 2 extra yeas – one other AFL alternative after he was concussed late in Brisbane’s 81-point thrashing of Richmond final month.
“Cal Ah Chee’s been a really solid performer for us,” Fagan stated.
“It was disappointing for him that he got that concussion the other day because he was going well, so he resumes (on Saturday) and hopefully he can play really well.”
Star low season recruit Josh Dunkley additionally returns from a calf harm, changing Jarryd Lyons in Brisbane’s 22.
Originally revealed as Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan takes a few of the blame for his facet’s failure to complete the job in opposition to Melbourne
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
