Lions ruckman Oscar McInerney says the Brisbane midfield should take duty for the “momentum” swings haunting his staff.
The Lions had been blown out of the water in spherical 1 by a Port Adelaide facet that ran wild within the third quarter wherein Brisbane was outscored 52-8.
Similar spells final season from spherical 10 onwards wherein opponents in seven matches went on a scoring spree with little or no resistance from Brisbane had been additionally a trigger for concern.
“Momentum’s a powerful thing in footy these days.” McInerney stated.
“We can see so many goal swings in games these days, so it’s how you’ll be able to stop that and how you can shift it.
“As a midfield group we’ve got to be take responsibility for that and the working together in our lines.
“We’ve got to come together … slow that momentum and get that momentum back on our terms as well.”
Winning possession from the centre bounce can stem a facet’s momentum, and McInerney faces arguably his hardest rucking project of the season on the Gabba on Friday night time when he takes on the may of Melbourne huge males Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy.
“They’ve really set the mould for ruckmen the way they get it in the air and then on the ground – it’s first class,” the Lions large stated.
“We’ll have to pull that apart and see how we’re going to defend that.
“What an opportunity to take on two of the best in probably the last 10 years. They’ve been absolutely incredible.”
Lions legend Jonathan Brown stated Brisbane ought to take confidence from its win over the Demons on the MCG in final yr’s finals collection.
“That’s recent history and I’m sure (coach) Chris Fagan would this week be reminding his players of that performance,” the ex-Lions captain stated.
However, Brown stated the Lions needed to be taught to cease groups scoring bunches of objectives in fast instances towards them.
“They have to get their hands on the footy. They need to stop that run-on teams are getting, and that comes from leadership and better defensive strategies across the board,” he stated.
Brown stated it could be harmful to have a “kneejerk” response to the Lions’ poor efficiency towards Port.
“That type of game can happen sometimes after a really good pre-season. You’ve also got to remember that Adelaide Oval is a hard place for visiting teams to win,” he stated.
But the triple-premiership winner admitted the Lions wanted to “get cracking”.
“It’s a huge challenge against the Demons, but they’ve got to have the belief that they can do it,” Brown stated.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
