After making a expensive “mistake” in a shock loss to the Gold Coast Suns two weeks in the past, Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has demanded his gamers convey a finals-type depth into Saturday’s Gabba conflict in opposition to Adelaide and each sport going ahead to flex their premiership muscle.
Convincingly outgunned by the Suns final month in a shock QClash loss, the Lions responded by beating a determined Fremantle facet by three factors in Perth final Sunday.
Brisbane’s win within the west ended the Dockers’ faint hopes of enjoying finals soccer, and the third-placed Lions can once more harm one other facet’s possibilities of ending within the prime eight by beating the Crows.
“It is like every game’s a final, and that’s the mistake we made against the Gold Coast,” Brisbane coach Chris Fagan mentioned.
“We underestimated how desperate they were to keep their finals’ hopes alive, and they went the journey in that game, and we didn’t quite, but I thought we learnt a lesson from that in the Fremantle game last week.
“They challenged us, they bought their best, not just their best footy, but their best effort, and we were able to be resilient enough to stay in the fight and win that game.
“We get another opportunity to put that into practice this week with Adelaide, who are only four points out of the top eight, and they’ve built a really good percentage, so they know they’re a real live chance.
“We know it’s going to be a finals-like game this week. We know what’s coming. The last few weeks have prepared us well.”
The Crows will take confidence into the competition, having crushed the Lions by 17 factors at Adelaide Oval in May.
“It was an interesting game. It was a game that we could have easily won,” Fagan mentioned.
“We had (three) more shots on goal. If you look at all the key performance indicators … we did particularly well. We just didn’t complete our work that night.
“There were lots of things that we did that were right that we want to do again. We just want to finish off our work a little bit better.
“They were just a bit better at turning their inside 50s into scores.”
Fagan anticipated Oscar McInerney to return this weekend after the towering ruckman missed the journey to Perth due to an ankle harm.
McInerney’s inclusion is ready to come back on the expense of the unfortunate Darcy Fort, who greater than held his personal in opposition to the Dockers.
“(McInerney) has been our No.1 ruckman all year, but if he’s not right, we’re fortunate enough to have Darcy Fort because he’s a really good player as well,” Fagan mentioned.
Half-back Keidean Coleman will miss one other match with a watch harm.
Originally printed as Brisbane Lions vow to convey finals-like depth to each sport after shock loss
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
