Brisbane Lions AFL: Kings of turnover the blueprint to success for Chris Fagan’s men
Brisbane has morphed into the best turnover team in the AFL and it’s a blueprint that has produced nine of the past 10 premiers. Here’s how the Lions are roaring back into contention.
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After a horror show against Hawthorn it would have been easy for Chris Fagan to throw the baby out with the bathwater searching for answers during Brisbane’s bye week.
Instead the coach reiterated what it was the Lions were doing well – and on the basis of last Friday’s performance against the Western Bulldog, that blueprint could catapult them back into finals contention.
In the face of questions over his coaching philosophy, Fagan ignored the noise and stuck fat with the mantra of building his players up, rather than knocking them down.
“What I pointed out to the players in the break was ... you’re doing a lot right boys, let’s just keep working away at this aspect of our game and it will help us enormously,” Fagan revealed.
“It’s not the profile of a team sitting 13th or 14th on the ladder. Hopefully we can build on (the Bulldogs win) and keep going.”
For years one of the chief whipping boys at Brisbane, Eric Hipwood produced a career-best six-goal game to rip the heart out of the Bulldogs and keep the Lions’ season alive.
Fagan has at times come under scrutiny for staying true to his stars regardless of form, but he was rewarded in spades by Hipwood who had an extra point to prove after missing the Hawks defeat through suspension.
He was one of many players who stood tall when club and coach needed them to the most.
The Lions’ season still hangs on a knife’s edge at 5-6-1 – a win-and-a-half outside the top eight. But the tension has eased ever so slightly after the 43-point thumping of the dangerous Dogs.
Adding to the optimism, superstar midfielder Hugh McCluggage has re-signed on a lucrative seven-year deal and great mate Jarrod Berry is expected to follow his lead and extend in coming weeks.
Young gun Will Ashcroft is due back from an ACL injury next month and if the Lions can stay in touching distance of the top eight, he will prove a welcome inclusion to a side that has shown its best is still good enough to match any in the competition.
Brisbane’s Achilles heel at the start of the season was an obvious inability to cash in on the territory dominance that has become a staple of the Lions under Fagan.
Despite dominating clearance and inside 50 differential, the Lions were still being beaten – by their own inefficiency as much as the opposition.
But over the past six weeks they have completely flipped the script and built a profile that better resembles the side that came within a kick of winning the flag last season.
Since round eight, Brisbane is the No. 1 scoring team in the AFL and ranks second in both scores per inside 50 and shot at goal accuracy.
It’s a far-cry from the first eight weeks of the season when they rated among the worst in the competition at all three areas.
But what will please Fagan the most is Brisbane’s dominance in one of the most important areas of modern footy: turnover.
Over the past six weeks, the Lions are the No. 1 team at converting a turnover into a score. They are also the best at defending against opposition turnovers. They are night and day the best turnover differential team in the AFL at the moment.
| Kings of Turnover - Rounds 8-13 | ||
| For | Against | |
| Points from Turnovers | 1st | 1st |
| Lions’ Front-Half Fix | ||
| Rounds 0-7 | Rounds 8-13 | |
| Points For | 13th | 1st |
| Score per Inside 50 | 16th | 2nd |
| Shot at Goal Accuracy | 16th | 2nd |
Nine of the past 10 premiers have ranked among the top six in scores from turnover differential. The 2016 Western Bulldogs were the outlier, ranking seventh in that area.
The Lions have left themselves a mountain to climb after their slow start to the season. The next month will be pivotal, with three games at the Gabba and a trip to South Australia to play Port Adelaide on the slate.
But with a little luck, this is a blueprint they can ride all the way to September.
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