Brisbane Lions aren’t afraid of a Richmond side that includes Dustin Martin

The Brisbane Lions are excited by the challenge of beating a Richmond team boosted by the addition of Dustin Martin.

Dustin Martin is happy about the prospect of returning for Richmond against Brisbane. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The expected return of Dustin Martin to Richmond’s line-up for Thursday night’s elimination final against Brisbane has the Lions excited, rather than daunted, by the challenge of taming the Tigers superstar.

Martin, 31, made only eight appearances for the Tigers during the regular season and hasn’t played since straining his hamstring against West Coast on July 3.

But, having completed training on Monday. Martin is set to play at the Gabba – where he starred in Richmond’s 2020 grand final win – in Thursday’s do-or-die affair.

“It’s always great to have great players back in the game,” Lions forward Lincoln McCarthy said when asked about Martin’s return.

“He’s had a long lay-off with a ‘hammy’, so we’re just excited. Finals hopefully bring out the best in teams and bring out some really good football to watch and he’s another player that the fans love to see out there.

“We just hope that he doesn’t have too good a night.”

McCarthy and the Lions needed to have as good a night as possible to progress to the second week of finals.

They take poor form into the finals series after being thrashed by 58 points in the final round of the regular season by Melbourne.

However, McCarthy was adamant the Lions could bounce back.

Eyes on the prize. pic.twitter.com/2ZYGI1ZXrS

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) August 30, 2022

“We’ve put a lot of work in on a couple of things we wanted to just tidy up and make sure we’re really confident for Thursday’s game,” he said.

“I’m personally feeling good and I think the group’s in a good space.”

McCarthy urged the Lions, who have tasted victory in just one of their six finals matches in the past three seasons, not to enter this year’s finals series with a changed mindset.

“The challenge with finals is people think that you’re playing a different game and you’ve got to be a different person,” he said.

“I’ve just going to make sure that I keep playing my role and making sure I’m there for teammates.

“You can you can hype it up a little bit more than it has to be sometimes.

“I know I’m really excited about being in finals and being able to play the best teams at this time of the year, but I’m not going to change too much.

“I just want to make sure that I’m really ready to go and I’m super motivated to be at my best (on Thursday night).

“If we lose we’re out – we’ve just got to turn up and get our job done. The more blokes that do that every quarter, the more we’re likely to get the result.”

Originally published as Brisbane Lions aren’t afraid of a Richmond side that includes Dustin Martin