Lions intent on not blowing another shot at grand final

When the Lions last met Geelong in a prelim, they took their grand final opportunity “for granted” and have promised not to make the same mistake twice.

Lions coach Chris Fagan has Brisbane primed for the preliminary final. Picture: Albert Perez / Getty Images

The Brisbane Lions aren’t about to waste another chance to reach an AFL decider, having learnt their lesson from the club’s 2020 preliminary final loss to Geelong.

The Lions again meet the Cats on Friday night for a place in the grand final.

However, this time it’s at the MCG, unlike two years ago when the preliminary final took place at the Gabba in a season when Queensland became the adopted home of the AFL due to the ramifications of Covid-19.

With the prize of a Gabba grand final on offer, the Lions found themselves caught up in the hype and were beaten by 40 points.

The pain of the disappointing performance still lingers for Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko.

“Things are probably a little bit different to what they were two years ago,” Zorko said.

“Everything was in Brisbane last time, there was a lot of excitement around the city … we were talking about being only 120 minutes away from playing in a grand final.

“That hasn’t really been mentioned this week. Everyone understands the task at hand this weekend.

“That’s the maturity and the lessons we’ve learnt over our past three years and losing finals. You cannot look too far ahead.”

That “one-game-at-a-time” mentality has been drilled into the Brisbane players by coach Chris Fagan, who is adamant the Lions are better prepared for the occasion of a preliminary final than they were two years ago.

Final preparations 😤 pic.twitter.com/NcXzUCpfnM

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) September 15, 2022

“Losing a prelim final two years ago does teach you a few lessons,” Fagan said.

“Maybe because it was the first prelim we’d been in (since 2004), the players did get caught in thinking about the grand final, or they didn’t appreciate fully the opportunity that they were so close (to the decider).

“They’ve talked about that a little bit this week, almost that they took it a little bit for granted, that next step, (we thought) that maybe it’s a little easier than we think.

“But I think they appreciate now that these prelim finals are hard to get to, so what you’ve got to try to do is when you get to them, make the most of them.

“That doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win, but the mindset’s certainly different this time around.

“They won’t be assuming that preliminary finals are going to turn up every year and you’re going to get the opportunity to play in them. You’ve got to take your opportunities when they come.”

Fagan said Geelong was under similar pressure to the Lions.

Since winning the flag in 2011, the Cats have played in six preliminary finals and won just of one of them.

“They’re the benchmark for all clubs in the consistency of their performances,” Fagan said of the Chris Scott-coached team.

“Why we’ve become rivals is because we’re both at the same point. We’re chasing the same thing as a football club.

“They’ve played in a lot of finals over the last few years and haven’t been able to win a flag and so have we, so the stakes are high.”

Originally published as Lions intent on not blowing another shot at grand final