Brisbane Lions intent on finding form and composure ahead of AFL finals series
The sliding Brisbane Lions are seeking to regain their mental edge before it’s too late.
AFL
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The Lions will lean on the big-game experience of Richmond legend Trent Cotchin and Boomers great Phil Smyth in a bid to find some much-needed composure ahead of the AFL finals series.
Brisbane has blown significant leads in their past two matches, with losses to the GWS Giants and Collingwood likely to cost the team a spot in the top four and a double chance in the finals.
With one round of the regular season remaining, the Lions are in fifth spot on the ladder.
To finish in the top four, they must defeat Essendon at the Gabba on Saturday night and rely on the lowly West Coast Eagles causing an upset by beating Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
Even if the Eagles lose to the Cats, Brisbane will still want to secure a win over the Bombers – who will only be playing for pride – to secure a home game in the first week of next month’s finals series.
“They’ve challenged some really good sides this year, and they’ve played good footy,” Lions vice-captain Hugh McCluggage said of Essendon.
“We know that they’re going to be really dangerous. They’ve got a great midfield. It’s another good battle for our midfield and a great test for us leading into hopefully what is a finals campaign for us.
“This year, in particular, it’s such a close competition that any side (in the top eight) really can win it, and we’re just focused on making sure that we play our best footy this week, and hopefully that can carry over into the weeks to come.”
To play their “best footy” for an entire match has been the Lions’ problem in the past two weeks.
Blowing a 17-point lead late in final quarter of their one-point weekend loss to Collingwood at the MCG was particular alarming, with the mental aspect required to win such close games to be worked on this week.
McCluggage said he and his teammates would be “silly” not to tap into the expertise available to them in that area, including three-time premiership-winning captain Cotchin, who mentors Brisbane’s leadership group, and Smyth, a six-time NBL title winner – three as a player and three as a coach – who also works for the Lions in a mentoring role.
“We’ve got plenty of resources here. We’ve got Phil Smyth walking around and ‘Cotch’ as well … guys that have been in big moments, having played professional sport themselves and are trained in the area,” he said.
“When you’ve got such experienced, great sportspeople and great people in general around your organisation, then it’d be silly not to dive into their knowledge and have those conversations with them.
“It’s up to each person to go to them and source out the information that they need to make sure that when the pressure is on, they’re able to perform at their best.
“We don’t want to dramatise things and go searching for things just because we’ve had a couple of bad weeks, but … it might just be a few little conversations where you get a couple of bits of gold that might help you when you are in those in those pressure situations.”
Lions midfielder Jarrod Berry, who injured his hamstring in the loss to the Magpies, trained lightly on Tuesday, with a decision still to be made on whether he plays on Saturday night.
Originally published as Brisbane Lions intent on finding form and composure ahead of AFL finals series
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