Alastair Lynch: Brisbane Lions will learn from Richmond loss and can prevail in qualifying final

Sometimes losing isn’t a bad thing for a young side, and the Brisbane Lions would have learned a great deal from their Round 23 defeat to Richmond that can help them cause a finals boilover, writes Alastair Lynch.

Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt lays a tackle on Lions ruckman Stefan Martin. Picture: Getty Images

Brisbane got plenty right last start against Richmond but to advance to the preliminary final, the Lions must learn from the mistakes from their 27-point loss.

And learning from losses has been the strength of this side. The evidence of that is the way the game plan has evolved over the past 12 months.

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It was mostly about quick ball movement until the big loss to Collingwood on Easter Thursday, after which we saw them adjust and become a bit more conservative out of the back half.

They achieved that by going wider and slower around the boundary without changing their main modus operandi, which is to not over possess the footy. The key to this game is the big forwards. Richmond’s worry me.

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In Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch they have two All-Australian class key forwards and that is probably the main difference in the two teams on paper.

Theirs are older and more established, whereas Brisbane’s are young and still developing their games.

We don’t expect Eric Hipwood, Dan McStay and ruck-forward Oscar McInerney to rip the game apart like Riewoldt and Lynch are capable of doing. What they must do is play their part in stopping the Tigers from taking intercept marks.

Richmond took 16 intercept marks in the back half last time they met and that was the telling stat of the game.

This was the most conceded by Brisbane all year and the 36 points scored from these were also a season high. Their wingers dropped back to assist their defence, leaving Brisbane an extra in the midfield.

Jack Riewoldt dominated against the Lions in Round 23. Picture: Getty Images

No doubt this helped Brisbane’s dominance with clearances but it allowed the Tigers to build a seemingly impenetrable wall across half-back.

Those intercept marks pulled Brisbane’s game apart, something that has rarely happened in the second half of the season and in turn restricting the Lions’ ground level forward power.

Hipwood, McStay and McInerney have a huge role to play. They must hit every contest and at least halve it so the Tigers can’t get that rebound game going again, and I suspect Brisbane won’t allow Richmond to have an extra defender.

It will also bring Charlie Cameron, Lincoln McCarthy and Cam Rayner into the game more.

You can go right back to their Round 1 victory over reigning premiers West Coast and the way they neutralised Jeremey McGovern and Tom Barrass to see the Lions are up to the task. I’m not as worried about their scoring capacity as others.

Yes the scoring has been down over the past two weeks, but I don’t think it is entirely because oppositions have worked the Lions out and produced a plan to shut them down.

In some ways the Lions have played too safe, leaving their speed game until late against the Cats and only in small bursts against the red-hot Tigers.

Charlie Cameron tries to stop Richmond’s Dion Prestia. Picture: AAP

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The past two games have been as close to finals as it possibly gets – top-four sides and huge crowds and the games were played with September level intensity.

Finals are generally more contested, pressure is up and the scoring is down – that is what we have seen the past two weeks.

Brisbane is the No.1 attacking side in the competition and I don’t think that ability to score has suddenly deserted them.

If anything, the final two rounds of the season have been advantageous for the Lions as they have provided a perfect introduction on what to expect in the coming weeks.

They learnt enough last week without being damaged and they saw first-hand that the best team in the competition is not that far off.

The major lesson coach Chris Fagan would have learnt and passed on to his players is restricting Richmond’s intercept game and knowing when to get speed into the game.

They won’t allow players like Nick Vlaustin to continually mark the ball in their own attacking half. You may even see a player, maybe Rayner, play a defensive role on him.

It is a big game for the coach as well. He’s been around finals a lot but never as a senior coach in the AFL.

For he and many of his team, it’s a step up to finals for the first time that they crave and richly deserve.

Originally published as Alastair Lynch: Brisbane Lions will learn from Richmond loss and can prevail in qualifying final