‘Good lesson’ to serve Brisbane Lions well in do-or-die battle with the Giants

The Lions feel they “don’t have a lot to lose” on Saturday night against the Giants in Sydney.

No longer having a ladder position to “protect”, the Lions have vowed to avoid falling into the same passive trap that last month proved costly against the GWS Giants when the teams meet again on Saturday night in a do-or-die finals battle.

Brisbane was on the verge of securing a top-four spot and chasing a 10th successive win when the Giants visited the Gabba on August 10.

And leading by 30 points at quarter-time, the Lions seemed well on their way to extending their streak and all but locking down a coveted double chance in the final series.

However, the Giants fought back to win by 18 points over a Brisbane team that also gave up a lead a week later to lose by a point to Collingwood.

The defeats ended Brisbane’s hopes of finishing in the top four, meaning they are being forced to walk a tightrope each week in the finals.

There's sure to be more giant moments unfold this Saturday 😤 pic.twitter.com/bt7mVxZxgg

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) September 11, 2024

“I felt like in the Collingwood game and the Giants game, we started to become too aware of where we were on the ladder and started playing to protect our spot rather than just continuing on that sort of play we had prior to that, where we just played with a bit of freedom and with a ‘see what happens attitude’,” Lions coach Chris Fagan said on Friday.

“We had a good chat about that, the players felt like that too, so we’ve cleared our heads of a little bit of that, and we’ve kept going in the other direction.

“We learnt a good lesson there. The last couple of weeks (in wins over Essendon and Carlton) we’ve been playing with enjoyment and excitement.

“We don’t feel like we’ve got a hell of a lot to lose. We came from a long way back to get into finals. so we’re going to continue to play aggressively, take the game on, put our best foot forward and see what happens.”

The Lions remain hopeful Jack Payne will play. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Fagan remained hopeful that key defender Jack Payne would recover from a knee injury he suffered in Brisbane’s 28-point elimination final win over the Blues last Saturday.

Payne trained on Thursday without a brace but with his knee still bandaged.

He ran with more freedom than he did on Tuesday as he continued his race against the clock to play at Engie Stadium this weekend.

“He did pretty well on Tuesday, so we’re very optimistic that he’ll play,” Fagan said of Payne.

“If he can do what he normally does, then he’ll play … but I know that Jack won’t tell us a few (lies) to say that he’ll play.

“He’ll make sure that he’s right to go, and our medical staff will have a real close look, and we’ve got Darragh Joyce waiting in the wings.”

The Lions are reportedly set to extend Fagan’s coaching contract to the end of the 2026 season.

“I want to coach the club for as long as the club wants me to, but in terms of having a chat about that sort of stuff, I imagine that will happen at the end of the season,” he said.