By Nick Wright
As he emphatically casts aside the injury woes that plagued his season preparations, Brisbane Lions star Eric Hipwood has denied feeling pressure to hit career-best form after Joe Daniher’s retirement.
Daniher’s departure left coach Chris Fagan’s team without a tall forward, heaping expectations on Hipwood to become a consistent force up front.
Long criticised for failing to live up to his potential – only once has he kicked more than 40 goals in a season – it was revealed Hipwood spent two months battling a groin issue en route to the grand final, before undergoing surgery in December.
Eric Hipwood played a key role for the Lions against the Western Bulldogs in Adelaide on Saturday.Credit: AFL Photos
But after being kept quiet in the season’s opening exchanges, Hipwood inspired a shock 39-point comeback against the Bulldogs on Saturday, kicking five second-half goals to double his season tally.
While the 27-year-old admits he is still searching for consistency, he said it did not stem from feeling a greater responsibility to fill Daniher’s shoes.
“What we’ve been able to show over the first five rounds is we’ve got so many avenues to goal. In two or three games, we’ve had more than 10 goal kickers,” Hipwood said.
“I understand the narrative people might want to push that there’s extra responsibility on me, but I don’t think so, my role doesn’t change too much.
“I was on a tight timeframe to get back, but that’s still no excuse – if I’m back playing, it means I’m fit, so I’ve got to fulfil my role.
“I have nine years of footy behind me, so I do have a little bit of a fitness base to fall back on, but I’m working into it.”
Brisbane’s undefeated record in 2025 will be tested against Collingwood on Thursday night. But their current ladder-leading exploits have helped create history, with the Gold Coast Suns giving Queensland’s clubs the top two spots for the first time.
In contrast, seven Melbourne-based outfits sit outside finals contention.
Hipwood, a Sunshine Coast product, recalls footy not being “quite relevant” in the rugby league heartland when he was drafted in 2015, but he wells with pride at the growth of the code since then.
The Lions’ AFLW success – featuring in six of eight grand finals – inspired a 133 per cent community participation increase in the women’s space since 2019.
Last year’s total of 64,000 players (excluding Auskick, AFL Superkick and AFL Nines) was a 17 per cent annual spike in Queensland, and narrowed rugby league’s ascendancy (approximately 70,000 club registrations).
Further success will likely trigger more growth, with Suns forward Ben King believing the club has finally found its identity after 14 years without a finals appearance.
“We’ve had patches over my career where we’ve played some good footy for a couple of games in a row, but it hasn’t felt like this, where the brand and identity of our footy is really strong,” said King, who kicked five goals against the Kangaroos.
“No doubt there will be patches throughout the year where it’s going against us. When you look at it [the Kangaroos win] from a game perspective, we felt there were patches where they had the run of play.
“Our ability to bounce back was really good, and hopefully, when there are those patches throughout the year, we’ll be able to bounce back as well.”
King will celebrate his 100th game against Richmond on Saturday, a delayed milestone after missing the 2022 campaign with a ruptured ACL.
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