Lions will need to be fiercer
BRISBANE coach Chris Fagan has pored through footage of old games to find the reason why its recent AFL record against North Melbourne is so bad.
The answer was obvious — contested ball.
Only twice in their last 11 meetings have the Lions managed to beat the Kangaroos, who remain in finals contention after last week’s upset win over West Coast.
The five most recent clashes have gone North’s way by an average of 59 points.
“We’ve had a good close look at it,” Fagan said yesterday. “The bottom line is on most occasions they’ve been able to beat us at contested ball and beat us at clearances … and got the ball into their dangerous forwards and scored heavily against us.
“That’s the thing we have to address, as it is in most games — you’re always trying to win that battle.
“We’ve got to come out and be a lot fiercer around the contest than we have been in those particular games. If we can be, we’ll be way more competitive than we have been.”
Aside from their own desire to right that historical wrong against the 10th-placed Kangaroos, the Lions can put a big dent in their finals ambitions if they are able to win Saturday’s clash at the Gabba.
North’s last four games are all against teams outside the top eight, meaning they need to win them all and hope for one of the sides above them to slip up to give themselves the best possible chance of playing finals.
Coach Brad Scott has made only one change to the team that surprised the Eagles by 40 points last week, with key forward Jarrad Waite recovering from a calf injury for his first match in a month.
Fagan, meanwhile, has handed a debut to 18-year-old on-baller Brandon Starcevich, the nephew of former Brisbane Bears player and current Lions AFLW coach Craig Starcevich.
“We’re still in the business of developing our team and he’s been in good form over the last couple of weeks in the NEAFL and he is a strongbodied player,” Fagan said.
The Lions have lost their last two games after a previous run of three wins in a row.
In other news, four-time AFL premiership coach Alastair Clarkson is committed to Hawthorn but says discussions on a contract extension remain preliminary.
Clarkson is out of contract at the end of 2019 but has brought forward discussions on a new deal that could keep him at the club until 2022.
“I’m invested in this group of players and the club in terms of our next immediate phase … what actual time frame and tenure that attaches to my contract is immaterial, really,” Clarkson said.