Fagan’s Plan B should be fine

TURNS out Harris Andrews’ suspension may not be so costly for Brisbane after all.

The key defender will miss tomorrow’s big clash with Hawthorn in Launceston after copping a one-game ban for striking North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey in the Lions’ victory over the Kangaroos at the Gabba last weekend.

Lions coach Chris Fagan has turned to Josh Walker to replace Andrews in the Lions’ backline as his team aims to stretch its winning run to six straight matches.

Fagan says recent history would also suggest the secondplaced Lions will do just fine without their key tall defender.

“Harris pointed out to me the other night he’s missed six games over the last 18 months and five of them we’ve won. So it’s actually a good sign for us,” Fagan said.

“No, I’m joking, but the thing is you’re going to have good players out from time to time.

“We had it a few weeks ago against Port Adelaide. We didn’t have [Luke] Hodge, we didn’t have [Hugh] McCluggage, we didn’t have [Eric] Hipwood.

“But we were able to go over there and everybody played their role and we were able to come away with a good result. “This week is no different. We’ve got our No.1 tall defender out, but Josh Walker will come into the side and play that role.”

With no fear of the 22-yearold copping a longer ban, the Lions unsuccessfully challenged Andrews’ charge at the tribunal on Tuesday night.

The defender’s admission he heard Larkey’s teeth “clatter” as a result of the hit probably did him no favours, but Fagan accepted both the ruling and Andrews’ honesty.

“I understand why he got a week,” Fagan said.

“He knew he made contact but he just wanted to make sure the guy was all right. He told what happened.

“What else can you do? You can’t lie about it, you can only tell the truth. I know, the person that he is, it was a complete accident.”