LIONS ARE BETTER PREPARED FOR PRELIM PRESSURE
THE Brisbane Lions aren’t about to waste another chance to reach an AFL decider, having learnt their lesson from the club’s 2020 preliminary final loss to Geelong.
The Lions again meet the Cats on Friday night for a place in the grand final.
However, this time it’s at the MCG, unlike two years ago when the preliminary final took place at the Gabba in a season when Queensland became the adopted home of the AFL due to the ramifications of Covid-19.
With the prize of a Gabba grand final on offer, the Lions found themselves caught up in the hype and were beaten by 40 points. The pain of the disappointing performance still lingers for Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko.
“Things are probably a little bit different to what they were two years ago,” Zorko said. “Everything was in Brisbane last time, there was a lot of excitement around the city … we were talking about being only 120 minutes away from playing in a grand final.
“That hasn’t really been mentioned this week. Everyone understands the task at hand this weekend.
“That’s the maturity and the lessons we’ve learnt over our past three years and losing finals. You cannot look too far ahead.”
That “one-game-at-atime” mentality has been drilled into the Brisbane players by coach Chris Fagan, who is adamant the Lions are better prepared for the occasion.
“Losing a prelim final two years ago does teach you a few lessons,” Fagan said.
Fagan said Geelong was under similar pressure to the Lions. Since winning the flag in 2011, the Cats have played in six preliminary finals and won just of one of them.