Lions unable to cope with Buddy barrage
IN THE wrong wrong time.
That was Brisbane’s fate at the SCG yesterday when they ran into a Swans outfit desperate to make a statement and Lance Franklin in one of those moods where he wants the ball in his hands at all times.
Franklin kicked 8.4 in the Swans’ 54- point victory to jump from 17th in the Coleman medal race to equal third.
Although it didn’t drastically change the Swans’ ladder position, it may have significantly altered perceptions about their finals credentials.
The Lions were blown away place at the by a seven- goal opening quarter from the Swans and did well to regain their composure and fight out three relatively even quarters to finish with a 20.15 ( 135) to 12.9 ( 81) loss in front of 25,619.
Aside from a freakish 70m Franklin goal that Lions coach Chris Fagan later confessed “I knew he was going to kick it,’’ the feature of the opening term was Sydney’s physicality unsettling the young Lions.
“It might have a little, it takes you a while to learn to play in that manner and a while to learn to play when another side is doing that to you,’’ Fagan said.
Sydney had been criticised for not assisting young star Callum Mills when he was targeted last week by Carlton.
They came ready to make a physical statement yesterday.
After the initial shock, the Lions stood their ground.
But they were unable scale back Sydney’s lead.
“They were obviously really fired up for the game, there was a lot of press around on the Swans this week and they responded like an experienced team would,’’ Fagan said.
“I was proud of our team after quarter time, we could have got blown out of the water but I think there was only two shots on goal difference for the last three quarters.” to