Defeat to drive Brisbane revenge
Robinson reveals devastation of missing grand final
BRISBANE Lions star Mitch Robinson has opened up about the depressing days after the club’s preliminary finals loss and how it is fuelling the flame for next season.
The Lions finished the regular season with a 14-3 winloss record to end up second on the ladder.
They then went on to defeat Richmond in a historic clash before losing to Geelong in the preliminary final at the Gabba.
The result meant they missed out on a Gabba grand final berth — an event that was described as “once in a lifetime”.
However, Robinson said the “sour taste” from the 40point loss was the Lions’ motivating factor as they prepared for 2021.
“In terms of the season in its totality, it was a great year for us, but, unfortunately, we didn’t get to where we wanted to go which was the big dance,” he said.
“That put a bit of a sour taste in our mouth, similar to last year. We’ll use that as motivation for next year.”
The 31-year-old midfielder — who was this week promoting the recent release of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands — reflected on the days immediately following the preliminary final loss.
He said the devastation was made even harder because of the COVID and travel restrictions in place at the time.
“It was a different feeling this year because we couldn’t do too much in regards to activities during the week, such as Mad Monday,” he said.
“We got together as a group after the game with all the families and friends and staff, and we just reflected a little bit and then moved on.
“We couldn’t do too much else. It left a sour taste and it was a little bit devastating the way we went out, because we thought we had a pretty good game plan.
“It was a little bit depressing, I’m not going to lie, after that game, but we just had to regroup.”
The squad will not start preseason until next month to cater for the challenging 2020 season, however several of the Lions players have already caught up to train.
Robinson has also turned to his other passion — video games — during the off-season to take his mind away from footy.
“I’ve just been chilling at home with the kids and playing video games in my down time,” he said.