Sitting in 13th position and wounded on the back of a nine-goal defeat to a rampant GWS, the Brisbane Lions’ season is ‘hanging by a thread’ – despite their admirable track record when it comes to making finals.
Beaten comprehensively in every single stat line bar centre clearances last Friday night, the Lions look to have been found out by the top echelon of teams in 2024, with fears their premiership window is closing fast.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack, St Kilda champion Leigh Montagna pulled no punches on where he says Chris Fagan’s side sits after Round 7.
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“At 2-5, I think their season is hanging by a thread; that’s fair to say – you have to go back to 1997 with St Kilda for a team as low as where they are at Round 7 to make a Grand Final,” Montagna opened by saying.
“My concern with Brisbane is, if you don’t evolve and you stand still – you’re going backwards.
“It’s noble and understandable for Chris Fagan to continue to be loyal to the same players and the system that’s got them to the point where they’ve been for the last five years.”
To further Montagna’s point, there were 13 players who played in both Friday night’s match against GWS and their 2020 preliminary final against Geelong nearly four years ago.
That number increases to 15 when you include the injured Oscar McInerney and Zac Bailey, who would have played against the Giants had it not been for their injuries.
Their evolution and reluctancy to blood their club’s young talent may be slowly coming back to bite them.
The Lions have had just two debutants in the last two years; the least of any team in the competition.
Additionally, Chris Fagan has only picked 28 players so far this year, which is also the least of any of the 18 teams in the competition.
“At some point, you also need to be realistic about where you are now – and that’s where I think they need to seriously start questioning some of the players, and some of the system that has got them to that point in previous years,” Montagna continued by saying.
“From the evidence we have seen so far, it’s not going to stack up – I’m just worried that if they continue to not evolve, that they are getting stuck in the past.”
Despite their grim start to 2024, not all hope should be lost for Brisbane fans, with their lead in to the mid-season bye and beyond looked upon as favourable.
“Their next six weeks are all very winnable; they could win their next six games – and they can do that on talent,” Montagna said.
The Lions play Gold Coast, Richmond and St Kilda at home in the six-week period, while matches against Adelaide, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs are all matches the Lions could go in as favourites.
“It’s not completely broken, don’t get me wrong,” Montagna said of Brisbane’s season so far.
“They need a facelift; they need to freshen up what they’ve been doing.
“I think they need to evolve their style; I think they need to look at the personnel (in these
next six weeks).”
When asked by fellow First Crack panellist and two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King on what changes the Lions should make, Montagna mentioned their lack of debutants, before discussing their forward structure and ball movement.
“If they just continue to do the same things, they might get the wins, but then what happens towards the back end of the year?”
“I don’t think the three talls is working – I don’t think the ‘Darcy Gardiner experiment’ in the forward line has helped either their forward line issues or (Eric) Hipwood and (Joe) Daniher.
“I think they need to be more aggressive with their ball movement, so they need to go through the corridor a bit more… just some subtle changes, but a bit of a facelift.”
The Lions currently sit 16th in the competition for scores per entry, 13th for turnover differential and ninth for points off clearance differential – three key metrics for helping determine where clubs sit in the scheme of the competition.
Chris Fagan and his side will have their first chance to respond with authority next Sunday night against Gold Coast, in the 26th rendition of the ‘Q-Clash’ – a rivalry Brisbane have won 18 times in the 25 clashes to date.
The Lions have won nine of their last 10 matches against the Suns, with their only loss since 2018 coming in Round 20 last year – a 41-point loss away at People First Stadium.
