Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan spoke to the media after the game…
Q: What did you make of that?
A: A grind, it wasn’t an easy win. They came to play. They played a system that disturbed us in the first half and we had a lot of inside 50s but we weren’t getting anything on the scoreboard, albeit we did kick a little inaccurately with the chances that we did have. I think at half-time we had, what was it, 32 inside 50s for 2.7. That’s not like us. They were getting numbers back. After half-time we equalised it a bit more and were able to get on top around the contest. Give the forwards plenty of supply and we were able to have a really effective second half.
Q: Do you feel like it’s another step in your progression? You’ve shown that you can win a couple of different ways this season.
A: You are always hoping for and trying for that. The players were able to adapt at half-time after the instructions that we gave them. So that’s a good sign.
Q: How important is it to win like that, especially when you’re winning easily, probably not easily, but winning by big margins weeks prior. How important is it for the team’s development to know they can do that when they are looking a bit flat?
A: Yeah, it was good because it felt a little bit like the Bulldogs game in game three, it had that feel about it, it was just a grind. I wondered at half-time how we would respond. I think we gave the boys some good instructions at half-time about what they needed to do. I thought we attacked the goal square more with longer kicks. As I said, we equalised the numbers a little bit more, so it was more of a contest. They weren’t able to interrupt our entries as much as they did in the first half. That made a difference. I was pretty calm at half-time. We just knew what we had to do and the boys went out and executed it, which is the great part for them.
Q: Bombers were undermanned in defence, was that an instruction to kick the ball longer and high in attack?
A: We talked about that coming into the game. We knew they lacked a bit of height. They have got a lot of injuries at the moment. There is no doubt when you’ve got Eric and Joey up there at over 200 centimetres you should be able to get some advantage. Joey got the big advantage tonight against his old team, played a terrific game, and so pleased for him he was able to do that.
Q: He was all business tonight. He has had a pretty good run the last month or so.
A: Since the Dogs game when all the world caved in on him about his performance he hasn’t played too badly. It’s not just about kicking goals though, it’s the contest he gives. He does some good stuff when he goes into the ruck as well, albeit sometimes it’s a little unusual. He just brings a lot to the table and his last five games I guess have been really good.
Q: You say it’s not just about kicking goals, but obviously his goal kicking has been problematic sometimes, but tonight he was kicking beautifully.
A: He kicked six straight or 6.1? That’s pretty good. That night he got all the criticism he kicked 0.4, still got shots away. It was good he kicked straight, made the most of his opportunities. That’s what forwards are there for. We probably didn’t get as bigger contribution from a number of players tonight with our goal kicking so it was really great that he stood up.
Q: You put Rayner straight into the centre square in the second half. Was there any thinking behind that?
A: No, we have been putting him in the centre bounces a bit over the course of the last three or four weeks since he has been back into the forward line. I thought he played well tonight Cam. I thought his power and strength around the contest was good, great to see him finish with that goal at the end because I thought he worked pretty hard during the night to create opportunities for others.
Q: I want to go back to something you said earlier about half-time. You said it was a really calm approach. Obviously the third quarter was so much better than that second. I want to get a glimpse into what that half-time was like and why this time you went for that calm approach. Whereas other times admittedly when the team’s had unperforming quarters we have seen a more upbeat kind of a approach from you?
A: Are you saying I’m fiery (laughing)?
Q: Sometimes.
A: I’m mostly calm. I must admit. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with our effort. There was a lot of statistics that said we were doing well. We were well up on inside 50s. The centre bounce was a critical battle tonight because they have been so good at scoring from centre bounces. And getting clearances from there. We broke about even. Jake Stringer wasn’t able to get a lot of clearance, which has been the pattern over the last three or four weeks. I felt like we were doing a lot of things right and we needed to stick with it. I as the coach needed to tell the players we have got to equal the numbers up a little bit more inside 50 so they couldn’t intercept as well as they were in the first half. When we were able to do. I wished I had have done that at quarter time, but took me to half-time to work it out, but we worked it out. In the end we got a good result.