Lions midfield ready to lift in Neale’s absence
Oliver Caffrey |
Brisbane star Josh Dunkley insists the Lions have the midfield depth to cover the season-ending absence of premiership hero Lachie Neale.
Injuries are starting to take their toll on the reigning premiers in the wake of their 38-point qualifying final defeat to Geelong on Friday night.
Dual Brownlow Medal winner Neale hurt his calf in the final quarter against the Cats, his first game since returning from a three-match absence due to a quad injury.
The Lions lost to Sydney without Neale, but then managed to notch important wins over Fremantle and Hawthorn to complete the home-and-away season.
“The last couple of weeks, we’ve managed to fill the void that he left in the team,” Dunkley told AAP.
“I’m sure whoever it is will be ready to stand up and take that role.”
Important forward Eric Hipwood will also take no further part in the Lions’ campaign, after scans revealed a partial tear in his ACL.
Hipwood had missed the final home-and-away game against Hawthorn with a calf injury suffered the previous week in Perth.
Fellow premiership players Jack Payne (knee) and Noah Answerth (achilles) have long been on the sidelines.
Having so many best-23 players unavailable is naturally going to make claiming back-to-back premierships extremely difficult.
But Dunkley believes the Lions could still make an unlikely charge, having to win three straight finals to lift the cup following their comprehensive defeat against the Cats.
“We gave it a red-hot crack,” Dunkley said.
“We didn’t come out on top.
“We know that we can play a lot better than what we did.
“I don’t think there’s any kind of negative emotion in the room.
“Guys are obviously disappointed because you lost … we just go back to the drawing board and get to work and go again.”
Dunkley (30 dispoals, one goal) was arguably Brisbane’s best midfielder against Geelong as the Cats set the tone through their centre-clearance domination.
“We probably had our hands on it and then coughed it up,” Dunkley said.
“It was little bit of what we can control, and little bit of them (Geelong) being on with their pressure.
“They pressured the ball carrier pretty well and then preyed on the turnover.
“Obviously the clearance stuff was a bit of a negative for us.”
The Lions return to the Gabba for a semi-final next Saturday night, with a win setting up a preliminary final showdown with Collingwood.
AAP
