Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Josh Dunkley and his Brisbane Lions teammates have copped coach Chris Fagan’s blunt criticism on the chin and promised to respond at the Gabba.
The Lions will play Adelaide in a Saturday semi-final after Sydney, missing five players due to a club-imposed suspension and captain Callum Mills to a first-quarter injury, dismantled the back-to-back premiers at the SCG.
Fagan didn’t miss in his post-game press conference, questioning the hunger of his side and if they thought it would be a “walk in the park”.
Co-captain Dunkley diplomatically pushed back on those claims on Tuesday but agreed there was plenty to prove against the Crows.
“There’s probably certain elements of that, but to be honest … I thought our preparation for that game was was really good,” he said.
“Couldn’t really fault our training, couldn’t fault our mindset heading into it.
“It was just one of those days. You know we’ve had a couple of them this year and unfortunately it was in a big final where we had a great opportunity.
“If we’re not hungry this weekend, then we don’t deserve to be there.
“We’ll get to work today on the track and you know rally around each other and get going again, because last week wasn’t acceptable.”
The loss leaves Brisbane in an identical position to last year, when they were thumped in the first week of finals against Geelong before recovering to defend their title.
“Both games were pretty bad but the weekend (against Sydney) was probably worse, to be honest,” Dunkley said.
“It is something that we’ve touched on, but we can’t rely on (the fact) we bounced back last year and think that’s going to happen on Saturday.”
Dunkley expects Fagan to stay loyal at the selection table but changes loom, given defender Noah Answerth (ankle) was spotted in a moon boot on Tuesday, having played through the injury on Saturday.
Fagan had left out Ty Gallop to make room for the fit-again Hugh McCluggage to face the Swans and the versatile defender, Bruce Reville or Keidean Coleman, will be in the mix if Answerth isn’t fit.
Dunkley watched the Crows pip the Western Bulldogs on the flight back from Sydney and the team spent Monday reviewing footage that exposed some moments “they’d like to have back”.
“They’re up there with one of the best pressure sides in the competition,” he said, confident Brisbane can click defensively and clamp down in the midfield.
“There’s so many little things that that go into those scores and we’ve got to wear that as a team. It’s not just on the mids.”
