Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Lions coach Chris Fagan is taking little comfort from Brisbane’s thrashing of Hawthorn last month, predicting Saturday’s AFL preliminary final between the same two teams at the MCG will be “entirely different”.
The Lions spanked the Hawks by 67 points at the Gabba on August 7, with Brisbane forwards Kai Lohmann, Logan Morris and Charlie Cameron kicking 12 goals between them.
However, Fagan isn’t getting lulled into a false sense of security because of that win.
“We we’re coming off a really bad loss the week before to Carlton, so we we’re pretty fired up,” the two-time premiership-winning coach said on Thursday.
“They probably had an off game, so you can’t read too much into that performance a few weeks ago.
“It’ll be entirely different this week, and we’re not even talking about or showing any vision from that (August 7) game, to be honest.
“It’s a new contest. It’s a preliminary final. They want what we want, so it’s a different game. “We’re getting ready for the hardest game we’ll ever play this year – that’s our approach.”
Since losing to Brisbane, the Hawks haven’t lost in three games, including a 92-92 draw with Collingwood on August 15.
The Lions have won four of their past five matches, and another victory on Saturday would secure them a fourth consecutive grand final appearance and a chance to clinch a third successive flag.
Fagan was also part of Alastair Clarkson’s coaching unit that led Hawthorn to three consecutive premierships from 2013 to 2015.
“One of the things that was a real strength of Hawthorn (during the period of the Hawks’ hat-trick of flags) was the density of their leadership group,” he said.
“They had a lot of great on-field leaders … (Luke) Hodge, (Jarryd) Roughead, (Sam) Mitchell, those sorts of guys.
“I feel like we’ve got that now with Harris Andrews, Josh Dunkley, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry … there’s a heap of them.
“That’s definitely one similarity, (having) guys that just know what to do in any given situation in a game.”
Fagan admitted to being concerned about recalling defender Noah Answerth, who missed last weekend’s finals win over Adelaide because of an ankle injury.
Answerth was set to be put through a thorough fitness test at Thursday’s behind-closed-doors training session.
“There’s some optimism around him, but I’m not 100 per cent sure. I’m not that keen to take anyone into a final who might not be somewhere near 100 per cent,” Fagan said.
“I’m really uncertain at the moment how that will all turn out.”
If Answerth does play, Fagan has the tough choice of who to leave out of the team that won so convincingly last Saturday,
“There are lots and lots of things to think about, and sometimes it’s dependent on the opposition with the decision that you make,” he said.
