Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Wildcard spot, top 10 or top eight – all “old fashioned” Chris Fagan knows is that Brisbane are well and truly in the hunt for finals.
The reigning premiers’ quest for a three-peat appears back on track after an alarming mid-season slump.
But the Lions aren’t out of the woods just yet, facing second-place Sydney at the Gabba on Thursday night after their round-15 bye.
Brisbane had navigated injuries to sit fourth before a 41-point defeat to Geelong at the Gabba in round 10 sparked a three-game losing streak.
GWS compounded the misery with an extraordinary 14-goal third-quarter blitz en route to a 78-point win, before the Lions failed a litmus test against league leaders Fremantle by 25 points.
Brisbane have since made amends with wins over Gold Coast and lowly Richmond to hold a wildcard spot in eighth (32 premiership points) – not that that means anything to Lions coach Fagan.
Fremantle (52 points) and Sydney (48) are the clear front runners of the new-look top six, well clear of third-place Hawthorn (38).
“I still think of the top eight, I suppose. I’m old fashioned like that,” Fagan said on Wednesday.
“All I do know is if you want to be in a chance to win it, you’ve got to finish top six.
“We got into that phase where we lost three games in a row, and they were pretty solid losses, but we found a way to turn it around against Gold Coast and kept going with that against Richmond.
“We’re in that position where we’re in the fight for the finals, well and truly in it.
“And that’s where you want to be at the halfway mark of the year.”
Brisbane were blown away by Sydney in round one, losing by 44 points after the Swans kicked the first seven goals at the SCG.
And the Swans don’t fear the Gabba either, besting the Lions with their handball game to win by two points in round 22 last year.
Sydney hold a 13-1-11 record at the Brisbane fortress against the Lions, and the long-awaited return of star midfielder Errol Gulden (shoulder) will also boost their confidence.
The Swans have also enjoyed a bye weekend, with Lewis Melican (hamstring), Dane Ramp (calf), and Tom McCartin (concussion) also a chance of returning.
“Well, it was a fairly long time ago,” Fagan said of the round-one loss.
“What’s emerged is the Swans have a fairly distinct way of playing the game.
“They like to handball, they run in waves, they handball forward and they overlap, and it’s been a weapon of theirs.
“That’s the critical thing you have to counter. We weren’t able to do that in the first quarter in that game.
“But we got better at it as the game went on. We certainly learned some lessons.”
Fagan admitted the Swans’ “handball style” had caught the Lions by surprise in 2025.
“Maybe they’ll come up with a different way of playing tomorrow night. We’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
