Fagan full of praise for Lions' massive second-half attacking effort! 💥🦁 — Brisbane Press Conference

[0:00] Imagine you'd be died of that fate. [0:02] Yeah, coming into the game, I had a lot of respect for what Port Adelaide's been doing [0:08] over the last couple of months, they've been a pretty hard team to beat. [0:14] So predictably at half-time it was a pretty tough struggle, but I thought our efforts [0:21] after half-time, particularly our ball control, once we got hold of it, really made it difficult [0:28] for them to bring their pressure and to defend us, and we were able to score pretty heavily [0:34] in that second half. [0:35] Did you change anything there because you definitely had more control, you were struggling to get [0:40] those uncontested marks and that type of thing in the first half? [0:44] We talked about it at half-time, but our boys know what to do, we were just probably handball [0:49] happy and trying to engage Port Adelaide in a game that they wanted to play rather than [0:53] play our own game. [0:54] So sometimes you just need to remind the players, we showed them a bit of vision and what that [1:00] looked like when we got it wrong and what it looked like when we got it right. [1:03] Because I thought towards the second half of the second quarter, we actually started to [1:07] use the ball better. [1:09] So we were able to show some good examples of that at half-time as well. [1:12] So yeah, they're a very coachable group, they do listen, they understood what was going [1:17] on and adjusted. [1:21] The result of the way we play on offence is that we get a lot of guys that get a look [1:27] at goals. [1:30] We share the scoring around, which is great. [1:32] I like to think that we're an equal opportunity offence and therefore hard to stop. [1:39] We don't rely on any one person and I thought that was a good example of that today. [1:43] He seemed to be in a bit of a pain early, he was able to play through it, is there something [1:50] there with the lower back or anything? [1:51] No, no, he got a corky, he got a corky in the quad, so he'll be a bit sore tomorrow. [1:55] We've got a short turnaround too, so it'll be interesting to see, I mean he was able to [2:00] play the game out, so you'd think he'd probably be alright for next week, but he'll have to [2:04] get to work on his recovery. [2:05] You were obviously confident Hugh McCluggage would find his form and it's like he took [2:11] another big step today by the looks of it. [2:14] Yeah, if you had a walk through the season with Hughie and the challenges that he's had [2:19] injury-wise and getting some confidence back into his body, it was always going to take [2:23] a few weeks. [2:25] And he didn't look like a great player in the previous two weeks, but he's a person of great [2:31] character and when you back him in he always produces for you, so it was good to see him [2:35] get some rewards today, I thought he played really well from the start. [2:38] So yeah, good on him, it makes us a better team when he's playing well, that's for sure. [2:42] Did you crack a smile when Sam Draper took it out from 60? [2:46] It's amazing when you watch a ruckman do that, isn't it? [2:50] It's up there with the specky I reckon as one of the great things you see in a game, because [2:54] it doesn't happen very often, but Sam Draper has done a few of those over his career, [2:58] so yeah, it was a brilliant goal. [3:02] The trouble was he went back to the next centre bounce and I think they all got a bit excited [3:05] and got a bit too attacking and Port Adelaide scored a goal back the other way straight [3:09] away. [3:10] So anyway, it was great to watch. [3:12] Sam had another moment last quarter when the game was shot to bits by then, when he was [3:17] on the goal line defending and he was able to knock a ball through and he celebrated it [3:24] like he kicked a goal himself. [3:26] Yeah. [3:27] That's a pretty good sign of the team's defensive intent at this stage. [3:31] Yeah, I mean we rate those things pretty highly and that's something that's not really generated [3:36] by me. [3:37] It's generated by the players. [3:38] They want to celebrate good defensive stuff equally as they celebrate kicking a goal and [3:45] doing great offensive things. [3:47] So it's a culture that's been built over a period of time and it's good to see it when [3:52] it happens. [3:53] There was an incident between Ty Gallop and Miss Georgiades that's already getting a bit [3:58] of attention. [3:59] Did you see that? [4:00] What did you make of that? [4:01] No, I haven't watched any replays of that so I'll have a bit of a look at that tonight [4:04] I suppose when I'm going through the vision. [4:09] Regardless, anyway, it's not really up to me. [4:10] It's up to what the people in the match review mob, what they decide so yeah, I don't know. [4:21] I think hopefully Darcy Garden's available next week so if he's not then we've got a replacement. [4:28] But hopefully it's not that bad but I honestly haven't seen enough of it to say. [4:35] Josh Carr was a bit, he certainly wasn't critical of Ty's behaviour but he said that, oh, Brisbane [4:41] play on the edge. [4:42] Do you like the team playing up to that line? [4:45] That's his opinion, he's allowed to have it. [4:52] You don't be one of the better teams in the competition if you don't play a hard physical [4:56] brand. [4:57] So I think that's what we do, I don't think we do it unfairly, I think we brought good [5:03] pressure today, interested that Josh has had a chance to watch it, I haven't, so he's [5:09] not as busy as what I am. [5:12] Do you feel like now that McCluggage is back, he's played well, Zorko has been back a couple [5:17] of weeks, do you feel like you're in about as good a spot as you could be at the stage [5:20] of the season do you think? [5:21] Nah, there's always a big sledgehammer waiting around the corner I reckon Fish, you just [5:26] never know so don't take form for granted. [5:28] I think our last seven weeks have been terrific, we were in a bit of trouble 6-6 and we've been [5:33] able to win our last seven games, it's pretty exciting. [5:37] So obviously belief is growing within the group, but we come up against Carleton next week, [5:44] they're a chance to get one of those spots in the 9th or 10th, what's that called again? [5:51] The wild card, too many things going on in AFL these days, the wild card. [5:55] So they're going to be playing their hearts out next week, so it'll be another game like [6:01] it was tonight, we're going to have to play well to go down to Melbourne and get the points. [6:06] Chris, I guess compared to the past two years at this stage group? [6:19] We're not talking about that, I mean what we have given ourselves a chance to do is to [6:23] finish top four which gives you the best chance to win a Premiership, but there's still four [6:29] games to go in the season, some challenging opponents to play including Hawthorne, Collingwood, [6:36] so no, not even thinking that far ahead, we're just going to try and, you know, every week's [6:45] like a final now, look, this is the finals before the finals, everyone's jockeying for [6:50] the best position to start the finals, so yeah, we really only have our mind on next week and [6:57] trying to get that right, because it's easy to get it wrong. [7:00] What did you think of Oscar Allen's game yesterday? [7:04] Yeah, he was really serviceable in the reserves, competed well, created opportunities for others, [7:11] kicked a goal himself, so he's done the right thing. [7:15] Eight goals as well, so obviously you were speaking highly of the forward line, it's going [7:21] to be a difficult one to get into obviously. [7:23] Well it's hard to change a winning side too, like Will's kicked eight, but Kai kicked three [7:29] today and Charlie probably kicked three and Cam Rainer probably kicked two or three and [7:34] so it's a little, it's a little hard to get in, but it's good to have players playing in [7:38] the reserves that can step up if we need them. [7:41] So you said Gardner-Waffles was that story? [7:45] Well, if everything goes to plan, he'll be available for selection, yeah. [7:49] And how does Bruce get back in? [7:51] No, he's a chance, no, he's a chance to get back in. [7:56] I mean, he's missed through personal reasons over the last couple of weeks. [7:59] He and his partner had their second child, so that's the way it worked out. [8:04] So it's not his fault that he wasn't available to play. [8:08] So if he trades well this week, he'll be well in line for selection.