Brisbane Lions tweak travel plans for Melbourne as they roar into another AFL grand final
The Brisbane Lions will fly to Melbourne a day earlier than they did last year as they prepare to face Sydney in the first non-Victorian grand final in 18 years.
Twelve months after they fell four points short of winning their first premiership since 2003 when they lost to Collingwood, the Lions booked their spot in another MCG decider with an extraordinary 10-point preliminary final win against Geelong.
Brisbane will be on neutral turf this time around, a stark contrast to when the Magpies army helped propel Collingwood to an epic grand final win on their own home ground.
Lions coach Chris Fagan expects the club to travel south on Wednesday, instead of Thursday as they did in 2023.
‘We might change things a little,’ Fagan said.
‘We might come down on Wednesday and just relax into it a bit, get a couple of training runs here in Melbourne.
‘I’m not sure that we’re going to be able to get on the MCG twice, but that won’t matter.
‘I just think it’s good to be down here and just prepare ourselves for the game.’
The result against the Cats ended the Lions’ 20-year run without a win against Geelong outside of Queensland.
Since Brisbane beat the Cats in the 2004 preliminary final, the Lions had lost 13 games at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium fortress, as well as a final at the MCG in 2022.
The Lions have turned around their poor record under Fagan at the MCG this year, defeating Melbourne in round five, losing a nailbiter to Collingwood late in the home-and-away season, before downing the Cats in a preliminary final at the venue of the grand final.
‘This year we’ve had two wins and a one-point loss, so we go better on the MCG than we used to,’ Fagan said.
But the Lions will be without ruckman Oscar McInerney, who dislocated his left shoulder in the first quarter, against the Swans.
McInerney bravely went back on the ground, but his shoulder dislocated again during the third quarter and he was transported to hospital in the last term, missing the jubilant scenes in the Lions’ rooms post-game.
Rather than use star forward Joe Daniher as the main ruck again as they did against Geelong, Brisbane will likely recall Darcy Fort, who has played just two games this year, or four-gamer Henry Smith.
Fort or Smith, with back-up from Daniher, will face a huge task coming up against Sydney big man Brodie Grundy, who is a dual All-Australian.
‘It’s just such a real pity,’ Fagan said of McInerney’s injury.
‘It’ll give somebody else an opportunity, someone like a Darcy Fort or a Henry Smith.
‘We’re lucky, our reserves team played until last week … so we’ve got players ready to come in.’
Fagan also confirmed superstar midfielder Lachie Neale would continue to be managed with a heel/foot injury as he was in the lead-up to facing the Cats.
After barely training during the week, Neale starred with 31 possessions and a game-high 12 clearances.
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