TonyK
CibbuanoKey Lions in doubt
July 14th 2008 06:47
BRISBANE duo Jonathan Brown and Simon Black are in doubt for Saturday night's crucial clash against West Coast at the Gabba.
It is a must-win match for the Lions who have dropped their past two to Melbourne and Essendon to slump to seventh place on the AFL ladder with an 8-7 win-loss record.
Lions coach Leigh Matthews said Brown and Black, who suffered hip and shoulder injuries respectively in Saturday night's 37-point loss to the Bombers at Telstra Dome were no certainties to play this weekend.
"They would both be questionable (but) we will know as the week goes on," he said on Monday.
"Neither of them is in the situation where you would say they won't play because it's (just) a soreness issue but it's a question of when that soreness goes away."
Matthews said his side was looking forward to playing at home again, with the Lions having won six of eight games at the Gabba this season.
"We were quite good the last time we played here (beating Adelaide in Round 13) and the comfort of your home ground and home crowd are quite beneficial for us going forward," he said.
"We have hit a couple of hurdles the last few weeks but we are still alive, they haven't shot us yet."
Matthews said his side's recent run of poor form could be attributed to a lack of intensity.
"There is no logical reason for it but in terms of the attack on the footy, the opposition has done it a lot better than us in the last couple of weeks but why that is I don't know."
"And our midfield accountability isn't what it needs to be - when we lose the footy, as a group, we are not working hard enough to get it back."
This week Brisbane faces a side that has lost its past six games by an average of 11 goals and is on track to win its first ever wooden spoon.
But Matthews said the Lions won't be taking West Coast lightly.
"We are playing a team in a bad patch but that doesn't guarantee anything," he said.
"It's easy to look at a team struggling and think they haven't got any strengths but Melbourne proved that (wrong) because they didn't have many strengths going into that game but came
out with a few."
"The Eagles have still got the players and the personnel (they had 13 premiership players in the team that lost by 77 points to Richmond on Sunday) and if we expect they will roll over and let us beat them then we will be in for a rude shock."
It is a must-win match for the Lions who have dropped their past two to Melbourne and Essendon to slump to seventh place on the AFL ladder with an 8-7 win-loss record.
Lions coach Leigh Matthews said Brown and Black, who suffered hip and shoulder injuries respectively in Saturday night's 37-point loss to the Bombers at Telstra Dome were no certainties to play this weekend.
"They would both be questionable (but) we will know as the week goes on," he said on Monday.
"Neither of them is in the situation where you would say they won't play because it's (just) a soreness issue but it's a question of when that soreness goes away."
Matthews said his side was looking forward to playing at home again, with the Lions having won six of eight games at the Gabba this season.
"We were quite good the last time we played here (beating Adelaide in Round 13) and the comfort of your home ground and home crowd are quite beneficial for us going forward," he said.
"We have hit a couple of hurdles the last few weeks but we are still alive, they haven't shot us yet."
Matthews said his side's recent run of poor form could be attributed to a lack of intensity.
"There is no logical reason for it but in terms of the attack on the footy, the opposition has done it a lot better than us in the last couple of weeks but why that is I don't know."
"And our midfield accountability isn't what it needs to be - when we lose the footy, as a group, we are not working hard enough to get it back."
This week Brisbane faces a side that has lost its past six games by an average of 11 goals and is on track to win its first ever wooden spoon.
But Matthews said the Lions won't be taking West Coast lightly.
"We are playing a team in a bad patch but that doesn't guarantee anything," he said.
"It's easy to look at a team struggling and think they haven't got any strengths but Melbourne proved that (wrong) because they didn't have many strengths going into that game but came
out with a few."
"The Eagles have still got the players and the personnel (they had 13 premiership players in the team that lost by 77 points to Richmond on Sunday) and if we expect they will roll over and let us beat them then we will be in for a rude shock."
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