Brisbane’s struggles this season continued on Saturday as they were clearly outplayed by Fremantle at the Gabba, en route to losing their third straight game.
The reigning premiers have not looked their best this season and sit ninth on the ladder at the halfway point.
The Lions are missing key pieces to injury, including Dayne Zorko, Oscar Allen, Ryan Lester, Jack Payne and Lincoln McCarthy, though still have one of the deepest lists in the competition.
Frustrated Lion Charlie Cameron leaves the field. via Getty Images
They were blown out by GWS last round and looked a tier below the firing Dockers on Saturday.
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd has pointed the finger squarely at the club’s midfield, saying their defensive efforts and pressure have been subpar, particularly in the last month.
“They are going really poorly defensively and I think Ryan Lester and Dayne Zorko have been massive losses for them,” Lloyd told Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“You moving guys like Ty Gallop who was a forward in the grand final into defence. Cody Curtin up the other end doesn’t look ready for AFL football.
“They look like they’re lacking confidence. It doesn’t matter what you’ve achieved. They had so many turnovers by foot. You don’t see that normally.
“Zorko would punish you off half back, but now they’re turning the ball over.
“I just think the midfield isn’t applying enough pressure. I think they’re being really lazy, the midfield and that’s putting players under pressure in their defence. That wasn’t the case last year.
“The defensive issues are one thing, but you’re only as good as your midfield and forward pressure further afield.”
Lloyd was asked whether Brisbane’s problems were more exhaustion than laziness, given they’ve played in the last three grand finals, have had long campaigns and now injuries are mounting.
“Maybe they have been up for six, seven years playing finals, but they’re young enough to not be in that situation, but even their younger players aren’t playing with the energy they should,” Lloyd replied.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan. Getty
The Lions have a number of stars underperforming this year. Hugh McCluggage has fallen away from All-Australian midfielder to a struggling midfielder, Jaspa Fletcher has had a poor season adapting to playing half back, Josh Dunkley is down on form and Sam Draper hasn’t had the impact they would have hoped in the ruck.
Despite that, Lloyd wouldn’t drop a star player to make a statement.
“I think they’ve just got too many injuries to drop an established player,” he said.
The Lions had no answer for the visitors at the Gabba and former West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson said the loss was “un-Brisbane-like.”
“Unfortunately it’s a pattern,” Simpson said on Fox Footy during the game.
“Lots of problems… the pressure factor – there’s no excuse for that.”
Tensions boiled over early in the third quarter as Lions star Darcy Gardiner was taken down by two Fremantle players, leaving his Brisbane teammates to retaliate.
Lions and Dockers players brawl in the third quarter. Fox Footy
A number of players piled on in the brawl, with guernseys ripped and pulled off players.
Lions coach Chris Fagan said he still had “a lot of faith” in his team, but that so “many things aren’t going right” for his side.
“That’s happened a lot in third quarters this year, I can’t work out the reason why – we changed our warm-up and everything at half-time to try to get them to come out a little bit different,” Fagan said, who confirmed it was the angriest he had been at three-quarter time.
“We’ve got a lot who are lacking a bit of confidence and form. I’ve got a lot of faith in this group, I should have, shouldn’t I?
“They’ve played in finals the last seven years, they’ve gone to the big dance three years in a row, so there’s something there to work with.
“We’ve just got to find it, I don’t know whether they’re a bit tired from all those efforts over the last few years, it’s really hard to work out – there are just so many things that aren’t going quite right.”
Fremantle Dockers are now at the top of the ladder. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce was a casualty on Saturday night, limping off at the Gabba after he has an issue with his knee. Brennan Cox and Matt Johnson both joined their captain on the sideline.
The Dockers have battled through their own injury issues across their 11-game winning streak, missing stars Hayden Young and Caleb Serong.
Brisbane lost Keidean Coleman early in the first quarter to a hamstring strain.
Fremantle play North Melbourne next Saturday afternoon. Brisbane takes on the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night in the Q-Clash.