Heading into Thursday night’s elimination final, it felt like the football world had given up on Brisbane. For all the big scores and easy kills, they weren’t a team you could trust. Too much lip and swagger. Too brittle down back. Too prone to leaking, and to switching off at critical stages. Sure, when everything was going well, and when the game was on their terms, they were capable of scintillating football. But when the heat was applied, they’d wilt.
This week, it had been all bad news and long faces in the Brisbane camp. They’d coughed up a spot in the top four. Their injuries were mounting. They were forced to throw a debutant into the finals furnace. The coach was cranky. A grandfather, he was probably asking himself why he wasn’t at home building cubby houses. He didn’t need this kind of stress in his life. His team had drawn the short straw in Richmond – for so long their tormenters. Dustin Martin was back. Tom Lynch was in menacing touch. The Lions were on their final warning.
