Plea to umpires to keep their ‘eyes open’

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan hopes umpires have their “eyes open” in Saturday night’s AFL elimination final at the Gabba in anticipation of Lions star Lachie Neale being targeted by Carlton.

Two-time Brownlow medallist Neale was closely monitored by Blues midfielder George Hewett at stoppages in Carlton’s one-point Opening Round win over the Lions in March.

The pair traded blows in the third quarter, with Hewett striking first when he hit Neale just under the chin.

The Brisbane captain retaliated with a strike to Hewett’s stomach. The pair were charged by the MRO and were both fined $2500.

Fagan said Neale was used to being a target.

“Lachie cops that out every week,” the Lions coach said.

“He knows it’s coming his way because he’s a champion. Unfortunately, that’s what champions have to put up with.

“Whoever goes to him, if anyone does, whatever they do, they do, and hopefully the umpires have got their eyes open and notice a few things as well.”

Fagan predicted a “fiercely contested” do-or-die battle against a Carlton side that had to rely on Fremantle losing the final game of the regular season to secure eighth spot after being beaten earlier that same day by St Kilda.

“They would be buoyed by the fact that they thought they lost their finals opportunity potentially and then suddenly they had it back, so that’ll give them lift,” he said.

“We know that they’re going to jump out of the blocks and come hard at us, but we’re preparing to come out of the blocks equally as hard.

“We’ll renew acquaintances on Saturday night when the siren goes and see what happens after two or three hours of pretty fiercely contested footy, I would imagine.”

Fagan said the Lions could not afford to become preoccupied with the uncertainty over Carlton’s line-up due to the Blues’ extensive injury list.

“We don’t want to make Carlton’s problem our problem,” he said.

“What we’re basically doing is focusing on ourselves. It won’t change the way we pick our team (and) it won’t change the way we play the game.

“We know the way that they like to play. They’re not going to change that.”

Fagan said it was “nice to know” that Brisbane’s defensive strongman Jack Payne was available for selection after returning from a foot injury last weekend in a VFL match.

If Payne is selected, it’s likely to be at the expense of Irishman Darragh Joyce.

“Darragh Joyce has performed really well in the time he’s been in the team, so that’ll be the (selection) discussion,” Fagan said.

For the Lions – who finished fifth on the ladder to qualify for the finals for a sixth successive year – to win the premiership, they will have to win four successive sudden-death finals match.

Only the Western Bulldogs have won a flag from the bottom half of the top eight, a feat they achieved in 2016.

“I’ve got a genuine belief that when we play our best, we're mighty hard to beat, so I think that’s a good confidence for the playing group to have coming into the finals because they really believe that as well,” Fagan said.

“We’ve played in 12 finals in the past five years, We’ve won five of them (and) lost seven of them, but our past six, we’ve won four of them and lost the (grand final) by four points, so we’re getting better at playing in finals.
“That’s really good evidence that we know what to do when the time comes now.

“Finals come down at moments, getting as many moments right as you can, because they’re tight, contested, high-pressure games.

“Every player gets put to the test at one stage or another. Finals are all about being reliable, not remarkable.”