Demons to provide Lions with true test of AFL premiership credentials

The Brisbane Lions are set to discover the legitimacy of their AFL premiership credentials on Friday night at the Gabba.

Beating reigning premiers Melbourne – who have had the wood on Brisbane in recent times due largely to the Demons’ contested ball superiority – would go a long way towards stamping the Lions as genuine flag contenders.

“They’ve beaten us the last three times and from half-time in the game we played them in the middle of last year – they’ve had a clear advantage of us,” Lions coach Chris Fagan said.

“That’s been mostly contested ball. That’s obviously been a big focus of ours, not just this week, we’ve been working on that since the last time we played them, to be honest.

“We have gotten better, but the true test will be (on Friday) night as to how much better we’ve gotten.

“That’s the key to the battle – it’s a waste of time talking about everything else.”

The team which wins on Friday night will secure a top-four spot and a second chance should they lose in the first week of the finals.

For the losers, it’s almost certainly going to mean a spot in the bottom half of the top eight and sudden-death football from the start of the finals.

“We’re all aware of the ramifications,” Fagan said

“We can finish as high as second and as low as sixth. It’s a crazy round; I can’t remember one where everything can change so much.

“It’s been ‘finals before finals’ for a few weeks now and it’s even bigger this week, the stakes.

“It’ll be an interesting round of footy and we get to go first.”

Fagan promised Lions superstar Lachie Neale – who was restricted to 16 touches in Brisbane’s win over St Kilda last week – would be “on his best game” regardless of whether he was tagged by the Demons.

“I know St Kilda will probably be happy with the job they did and Lachie only had 16 touches, but it was the best 16-touch game he’s ever had for us, Fagan said.

“He was really influential; had eight clearances, did a lot of pressure acts for us and enabled others to get free to win the footy.

“We were super pleased with the role he played last week. It’s not always about how much Lachie gets the ball, it’s about what role he plays for the team.”

Fagan confirmed that Marcus Adams and Callum Ah Chee, who both missed the win over St Kilda due to concussion, would be sidelined for at least another week,

“(They are) still struggling … and I don’t know when they’ll be available next,” Fagan said.