Coaching a side that is fit, firing and safely in the AFL's top-two, Brisbane's Chris Fagan believes 2023 is the best shot he and his Lions have had at premiership glory.
The Lions overcame some inaccurate shooting and a battling St Kilda outfit to record a 9.18 (72) to 9.6 (60) win at the Gabba on Saturday.
The 12-point victory ensures the Lions will have two finals at their fortress of a home ground - where they’ve won 11 from 11 this season.
And as Fagan leads the Lions into a fifth straight finals campaign, he’s feeling bullish.
“If you finish top-two you've had a good year. There's no doubt about that,” Fagan said.
“Hopefully that gives us a lot of confidence and we got better in finals last year, we want to build on that again this year.
“When we first started playing finals that was Hughie McCluggage's first final series, Jarrod Berry's first final series, (Zac) Bailey, (Cam) Rayner, (Brandon) Starcevich - all those guys - they were young lads playing in big finals.
“Now we're four or five years down the track and they've had nine finals games, a lot of them, and that's got to hold them in good stead. Has to.”
Brisbane spearhead Joe Daniher ended the game with two goals, despite a horror miss in the opening minutes when he somehow shanked a set shot from dead in front.
Livewire Charlie Cameron also booted two for the Lions, while veteran Dayne Zorko was a standout in the middle with 22 disposals, 12 marks and one goal.Lachie Neale was also his dominant best in the middle with 30 touches as well as four marks and 10 clearances.
For the Saints, Tim Membrey had three goals and Jack Sinclair matched Neale’s count with 30 disposals.
Ruckman Rowan Marshall was also busy with 24 disposals, five tackles and 27 hitouts.
Defeat leaves the Saints’ finals situation in the balance, still a chance to finish sixth with a home elimination final but only if results on Sunday fall their way.
Having been kept in the contest by Brisbane's inaccuracy, the hosts scoring 4.11 in the opening half, Saints coach Ross Lyon believed his team’s ability to stick with the Lions in the second half showed they were finals-ready.
“In the end, ultimately by performance and attitude, you dictate what story is written,” Lyon said.
“We've written our own story to this point pretty well.
“Everyone starts equal (now) and away you go. It's exciting.”
The Lions came through the match unscathed with Fagan confident the calf niggle that forced Lincoln McCarthy to miss Saturday’s game wasn’t significant to be a concern for the finals.
The Saints had to sub off Josh Battle at halftime after he showed concussion symptoms having passed an initial assessment following a second-quarter collision, while Lyon was confident Max King will be fit for September after sitting out the trip to Brisbane with knee soreness.
“Barring mishap over the next two weeks of training, he'll be available to play, which is exciting,” Lyon said.
“We think Seb Ross (hamstring) will be available.
“So yeah, we're reasonably healthy at this point.”
