Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
With their “backs against the wall” just one game into their latest AFL premiership defence, the Brisbane Lions are relishing the prospect of defying the odds against the Sydney Swans on Saturday.
The Lions opened their season with a five-point weekend loss to the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba.
Making matters worse was a calf injury suffered by co-captain Hugh McCluggage and suspensions received by another of Brisbane’s skippers, Harris Andrews (three games), Zac Bailey (one game) and Darcy Gardiner (one game).
Star midfielder McCluggage and forward Bailey are certain to miss Saturday’s battle at the SCG, while the Lions were due to challenge the bans of defenders Andrews and Gardiner at the tribunal on Tuesday night.
While Andrews seems little chance of having his ban overturned for striking Bulldogs forward Arthur Jones with a stray and swinging arm, the Lions will hope the length of the ban will be reduced.
Regardless of what happens at the tribunal, Brisbane wingman Jarrod Berry said the Lions had been no strangers to overcoming hurdles in winning back-to-back flags and was confident his team could again rise to the challenge this weekend.
“We love being in this circumstance, backs against the wall, so whatever happens, happens,” Berry said on Tuesday.
“It just makes our trademark shine, and that’s the trademark built on brotherhood and resilience, and we’ve done that over 10 years now, and it’s solid.
“The foundation is what the boys fall back on, and the foundations hold us strong, and we have a lot of confidence in what’s coming up (with replacements) to help.”
Berry pointed to the example of Brisbane’s recent trial against the Gold Coast Suns, with the Lions winning despite resting a host of regulars.
“We re missing some important players … but we’ve got such great depth in our list. We’ve got trust in those guys who can come in and play the roles,” he said.
“In the Gold Coast game we rested a few of our more experienced senior players and we had guys come in and fill those voids and play really well, so our system is strong, and that’s what we’ll be falling back on.”
Berry wasn’t panicking despite Brisbane’s loss to the Bulldogs.
“You can see that the game’s quite a bit quicker, so we need to be a bit more connected and organised quicker,” he said.
“As a player it’s going to take a little bit of getting used to.
“We let that one slip a little bit, but all credit to the Dogs. They really came after us and played really well, so nothing taking away from their performance either.”
