Brisbane coach Michael Voss says Saturday’s away clash against Port Adelaide will help determine if his club deserves the respect of the AFL.
The Lions enter the AAMI Stadium fixture against Port seeking consecutive wins for just the second time this season.
After upsetting finals-bound Adelaide last start, Voss says the Port encounter will provide a measure of Brisbane’s worth.
“The last few weeks we have started to build back to some form,” Voss said on Friday.
“All we haven’t done is consistently demonstrate that we can do that over weeks.
“We did it last week against Adelaide – it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have proven that we can do that over multiple weeks, so that is the challenge for us.”
The Lions, with eight victories, sit in 13th spot – just one rung ahead of Port, winners five times this year.
While there appears a vast difference in the status of the clubs, with Port chasing a first win under interim coach Garry Hocking after sacking coach Matthew Primus three weeks ago, Voss said the Lions were yet to regain the respect of the competition.
“We have got a long way to go,” he said.
“If anything we’re at the beginning of it. It’s about being able to earn it (respect), you lose it so quickly in this competition.
“You can work years being able to try and get it, and then in moments it can be taken away from you.
“So we understand the task that is ahead of us but we feel like we’re making some inroads.”
Brisbane recalled Josh Drummond for the match against a Port line-up bolstered by the inclusion of midfielder Travis Boak.
Boak, yet to decide if he will remain with the Power beyond this season, was a late withdrawal from Port’s loss to West Coast last week with a hip injury.
Bee Bee
Guest
Good points t4alexander. Voss played many years under the great Leigh Matthews and you can see the influence of Mathews emerging in Michael Voss. Has the same scary serious stare. He can only get better. He has a nice balance of steely calm but potentially frightening that most good coaches have. He really does reflect this team. Young and inexperienced but enormous potential. Exciting times to be a Lions supporter in coming years. I hope the team can stay on track and really shake the comp up next year. Time to ruffle some feathers. Too many birds dominating this competition. Time to put a big cat amongst the pidgeons.
t4alexander
Roar Rookie
As a lions supporter I certainly hope they will make the top 8 next year. Attempting to take the role of an impartial observer I think a top 8 finish is within the realm of possibility. I remember having similar thoughts at the end of 2009 - the last year we made the finals. The signs were really positive and we had earned a home final and made it through to the second week of finals. It was Voss's first year of coaching and there was a collective feeling (at least amongst the lions supporters and other AFL fans I talked to) that a crack at the top four and premiership was coming around in the next couple of years. Then came trade week and the worst series of trades ever conducted by a club, culminating in the acquisition of Fevola. We won the first four games of 2010 but everything went downhill from there, with only one more win for the season (against the eventual premiers Collingwood, at home). I think the trading done in that period, and in particular the Fevola trade, were incredibly damaging and set us back a couple of years. Another issue is certainly the fact that Voss served no apprenticeship before taking on the role of senior coach of the lions. Therefore, I think the signs are again good but I hope the lessons of 2009-10 have been learnt. This means doing more of the type of recruiting which leads us to pick up players such as Dayne Zorko. I don't think there is any real need to be very active in trade period - the makings of a very good team are there, they just need to play more football together. Brisbane had the second-youngest list in the league at the start of the year (even younger than Gold Coast) which I think is another good sign that our time is coming (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/numbers-personnel-point-to-the-hawks-20120229-1u3go.html). Also, just a final point about our coach. I don't think Voss should be sacked. A lot of his mistakes can be traced back to the fact that he had no AFL-level coaching experience and he was, in effect, serving his apprenticeship as our senior coach. Now that he has that experience it would be a shame to not use it for the benefit of Brisbane - in other words, we would have endured all the pains of having an inexperience coach as our head coach and then be dumping him before we had any chance to enjoy the rewards!
Dingo
Guest
I can't believe that my previous comment was deleted by the moderators. I'll try again. That was a soild win by the Lions, good to see that they are finishing the season with some real endeavour. From what I saw of the game both sides had a decent crack in what looked to be quite ordinary conditions. Maybe a top 8 position beckons next year? Hardly necessary to delete something like that is it? Moderators............................
Dingo
Guest
I'm being moderated?
Dingo
Guest
Another solid win for the Lions, good to see that they are seeing the season out with a very positive mindset. Looked like a rather sh!teful day in Adelaide. From what I saw both teams had a decent crack, missed most of the last quater though, had to pick the better half up from work. Top 8 in 2013?................
Lroy
Guest
Well I have only seen them play twice this year on the ABC Asia Pacific service.. once was against WCE and second was against the Crows... beats me why they arent in the top 4...