Ally Anderson equaled the record for most disposals in an AFLW match as the Brisbane Lions launched their championship defense with an 18-point win over Melbourne.
After suffering their heaviest defeat in the first round, the Lions bounced back strongly with a 5.3 (33) to 2.3 (15) victory at Casey Fields on Saturday. Carlton have been in the spotlight all week as they make eight changes for Saturday night’s playoff final, but Brisbane have their own headaches with coach Chris Fagan still concerned about picking Jack Payne.
Payne missed the last seven games of the home and away season with a foot injury and returned via the VFL last weekend.
In his absence, Darragh Joyce filled the void.
At his best, Payne is the perfect backup to co-captain Harris Andrews and the reliable Ryan Lester. Speaking on Thursday morning before the team’s main training session, Fagan said it wasn’t that simple.
“We just got to watch him in training today,” he said.
“On Tuesday he changed, mainly as a precaution after his first game in a short time, obviously he was a bit more injured than usual.
“We will see how he trains and make a decision this afternoon.
“It’s not that easy. I thought Darragh Joyce played really well but it’s good to know Jack is available.”
Although there is no sign that his place is in doubt, torrid forward Eric Hipwood has been put through his paces ahead of the session. While his teammates warmed up and completed batting practice, Hipwood completed a number of runs that picked up speed as time went on.
He missed the round 21 win over St Kilda with “hip soreness” and was substituted with a quarter to go in the final round against Essendon.
Fagan said despite all the hype surrounding Carlton’s selection, Brisbane could not afford to pay attention.
“We don’t want Carlton’s problem to be our problem,” he said.
“It won’t change the way we pick our team or the way we play the game. We know how they want to play, they won’t change. They will call their team tonight and we will work from there.
“I really believe that when we play our best football, we are very difficult to beat.
“Besides the fact that we didn’t finish in the top four, we’re in great shape.”