At quarter time on Saturday however Brisbane gave up a 2 point lead to Mt Gravatt, the first time they’d trailed at the first change since round 8 against Sydney.
For the second time this season the Lions overturned the quarter time deficit away from home and eventually ran out comfortable 43 point winners.
The previous comeback win came in round 3 against UWS Giants, where the Lions turned in one of their most complete performances of the season to triumph by 29.
Brent Staker, who has been assisting with the reserves this year, acknowledges Saturday’s performance wasn’t quite as impressive, but he was heartened by the team’s fight.
“We were somewhat rusty in some areas and lacked a little bit of run in the first half particularly,” Staker said.
“We were a little lacklustre to start with; we didn’t have the drive we needed. But we got better as the game went on.
“We hung in there though and ground out the win, which is really positive because although we didn’t necessarily play great we found a way to get the four points.”
Staker, who underwent his second consecutive knee reconstruction this year after being traded East from the Eagles, reckons last week’s last-gasp loss to Gold Coast deflated the team early at Dittmer Park.
“Coming off the loss maybe just threw the boys out of whack a bit, especially in the opening stages,” Staker said.
“It’s always extra challenging the week after losing; even more so when you’re pipped right at the end after leading all day as we were last week.”
But after the Lions kicked ten second-half goals to seal the 19.13.127 to 13.6.84 victory, the 28-year-old’s confident the side’s got their groove back.
“Now we’ve got that winning feeling again it’s a real boost for the boys coming in to the finish of the year,” Staker enthuses.
“It’s all about momentum at this stage of the season, and we’ve definitely got momentum going our way which is really encouraging.”
