We take a look at some of the key talking points from Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch’s press conference this morning.
Travel Bug
The Lions have won just five times on the road in two-and-a-half seasons.
"We've spoken about it with our leaders to make sure they lead the way in that area for our young boys,” Leppitsch said.
"We're doing some different things out there today … if you go out there and have a look, get some crowd noise going and some different things to try and get us used to a hostile environment.
"A lot of it's the player's ability to think and concentrate through that pressure and still be able to perform that task.
"That doesn't change no matter where you play."
On the Blues
"They're red hot at the moment," he said.
"Credit to them, they're playing some good footy.
"(They're) very similar to the team we played last week, to be honest. They have good forward pressure and they're really well systemised.
"Not a huge scoring team, but very much do the defensive part of the game well."
The Lions have won their last three matches against the Blues – in 2015 two of Brisbane’s four wins were accounted for by victories over Carlton. However, Carlton have won five of their last six matches in 2016 – including last weekend’s triumph over flag favourites Geelong at Etihad Stadium.
“They’re actually playing a lot of their experienced and traded in talent,” Leppitsch said.
“It makes them older and more experienced. They’re probably making less mistakes because of that. Younger players we know aren’t as consistent.
“They haven’t exposed as many of their young talent as we have this year, even in the past so I think we’re slightly different as far as that goes.”
Contested football
“We were better in that area last week. We obviously didn’t get over the line. There have been some other areas, some skill type stuff that’s been a focus too.”
On Dayne Beams
“No updates. We’ve set a program for him it’s still that 10-12 week mark. There’s nothing to really report on week to week.”
On returning players
“We get a few back in the twos and then Harris (Andrews) and Darcy (Gardiner) back next week who are really important players for us. We’ll get back Ryan Lester and Rohan Bewick the week after.
“There are some guys that are slowly starting to trickle into our team. Our Reserves are starting to get some numbers – they had a really good win last week albeit against a decimated Suns. We’re starting to build some continuity in our club which is really important.”
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