JUSTIN Leppitsch never had any doubts, and after two straight wins he hopes the AFL world now realises the Brisbane Lions care for one another.
The Lions were horrendous to start the season, losing the first five games by an average margin of almost 10 goals before breakthrough wins over Carlton and the huge upset of Port Adelaide on Sunday night.
Coach Leppitsch said you could have been excused for thinking the players did not care for one another or their performance early in the season, but he always knew otherwise.
One telling incident in the win over the Power happened early in the third quarter when James Aish was left sprawled on the Gabba turf following a heavy bump from Port ruckman Paddy Ryder.
Within seconds a throng of Lions players swooped in to remonstrate with Ryder on Aish's behalf for what they thought was a high hit.
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Leppitsch said the group had always been tight.
"The way you watched us play the first month, that wasn't evident, and I think they (players) realised that and they wanted to show the footy world we cared about each other," Leppitsch said.
"I've never doubted the care, it's just whether we supplied it on game day, which we have the last couple of weeks."
After a strong first quarter effort against Port Adelaide, the Lions surged to a match-winning lead with six goals to one in the second quarter.
They seemingly flicked the attacking switch to recapture the run-and-gun form that carted them to six wins in the final 12 rounds in 2014.
Leppitsch said the players had always bought in to the gameplan, but the execution had let them down.
"We've got a bit of confidence in the execution now," he said.
"That's what last week did and this week reinforces it again.
"I'm not worried about looking back to be perfectly honest, I'm more worried about looking forward now."
