STAR midfielder Simon Black says the Brisbane Lions must find consistency away from the Gabba if they hope to play in September.
While the Lions are 7-2 at home this season, their away record – on face value – looks bleak at 2-5 and includes consecutive losses to the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and Essendon.
However, Black does not believe it is a case of the Lions being unable to fire away from home; but an issue of finding a way to bridge the gap between their worst and their best.
"We’ve talked a bit about this and we know we’ve been pretty patchy away from home, especially in Melbourne," Black said.
"We’ve had some really good patches within away games, but then some really bad patches as well.
"We need to put a full four quarters together on the road and play consistently, and that’s something we didn’t do against Melbourne or Essendon.
"Particularly Essendon, where we let them kick eight goals in the first quarter, then had to play catch-up."
The Lions will get their chance to turn around that form when they travel to Docklands on Saturday night to play Richmond.
The match is crucial to both team’s seasons aspirations – with a win, the sixth-placed Lions can further entrench themselves in the top eight while the Tigers could say goodbye to their finals chances in defeat.
The Lions' run home also features road trips to meet likely finalists Hawthorn (in Launceston) and the Sydney Swans (at the SCG).
"We have an opportunity in front to us and it’s going to be a really good challenge," Black said.
"You normally need to win 12 games to play finals and that means we’ll need to win at least three of our remaining six.
"I can’t yet say that I’m looking forward to the finals – because obviously we’re not there yet.
"But I’m really keen and enthusiastic to get there and, once you’re there, anything can happen. I also think it would be terrific for the development of our young guys to play a final."
Black says the groin problem that hampered him early in the season has calmed and he does not expect to be troubled by the shoulder injury suffered against the Bombers.
Bradd Dalziell’s sensational debut last week against West Coast had Black casting his thoughts to his own first game against the Western Bulldogs way back in round one, 1998.
It's common knowledge that Dalziell broke Black’s club beep test record during the summer, but the 2002 Brownlow Medallist doesn’t expect to recapture the mark any time soon.
"With the groin issues I’ve had, I’m not sure the club will be all that keen on me doing many more beep tests," Black said.
"I can still remember my first game. I started on the half-back flank and was probably a little bit intimidated by the pace of the game and the bigger bodies – I just wanted to get a touch.
"Obviously Bradd had a very good debut and the challenge for him now is just to contribute consistently.
"But that’s the challenge for all of us really."
