Sometimes stats can lie, but that certainly wasn’t the case on Saturday night at the Gabba - with Greater Western Sydney’s dominance over the Brisbane Lions clear as day in the stoppage and clearance figures.

The Giants belted the Lions in clearances (52-30) and stoppages (37-20), while the tackle count (73-47) was also an indictment of the home team’s inability to put any physical pressure on their opponents.

Pearce Hanley, who was one of few shining lights for the Lions, spoke of the discrepancy after the game.

“We were very poor at stoppages. They scored a lot from contested footy. We weren’t very good and it’s something we’ll address during the week,” Hanley told LIONS TV.

“It’s been a massive focus (of ours) and we’ve been working hard on it during the week.”

Hanley did reveal that a below par training session on Thursday might have set the tone for Saturday’s ordinary performance.

“We had a sloppy training session on Thursday which led into that. We can’t afford to do that.”