After nine starts the Brisbane Lions notched their first win of the season in a clash with Hawthorn on Sunday.
But Sydney coach John Longmire is under no illusion the Lions will be hard to stop when the Swans head to the Gabba on Saturday.
“It’s been building and you absolutely disregard the win-loss ratio when you’re looking at the Lions,” Longmire said.
“They’ve been in almost every game – probably except one.
“A couple of weeks ago up at the Gabba they kicked 18 goals against Collingwood and were fantastic.
“So the result they got against Hawthorn had been building for quite a while and it probably doesn’t surprise anyone.”
Brisbane bagged a 56-point win over Hawthorn at the Gabba.
The Hawks raced to an early 18-point lead but led by just five points at quarter-time.
The Lions then stormed to 16 goals to the Hawks’ six over the final three quarters and finished with a gallant seven-goal-to-two final stanza to secure their first win over Hawthorn since 2009.
Although they hadn’t won a game ahead of the Hawthorn clash, the shining light was their respectable losing margins.
With the exception of a 93-point loss at the hands of Richmond in Round 4, they have an average losing margin of 16 points ahead of their clash with Sydney.
They went tantalisingly close to conquering one of the most difficult road trips in the competition in going down to Port Adelaide by less than a kick in Round 3.
Longmire said Brisbane had a lot to be wary of.
“They’ve been playing a really good, strong brand of footy,” Longmire said.
“They run hard, they’ve got a tall forward line and they’re well-balanced in terms of older players and younger players. They move the ball from one end of the ground to the other really quickly and they’ve got some tall marking forwards in their front half, which gives them the confidence to be able to move the ball quickly.”
Tall forwards Eric Hipwood, Oscar McInerney and Daniel McStay bring height to Brisbane’s forward line and Hipwood was particularly strong in the Hawthorn clash in a return of four goals.
No. 1 Draft pick Cameron Rayner again impressed with his speed and instinct around goal and finished with a pair of majors, while evergreen backman Luke Hodge was pivotal to Brisbane’s set-up behind the ball, barked all day and gathered 19 possessions to help the Lions to victory over his former side.
The Lions weren’t afraid to hurtle the ball up the corridor and it often resulted in over-the-back goals or their tall forwards being presented with one-on-one contests.
Sydney accounted for Fremantle on Saturday and is keenly awaiting another stern challenge ahead of a trip north.
