The Brisbane Lions will seek to put an end to a string of big losses at Adelaide Oval when they take on Port Adelaide this Saturday.
Since the refurbished stadium opened to AFL in 2014 the Lions have an average losing margin of 103.75 points across four games at the ground.
They enter the game on the back of a win, having snapped a nine-game losing streak by recording a 57-point victory at the Gabba on the weekend.
“We need to bring consistency in our performance – Port Adelaide are obviously going quite well at the moment but it’s more about us going forward,” said Assistant Coach Danny Daly.
The Power are coming off a 70-point loss to Essendon at Etihad Stadium. The loss cost them a top four spot – they sit 6-5 and in fifth position on the AFL Ladder.
“It’s about our consistency and bring our ball movement and defensive pressure and our ability to win the contested ball around the stoppages.
“If we can bring that this week against Port Adelaide it gives us a real chance.
“They pride themselves on their ability to pressure up in the forward half – so the way we move the ball from our back half is going to be extremely important.”
Daly said a different look Lions forward line on Saturday night against Fremantle, which included veteran defender Ryan Harwood and running defender Tom Cutler, proved impressive.
“I think one of the things we’ve found is that we’ve had a large number of defenders in our side and we’ve been trying to find spots for them all over the ground,” said Daly.
“We sent Harwood back to the NEAFL and he played forward two weeks ago and he kicked six goals so we thought we’d bring him back into the AFL and play that role.
“While he didn’t kick any goals, his pressure down forward and his ability to help the forward line keep the ball in the forward half was really important for us.
“Cutler we’ve always found would be a winger in time for us, it was just a matter of when was the right time to put him onto a wing which we did on the weekend.
"Part of our rotation is that our wingers have to go forward – Cuts was able to kick three goals but then more importantly when he went back to the wing he had a significant bearing on the game.”
