Chris Fagan is in the midst of the best coaching performance of his career, says veteran Dayne Zorko as the Brisbane mentor attempts to mastermind a preliminary final win over Geelong.
Fagan has dragged the Lions back from a 2-5 start to a final-four berth, and will attempt to deliver their first win over the Cats in Victoria since the 2004 preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday evening.
The heat has come for Fagan at times in a roller coaster AFL season, his eighth at the helm, but Zorko said he had “doubled down” on key messages to steer the Lions back on track.
“Well I reckon it’s been his best coaching performance for his entirety of his coaching career thus far,” Zorko said on Friday.
“At 2-5, youse (sic) were coming from everywhere for us. So his ability just to steady the ship, hold down, put a lot of trust in us to dig ourselves out of it, keep our game plan really simple.
“He shows statistics that really back up where we are as a football club, and although our results weren’t going the right way, our numbers were actually better than what they were in the previous year, but we were 8-2.
“… For him, it was just a simple message, ‘just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s going to turn, it’s going to turn.’ And ultimately, it did.
“We didn’t change anything. We didn’t reinvent the wheel. We just stuck to what he did. He put trust in us as players, which he’s done for his whole tenure, and together, we got out of our little rut.
“And then his messaging after the break has been superb.”
Zorko was adamant co-captain Lachie Neale (foot/heel) would be fine despite being in a moonboot earlier in the week.
“Honestly, he’s trained the best he’s trained this week,” Zorko said.
“So hopefully that’s a good indication.”
Neale was later barely involved in Friday’s captain’s run at the MCG, largely standing off to the side as his teammates enjoyed a light session in front of fans.
Brisbane have won just two of their past 18 games at the venue.
“We play some really good footy here,” Zorko said.
“Might not get the results, but we play well enough here, so we’ll just lock in for longer tomorrow night. Absolutely.
“Pretty big game. We’ve been close on a number of occasions. Result just hasn’t gone our way. But, yeah, we certainly don’t fear it.”
Chris Scott’s Cats have won six of their last eight against Brisbane and Zorko was wary of their finals experience.
“When we set out on our journey, we wanted to be like a Geelong and the Richmonds that were really dominant in those eras,” he said.
“They’ve got some really extraordinary players that have played in big moments and performed in big moments. So we certainly look up to them.
“But ultimately, yeah, we need to get a result tomorrow night to overcome that hurdle.”
