Brisbane coach Chris Fagan is optimistic key defender Jack Payne will be available for his side’s do-or-die finals affair against the GWS Giants next Saturday despite injuring his knee in the Lions’ 28-point win over Carlton.
Payne hobbled off in the second quarter of Brisbane’s 14.15 (99) to 11.5 (71) elimination final victory at the Gabba on Saturday night.
He didn’t return to the field, with substitute Conor McKenna activated at the start of the second-half.
Payne, who had just returned from a foot injury, is set to go for scans, however Fagan seemed hopeful that the injury wasn’t as serious as first feared.
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“We’ve got a level of optimism he could be right for next week,” Fagan said.
“It’s not necessarily all bad. We’ll get some scans and see how it is.
“If we had to put him back out there, we could have tried to, but there probably wasn’t any point in doing that.”
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Payne was on the field during Brisbane’s early blitz that set up their win over the Blues.
At one stage in the second quarter, the score 60-0 such was Brisbane’s domination.
And while the Blues ended up giving the scoreboard a respectable appearance with the aid of a flurry of goals either side of half-time, the Lions were never seriously threatened.
“That’s probably the best footy we’ve played this year for 50-55 minutes,” Fagan said.
“We wanted to try and put them on the back foot early and I probably didn’t think we’d do it as well as that.
“It was a pretty emphatic performance for the first 50 minutes of the game.
“I thought we did a pretty good job in the latter part of the third quarter, just to crunch the game up, slow it down and be in a good position by three-quarter time.”
Fagan declared the Lions had little to lose next weekend in Sydney against the Giants, who finished one place higher that Brisbane on the ladder.
“If we can play the football we played, particularly in the first half tonight, we’ll challenge anybody,” he said.
However, Fagan didn’t buy into the “narrative” that the Lions would have the greater momentum going into the contest after the Giants lost by six points to minor premiers Sydney in Saturday’s qualifying final.
“Over the year everyone gets excited about the teams down the bottom of the eight that win, and because the Giants lost, everyone gets down on them, and that’s the narrative,” he said.
“They’ll be determined to bounce back. We’re going to have to play well to beat them at their ground.”
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