JUST when Chris Fagan thought he knew everything about his team, Brisbane's win over Gold Coast taught its coach something new on Saturday night.
With no genuine key defenders available to choose from, Fagan recalled Jaxon Prior to face the Suns and swung Eric Hipwood back for the first time in his 171-game career.
And alongside veteran Ryan Lester, the Lions' defence stood up, helping them to an eight consecutive victory and second spot on the ladder.
It continued a 2024 of discovery for Fagan, who has helped guide the Lions from a 2-5 win-loss record all the way back to premiership contention despite a raft of serious injuries.
"When you have some of these crisis situations, they're good in a way, you learn a bit more about your team," a beaming Fagan said post-match.
"We're a bit more flexible than I thought.
"Our recruiters have done a great job to put this group together and we're discovering now when we're tested for depth, there's a bit there.
SUNS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats
"It's one of the great things that have come out of the season so far.
"There's a long way to go … we haven't done anything yet, but we're giving ourselves a chance."
Fagan said he would now have more confidence to swing Hipwood to defence in the future if needed after the 26-year-old overcame a shaky start against Ben King to finish with eight intercept possessions.
Prior played the best of his 37 career games, his coach said.
It follows breakout performances from Kai Lohmann, Bruce Reville, Logan Morris and Shadeau Brain this year – all men that started outside the best 22 in Opening Round.
Although the defenders did a fine job, it was the Lions' midfield that bankrolled victory.
They won the clearance count (43-31) and contested possessions (143-119) to protect the back six as much as possible.
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick put it simply.
"I thought their midfield beat ours, plain and simple," he said.
"When push comes to shove, you play against big boys, there's a reason they're a top four side. They outshone us where we needed to win the ball.
"Our midfield is a very very good midfield. They lowered their colours tonight and it's happened a couple of times this year which is incredibly disappointing.
"When you're getting beaten across the arcs, not just midfielders … it's hard to lump it on them, across the middle of the ground we got pole-axed, we've just got to be better."
Despite losing most statistical areas, the Suns got within eight points midway through the fourth quarter, but like often happened through the night, were unable to take their chances and put genuine heat on their opponents.
King took four contested marks and looked dangerous, but for the second straight week kicked poorly at goal, finishing with 1.3 from five shots.
"I've dealt with enough key forwards along the way, they've got to refine their own technique," Hardwick said.
"His momentum is not going in the right direction. He knows that, he'll refine that and he'll get better.
"At least he's putting himself in a position to have shots."
Now boasting a 9-10 win-loss record, the Suns will need to win all four matches against West Coast, Essendon, Melbourne and Richmond to have any chance of playing in September.
"You've just got to be playing your best footy at the right time.
"Are we capable? Yeah, absolutely we're capable. I've got a really strong belief in this group.
"They're a group that's capable of more, I hope they understand that, I hope they believe that."
