LEIGH Matthews has inflamed the controversy surrounding the on-off return of Ben Cousins by claiming West Coast treated their clash with Brisbane as a practice match.
Brisbane scored one of the upsets of the season by downing the Eagles 13.13 (91) to 9.10 (64) – their first win at Subiaco since 2001.
Mathews said the stunning win felt “like a Grand Final victory” but claimed he suspected the Eagles had underestimated the Lions.
And he said the way the Eagles handled the potential return of Cousins from his drug-related suspension was evidence they simply weren’t switched on in the build-up to the game.
Matthews said the Eagles’ willingness to bring Cousins straight into a winning side suggested that mentally they already had the match written down as a win.
The Brisbane coach said he recognised before the game that West Coast complacency may open the door to the Lions.
“Well I did because I thought the Eagles looked like they were treating it like a practice game.
“I couldn’t for the life of me think … and I know the circumstances around Ben are different - lets face it, it’s a first … but for the life of me, you come and train for one session and go and play senior footy?
“That’s why blokes train for five months over the summer, so that to me seemed like they thought they were just going to win it and therefore it didn’t matter if Ben played 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes.
“It was just a good opportunity to get him playing again. And I sort of sensed that a little bit.”
Matthews pointedly did not deny that the Eagles had shown a lack of respect for the young Lion’s line-up.
“You know what the word is. All I’m saying is I sensed there was a belief from within [the West Coast] camp… and I don’t sort of think John Worsfold thinks that way … but I think, in general, they may have fallen for the fact too that this was a game that only had to be played for them to win it.
“I got a feeling we got an opposition that just expected that they would win it.
“When we put the pressure on them that means all of a sudden; ‘gee the script’s not going the way it’s supposed to’, and sometimes uncertainty sets in because the hot, hot favourite is not winning.”
Matthews confirmed he had used the Eagles’ apparent complacency to fire up his players before the game and inspire a strong physical attack from the Lions.
“I mean, we needed a bold, passionate, brave performance and I guess that was just one of the stimuluses to try and get a heavy adrenalin charge performance.”
“We had to tackle really well. I mean there was no way we could win if we didn’t tackle exceptionally well …to put the pressure on the Eagles.
“If it had been a game of keepings off they probably would have been a little bit too skilled, but to go out and do that was a necessity, and I guess it happened.”
Despite questioning the Eagles’ mental preparation, Matthews was full of praise for his side and said the win was “something special” which rated as high as anything in the highlights of his long career.
With the game in Brisbane’s control, Matthews took the unusual step of heading down to the boundary line for the closing minutes so that he could be with his victorious players as the final siren sounded.
He said wins like Saturday night’s don’t come around too often and were important in developing his younger players.
“What we want really is the feel good pills that come from achievement and something special and they don’t come too often.
“When they come it’s the freshness of the moment that makes them so extremely special.
“This will be only another home and away game I guess over the years ahead, but right at the moment is almost feels like a Grand Final victory given the circumstances going in.
“I mean we’ve only got probably half a side of relatively experienced been there, done that league players, so the other half are finding their way.
“But wins like this give them great momentum and great belief that they can do really good things as well.”
The Lions now face Melbourne next week at Gabba with their finals hopes still alive.
