“I wish I was a magician with a little genie bottle and we could produce one,” coach Leigh Matthews said after Sunday’s 50-point loss to Geelong at Skilled Stadium.
“But we can only keep going with the players available any week.”
The Lions fought back well after a goalless first half in wet and windy conditions, closing to within 20 points on two occasions before Geelong broke away with a six-goal final quarter.
“We got smashed on the scoreboard but the intent was good and the desperate effort was very good,” Matthews said. “They beat us down here in the first game last year … by 80 points when we felt we had an old team going nowhere. This year we have a young team that might have some improvement in them.
“But right now Geelong are better than us in the areas that tend to make you a good team. They’re top of the ladder so they’ve obviously proved their consistency this year.”
The half-time tally of 0.4 was Brisbane's second-lowest first-half score, the lowest being a three-behind count against Melbourne at the MCG in 1994.
“It wasn’t going to be a high-scoring game with the conditions the way they were,” Matthews said.
“But there’s always something about getting that first goal on the scoreboard, and if you haven’t got that first goal up to half time… the game was always going to be hard to salvage from that point.
Matthews said it wasn’t just in the forward line that the Cats were dominant.
“We got beaten at the two ends. Their forwards were able to score against our guys in difficult conditions and up the other end their defence really shut us down.”
Geelong star Gary Ablett was at the heart of Geelong’s round-the-ground dominance, collecting 35 disposals.
“He’s a wonderful little player,” Matthews said. “The things that good players do, they’re clean ball handlers, they keep their feet and make good decisions with the ball in their hands. He does all those things. He’s obviously an All Australian standard player.”
