CHRIS Fagan was all smiles following Brisbane's win over Collingwood on Thursday night, but says he was bemused at criticism of his team's form during the week.
The Lions were relentless with their pressure from early in the 33-point victory, closing down the Magpies' time and space to storm to their second win of the season.
LIONS v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats
It finished a week in which Brisbane, and more particularly key forwards Eric Hipwood and Joe Daniher, had been at the centre of scrutiny over their inconsistency following a round three loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Fagan said he wasn't sure why there was so much focus on his team.
"The Bulldogs aren't a bad side, and they're pretty hard to beat at Marvel Stadium, so in a sense I didn't really understand," he said.
"I wasn't disturbed by last week's performance at all.
"I feel like everyone thinks we're going to go out there and win every week. It's not how it works in AFL footy. It's a hard, tough, competition and you have to earn every single win.
"I was glad that we played well tonight, but I didn't think the picture that was painted last week, I didn't think it was as bad as that."
Brisbane kicked 10 consecutive goals across the second and third quarters to set up a match-winning lead and then held off any Magpies challenge in the final term.
Daniher and Hipwood kicked two goals apiece, with the pair providing a genuine physical presence inside Brisbane's forward 50.
"Joey would never know there was any talk about him," Fagan said.
"He doesn't watch the TV; he doesn't listen to the media … that's just how Joey rolls.
"The conversation was more between him and I. He was really disappointed with his game last week, there was probably no one more so in the club than himself, so his performance tonight was on the back of his own chastisement of himself."
Fagan said despite the relative ease of victory with the final margin, he always felt the Magpies were a threat.
His Collingwood counterpart Craig McRae said there was no excuses for his team, despite playing without a recognised ruckman and having to deal with the video involving Jack Crisp for 24 hours up until the match.
McRae was most displeased with the second quarter, particularly when Collingwood confusion led to successive Brisbane free kicks from centre bounces due to 6-6-6 infringements.
He described them as "gifts" and showed how disconnected the Magpies were.
Despite losing the clearance count 46-37, Collingwood scored more from that source than its opponent.
With Mason Cox unlikely to return from injury next week, the ruck was still an area that would need addressing, McRae said.
"We've going to have to work through it, there's no quick fix," he said.
"There's no magic dust to it, we've got what we've got, and we have to work through it."
McRae said he would not comment on Crisp's situation, but said it did not have an impact on the Magpies' preparation.
"Brisbane are really good, let's face it, they've beaten Melbourne up here and everyone's saying Melbourne are the team to beat and we've gone down as well," he said.
"I think they've lost four games in the last five years up here, let's call it how it is, they're very good."
