The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-17 · by Roy Ward, Danny Russell
While the Brisbane Lions sweat on the fitness of speedy defender Noah Answerth, coach Chris Fagan believes the smarts of veteran Ryan Lester could counter the speed of Hawthorn superstar Nick Watson.
uncertain
smarts → sweat → Watson
The man known as “the Wizard” has, arguably, become opposition sides’ most challenging match-up during his All-Australian season and finished with two goals, nine score involvements and 447 metres gained in the qualifying final win over Fremantle.
asserted
man → know → Fremantle
Answerth is battling to prove his fitness this week following an ankle injury.
asserted
Answerth → battle → injury
While Fagan was cautiously optimistic on Thursday, he was adamant he won’t pick a player for a crunch final unless he was sure that player’s body was up to the task.
asserted
body → pick → task
“Ankle injuries are always a bit of a challenge for footballers,” Fagan said on Thursday morning.
asserted
Fagan → say → morning
“They take more weight on the ankles.
asserted
They → take → ankles
He did a bit of training on Tuesday and there is some optimism around him, but I’m not 100 per cent sure and I don’t want to take anyone into a final who isn’t 100 per cent [fit].
asserted
who → do → final
“It’s part of our considerations because we don’t want to hang him out to dry by playing him on someone he isn’t equipped to play on because he’s not quite right.
asserted
he → ’ → someone
It’s a very important decision.”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
But Fagan said he had multiple options for Watson, including Lester, who has taken on tall and small forwards throughout the club’s current premiership-winning era.
asserted
who → say → era
“Darcy Wilmot has a lot of pace, he can certainly keep up with him,” Fagan said of Watson.
asserted
Fagan → have → Watson
“[Jaspa] Fletcher is another one and even Ryan Lester, he played on [Josh] Rachele last week, who is somewhere near the standard of Watson, and he was able to use his smarts to get the job done.
“
asserted
job → play → smarts
By and large, how effective Hawthorn’s forwards [are] is dependent on how easily the ball gets into their forward line and how quickly.
asserted
ball → get → line
The more we can slow it down and cut it off, the more difficult it becomes for them.
asserted
it → slow → them
The Hawks and the Lions have won a combined six premierships in the past 20 years and Fagan has had a leading hand in all of them, filling development and head of football roles at Hawthorn between 2008-2016 when they famously won four flags.
asserted
they → win → flags
Fagan’s Lions coaching tenure started for the 2017 season, embarking on a rebuild that has led to back-to-back premierships in the past two years and could include a third straight if they triumph this season.
uncertain
they → start → straight
Surprisingly, the two clubs have never met in a final, despite their success in recent decades.
asserted
clubs → meet → decades
“They were at their peak when the Lions were really struggling a few years back,” Fagan said.
asserted
Fagan → struggle → peak
“It’s one of those crazy things in sport that has never happened, but it is going to happen this week, so it will be on.”
asserted
it → ’ → sport
The Lions have a 7-18 record all-time in away games against the Hawks, although they have only met at the MCG three times since 2020.
asserted
they → have → 2020
The Hawks won match-ups in 2020 and 2023 at the MCG while the Lions won by 33 points in their last meeting at the MCG in March last year.
asserted
Lions → win → March
Fagan has refused to show his players video of their 67-point win over the Hawks at the Gabba in round 22 as he believes the stakes for that match were far different to now.
asserted
stakes → refuse → match
“I think they had an off game – you can’t read into that performance from a few weeks ago,” Fagan said.
asserted
Fagan → think → performance
“It will be entirely different, and we aren’t even showing any vision from that game.
asserted
we → show → game
“We are getting ready for the hardest game we will play this year.
asserted
we → get → game
“
- Roy Ward
‘I can’t breathe’: Plugger’s first words after preliminary final heroics
asserted
I → breathe → heroics
Goal-kicking leviathan Tony Lockett was never one to mince his words, and it was no different after his famous after-the-siren behind in the 1996 preliminary final at the SCG.
asserted
it → kick → SCG
Lockett’s 55-metre drop-punt from the edge of the centre square handed the Swans a one-point victory over Essendon and sent them through to the grand final for the first time in 51 years, but the no-nonsense full-forward was not happy about being buried at the bottom of a celebratory pile-on.
asserted
forward → hand → on
“Get the f--- off me, I can’t breathe,” he bellowed at his ecstatic teammates.
asserted
he → get → teammates
The aftermath of the thrilling victory was recalled this week, 30 years after the event, by the man who delivered the ball into a leading Lockett’s hands, teammate Wade Chapman.
asserted
who → recall → hands
Lockett marked Chapman’s pass on his chest at centre half-forward with 22 seconds left on the clock.
asserted
Lockett → mark → clock
The scores were level – 10.9 (69) apiece – following a Daryn Cresswell mark and goal little more than a minute earlier.
asserted
scores → follow → mark
“It was probably one of my better kicks in my career,” Chapman said.
asserted
Chapman → say → career
“There were two Essendon players on the outside of Tony, and it could have gone back the other way had it been a turnover.”
uncertain
it → be → Tony
Chapman, now 50, stood behind the full-forward as the siren sounded, and he watched as teammate Troy Luff spoke to Lockett about any score being enough.
asserted
score → stand → Lockett
“I knew he had come back from a groin injury, and he was still, you know, a fair distance out.
asserted
you → know → injury
But I was confident that he was able to score,” Chapman said.
asserted
Chapman → score → ?
“When it left his boot, and it was going in the air, I was confident it would make the distance.
asserted
it → leave → distance
“I remember Tony was on his back, and there were a couple of guys on him, and then I was on those guys, and then there were a couple of other guys on me.
asserted
I → remember → me
All I remember was Tony saying, the expletives of, ‘Get the F-off me, I can’t breathe’.”
asserted
I → remember → me
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
