The Brisbane Lions are sticking by a pledge to review the tenure of under-fire boss Justin Leppitsch at season's end but the embattled coach says it's AFL head office that should come under the microscope.
The Lions slumped to another devastating loss on Saturday night, thumped by Adelaide by 138 points.
Two of the club's worst losses in their history have now come in the last fortnight, following on from last week's 94-point home defeat to Port Adelaide.
The third-year coach deflected questions about his job security after Saturday night's game, saying they were for the Lions' board to answer.
Instead, he took aim at the AFL over the concessions handed to expansion side Greater Western Sydney, whose success this year could not be further from Brisbane's lowly performance.
"We've been given nothing as a footy club," Leppitsch said.
"GWS bought Heath Shaw and (Shane) Mumford with the extra concessions they got with cash.
"You've got to understand there is a system behind what you see out there on gameday.
"(Some) get more concessions and some don't.
"Coaching and what I do is a very important part but it's still only one part of a very big picture that we play in this game to win an AFL premiership."
Brisbane chairman Bob Sharpless said Leppitsch, who has a contract to coach in 2017, wouldn't be assessed until September.
"The club will stick to the path that it has outlined in recent weeks," the statement read.
"He will coach the remaining three games before being reviewed once the season is over."
The Lions managed just one goal compared to Adelaide's 13 in the second half of their capitulation to a far superior Crows outfit.
Describing his inexperienced players as boys against men, Leppitsch admitted he feared the effect Brisbane's massive losses were having on senior stars such as Tom Rockliff and Dayne Zorko.
"They've been at this club a long time and we haven't given them a lot of success," Leppitsch said.
"They've got to hold up a lot. They've got to play with a lot of young kids and it must be draining for them to do that week-in, week-out.
"As a footy club, we've got to protect them as much as we protect our kids because I'm sure they're hitting the age now where they're thinking 'well, where's this club going?' as well.
"I don't think they're questioning their future here but we just have to keep reminding them that good times are going to come."
