Brisbane coach Chris Fagan admits he's been a worried man in recent weeks but it hasn't been because of the looming threat of the wooden spoon.
The Lions entered Sunday's game against Fremantle with just one win to their name and the unenviable record of being the AFL's worst first-quarter team.
In their 13 previous opening terms this season, Brisbane had failed to win even one.
But all that changed during Brisbane's 55-point belting of Fremantle at Optus Stadium - their first win in Perth since 2010.
The Lions booted the first four goals of the match on the way to the dominant 18.11 (119) to 9.10 (64) win.
The victory moves Brisbane (2-12) one win and significant percentage above last-placed Carlton.
But more important for Fagan, it's given his players some long-awaited reward for all their hard work and efforts.
"I was starting to worry that at some point in time they weren't going to get the reward they deserve," the second-year coach said.
"Winning is the ultimate reinforcement for all the things you're trying to do.
"We've always tried to celebrate the little wins in the last 18 months but every now an then you need an extra boost.
"And if you look at our season, we had the one bad game against Richmond when we got belted at the MCG, and a bad half against North Melbourne.
"But outside that, we have been totally competitive against some really good footy sides."
Brisbane aren't safe from the wooden spoon just yet.
Saturday's clash with Carlton at the Gabba will go a long way towards deciding what happens on that front.
But for Fagan, it's not at the forefront of his thinking.
"We don't even talk about the wooden spoon," Fagan said.
"We talk about bringing our best effort and we know we are competitive against most sides.
"It's not something that is on our radar. Maybe the players think about it more than we do.
"For us, it's about getting better at little things in games and we managed to do that again (against Fremantle)."
Share
