Brisbane midfielder Jarrod Berry has put the acid on the Lions leadership group to lift following consecutive losses.
The Lions sit 6-6 at the midway point of the season, two games and percentage outside the top four with several individuals well below the footy they played in the back-to-back premiership years.
“I think there's a number of us, nearly our whole leadership group is trying to be a leader, before they're a footballer,” Berry said.
“It's one of those things that comes out of such a good place and that's why we love them, but that's going to turn because you make a few little adjustments, guys get on the back of that, their performance lifts and we're fine.
“No panic stations, it's never as good, never as bad as it seems.”
Harris Andrews, Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley are co-captains, with Oscar Allen, Berry, Cam Rayner, Jaspa Fletcher and Will Ashcroft part of the leadership group.
“We learned this lesson at the start of 2024 – we were trying to be leaders before we were footballers and our most important asset to the team is performing and doing our own role well so knowing what your role is and executing that as well as possible.”
The Lions have another tough test in Gold Coast on the weekend, continuing, as Berry pointed out, a stretch of games against in-form opponents.
Against both GWS and Fremantle, Brisbane showed ticker after the game had been put to bed which Berry pointed to as a minor positive.
“I think you see that in the last quarter on the weekend. We played more our brand of football,” Berry added.
“It's really important we do take the positives away from that and it's one of those things, I don't think it's a lack of effort, I think on the weekend we went the other way and tried too hard especially some of our leaders were trying to make an impact across the group to get that right.
“We always look forward to the Q Clash, a great rivalry between us and the Suns. It's another opportunity for us to test ourselves and improve.”
