Once a fortress for the Brisbane Lions, the Gabba has become a place of agony in 2025, as the club dropped their fourth home game this season on Saturday afternoon against Sydney.
It's the second season in a row Brisbane have failed to make the most of their home ground advantage in the regular season, despite winning all 13 games at the venue in 2023. They now sit with a record of 6-4 this season, slightly worse than 2024's record of 8-4.
This latest loss against the Swans comes as shock if one were to just read the stat sheet from the contest, with the Lions dominating many of the key metrics, including inside 50s (+13) and clearances (+19).
The final two-point margin flatters Brisbane also, as they kicked three goals in the final minute of the game to scrape back to a respectable margin, but trailed by as much as 32 points in the third quarter.
So, what went wrong? Senior coach Chris Fagan highlighted his side's lack of intensity, particularly inside forward 50, as a factor in the disappointing result.
"It was a low-pressure game, wasn't it? For both sides. We ended up with more tackles than them, it was just a transition game," Fagan said post-game.
"The biggest thing in the game was we couldn't win ground ball in our front half, and it was that way all night until the last quarter. Then, we win ground ball in the last quarter, and we win the quarter [on the scoreboard].
"I spoke about it at every break. That intensity to lock the ball in by our forwards and by our midfielders to squeeze in was inconsistent tonight.
"[Sydney] kicked eight goals from their back half. That's the game. We're -22 ground balls in our front half... and it was even worse than that at three-quarter time. If we get 65 inside 50s, we usually win, which is what we did tonight, but it didn't turn out that way."
Despite dominating at the stoppages, the Lions failed to convert their possession wins going inside 50, scoring on 47.7% of their entries, which is below their season average.
Sydney, on the other hand, were incredibly efficient, scoring on 57.7% of their forward 50 entries, which Fagan linked to the dominance of Swans superstar Isaac Heeney in the first half.
"Heeney in the first half was particularly damaging. We didn't get the job done on him, which we set out to do. He got them in the game and they got their tails up," Fagan said of Heeney, who kicked five goals to go with 23 disposals for the match.
"We won clearances by [19] tonight, normally when we do that we get a good result, but we only won scores from stoppages by 14 points. We weren't able to take enough advantage from there."
The loss will undoubtedly sting for this Lions group, as it places their top four spot in serious jeopardy with matches against Fremantle at Optus Stadium and the in-form Hawks to come.
However, Brisbane have proven that going into September without the double chance isn't season-defining, and Fagan knows that.
"I don't doubt this group in any way, shape or form," Fagan said.
"Our best is very, very good. Our record on the road this year is probably the best it's ever been in club history... but we need to do better forward of centre than we did tonight."
