Brisbane Lions not satisfied with last year’s premiership as they chase another grand final appearance

Lions star Hugh McCluggage says last year’s premiership isn’t “enough” for a hungry Brisbane side desperate not to waste the chance to reach a third successive AFL grand final. The Lions have qualified for a fourth straight preliminary final but face the tough task on Saturday at the MCG of beating an in-form Collingwood side freshened by a weekend off. Brisbane will also face the Magpies without injured talisman Lachie Neale (torn calf) as well as forward Eric Hipwood (knee) and other long-term casualties Jack Payne (knee), Noah Answerth (Achilles), Keidean Coleman (quad) and Linc McCarthy (knee). However, the challenge of overcoming such hurdles and the potential chance for the likes of young guns Levi Ashcroft, Sam Marshall and Ty Gallop and midfielder Bruce Reville to play in an AFL grand final for the first time continues to motivate the Lions. There is also the incentive of trying to reward club stalwarts Oscar McInerney and Darcy Gardiner, who both missed last season’s grand final win through injury, with the chance to taste premiership glory. “You always want to go again and you want to keep chasing, and we’ve been hunted this year as the reigning premiers, and we feel like we’ve been able to battle through all the adversity that we’ve had this year off the back of that,” McCluggage said on Tuesday. “We’ve put ourselves in a position where we get to play against the final three other sides (Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong) which is really exciting. “For us, it just starts again now, and there’s no looking ahead further than this week for any of the boys, even the guys that didn’t get to play in that premiership last year. “It’s a little bit of extra motivation to try and go all the way for those boys, but they’re also going to be on edge, as the rest of us are, because although we won it last year, it just doesn’t seem like that’s enough.” All-Australian McCluggage bounced back to form in Brisbane’s 53-point semi-final weekend win over Gold Coast, accumulating 33 possessions a week after being nullified by Geelong’s Oisin Mullin in the Lions’ qualifying loss to the Cats. “I was disappointed with the way I played, the team was disappointed with the way we played against the Cats, but full credit to them, they forced us into that,” McCluggage said. “Mullin did a really good job and put me off my game, but that wasn’t the reason we lost. “They were really good as a team as well. I was happy I could bounce back, but I was more pleased that the team could bounce back. “We brought that pressure that probably the Cats brought to us against the Gold Coast and really flipped the script.” McCluggage said he would on Saturday need to produce another display of “high-percentage footy”. “They (the Magpies) are a really experienced team. They like to use the ball through the corridor, and you can’t get sucked into running around aimlessly,” he said. “You need to be switched on with the set-ups. We expect it’s going to be a really tough game in that regard, and my role as a midfielder is to work hard and to make sure that I’m running both ways defensively and offensively and challenging in that regard.” Neale’s unlikely bid to be fit for the grand final should the Lions get that far continued on Tuesday with laps of Brighton Homes Arena before the start of Brisbane’s proper training session. “Lachie’s been awesome. He has stayed really involved in the team. Obviously, he’s come out and said that he’s pushing for that grand final, so that just keeps him motivated to work hard,” McCluggage said. “He’s been away doing what he needs to do individually, but he’s been in all the team meetings and helping the boys.”