Was Brisbane's magical win the fault of the Giants or the strength of the Lions?

The Giants looked entirely in command in their Semi-Final with Brisbane, flying out to a 44-point lead mid-way through the third term, with the Lions looking completely hopeless to the Orange Tsunami.

That was until the game flipped on its head, and the Lions came roaring back to close the gap and take a five-point lead to the finish line to advance and send the Giants packing.

The incredible fight back ranks as the second biggest comeback in finals history, however with the Giants dropping a 28-point lead just the week prior, it begs the question. Was it the Giants that choked, or the Lions that lifted?

This was the burning questioned begged to David King on SEN’s Whateley, with Kingy emphatically claiming that the comeback was not entirely Brisbane’s doing.

Whateley: “I’ve never seen a team look more gone at 44 points down than Brisbane did.

“It changed all of a sudden, and then the last quarter felt like it was inevitable that Brisbane was going to hit the front, and then it was just a question of would that free the Giants up of the paralysis.

“They couldn’t do anyting about it in the last few minutes.

“So, the big issue, was this more the Lions, or the Giants?”

King: “You have to say it’s more the Giants.

“They had quarters where it all falls apart regularly over the last two months.

“In the opposition coaches’ box, or the opposition planning, the ‘stay in the game’ mentality is ever-present, because they have always got a quarter in them, that will give you an unbelievable look at the goals.

“Now I don’t know whether this is because the way they play is unsustainable for 120 minutes, full on pressure when the opposition has got the ball, we are rushing them, we are at them, and then when we’ve got the ball, we’re tsunami, we’re all running.

“So, you are all running dogged to attack, and you’re all running to defend. Can you do that for 120 minutes? Evidence is probably saying no.

“I’m not saying that is the only reason, I think there is a lot that goes on between the ears that hurt them on the weekend and has hurt them at different points.”

To further prove his suggestion, King did some digging into the latter stages of the home and away season, uncovering that the Giants tend to fall away in quarters much more often than coach Adam Kingsley would like to admit.

“I just want to run through some numbers,” he continued.

“Quarter two, Round 15, minus 37 points in one quarter. Quarter two, Round 16, minus 39 points in one quarter. Quarter one, Round 17, minus 33 points in one quarter. Quarter one, Round 20, minus 27 points.

“They are big margins, five, six, seven goals in one quarter of footy.

“Quarter one, Round 22, minus 30 points. Qualifying Final, quarter four, minus 27 points, and then what we see on the weekend, where they give up a run of five goals, and then a run of seven goals.

“This is a trend, not an event. It is not a one-off. This is not lost on other clubs.

“When you’re a known product, I’ve got no doubt Chris Fagan would have said ‘listen, I know it reads poorly on the scoreboard, I know it does, but they are going to give us a look’.

“It was 44 points halfway through the third. I’m not saying it always happens, but if it happens six times in seven weeks, you are a fair chance.

“It’s a Giants issue, but you have got to be able to gather and do what you did from the Lions point of view, when all looked gone.

“I thought (the Giants) had a great first half from the coach’s box and the setup of the game, but then when it turns, as it always does, they just can’t regather anything or find a handle to get themselves back in the game.”

While the Lions did superbly to capitalise on the Giants’ slip, King is concerned for Brisbane as they approach their Preliminary Final with Geelong, believing that the Cats won’t allow the type of run afforded to Brisbane in the final term.

“Geelong don’t give you these luxuries,” he stated.

“They don’t beat themselves; we keep talking about Chris Scott, and how he is able to coach this team and how they embrace the grind of 120 minutes.

“They won’t give you four goals in five minutes through their errors, or their setups.”