Brisbane coach Chris Fagan is confident his team has enough depth to come up trumps even if Port Adelaide physically target Lachie Neale again in Saturday night’s top-four clash.
Neale was left battered and bruised when the teams met in round 17 last year, with Port players honing in on the star Lion at every opportunity.
Cam Sutcliffe was the main antagonist that day, but plenty of his teammates joined in when given the chance, sparking a series of melees.
The punishment levelled at Neale was no surprise given Power coach Ken Hinkley’s pre-match comments about trying to “terrorise” the prolific midfielder.
Neale had the last laugh that day, tallying 24 disposals and 10 clearances to help his team post a 48-point win at Adelaide Oval.
Whether Port Adelaide opt for the same tactics at the Gabba on Saturday night remains to be seen, but the Lions will be ready for it.
“They might go that way again,” Fagan said.
“I feel really confident that we’re more than a one-man team. Our midfield runs pretty deep. We’ll let them decide that. If they want to do it, so be it.
“We’ll just attack the ball really strongly and we’ll try to play our best footy and we’ll need to because they’re in brilliant form.”
The Power have been a more free-flowing side this season and Hinkley said there was no specific plan to curb Neale’s influence this time around.
“We’ve been lucky enough to see Lachie up close too many times and he’s played really well against us,” Hinkley told reporters on Friday.
“It’ll be about team v team, it won’t be about Lachie Neale or anything like that.”
Port Adelaide (4-0) sit on top of the ladder with a whopping percentage of 236.3.
Third-placed Brisbane (3-1) are also in hot form after beating Fremantle, West Coast and Adelaide since the competition’s restart.
Fagan said it would be a tough task to stop a rampant Power outfit.
“I always think if you want to be the best we’ve got to try to beat the best and they’re clearly the best at the moment, so it’s a good challenge for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fagan said he would be amazed if star forward Charlie Cameron opted to leave the club.
Cameron is contracted until the end of 2021, but there’s talk he could opt for a move to Victoria.
“Charlie’s a really important part of our footy club, he’s very happy here,” Fagan said.
“I would be amazed if he didn’t continue his career here for a long time.”