Lions sweat on defender’s fitness test; Plugger’s first words after preliminary final heroics

While the Brisbane Lions sweat on the fitness of speedy defender Noah Answerth, coach Chris Fagan believes the smarts of veteran Ryan Lester could counter the speed of Hawthorn superstar Nick Watson .

The man known as “the Wizard” has, arguably, become opposition sides’ most challenging match-up during his All-Australian season and finished with two goals, nine score involvements and 447 metres gained in the qualifying final win over Fremantle .

Answerth is battling to prove his fitness this week following an ankle injury. While Fagan was cautiously optimistic on Thursday, he was adamant he won’t pick a player for a crunch final unless he was sure that player’s body was up to the task.

“Ankle injuries are always a bit of a challenge for footballers,” Fagan said on Thursday morning.

“They take more weight on the ankles. He did a bit of training on Tuesday and there is some optimism around him, but I’m not 100 per cent sure and I don’t want to take anyone into a final who isn’t 100 per cent [fit].

“It’s part of our considerations because we don’t want to hang him out to dry by playing him on someone he isn’t equipped to play on because he’s not quite right. It’s a very important decision.”

But Fagan said he had multiple options for Watson, including Lester, who has taken on tall and small forwards throughout the club’s current premiership-winning era.

“Darcy Wilmot has a lot of pace, he can certainly keep up with him,” Fagan said of Watson.

“[Jaspa] Fletcher is another one and even Ryan Lester, he played on [Josh] Rachele last week, who is somewhere near the standard of Watson, and he was able to use his smarts to get the job done.

“By and large, how effective Hawthorn’s forwards [are] is dependent on how easily the ball gets into their forward line and how quickly. The more we can slow it down and cut it off, the more difficult it becomes for them.”

The Hawks and the Lions have won a combined six premierships in the past 20 years and Fagan has had a leading hand in all of them, filling development and head of football roles at Hawthorn between 2008-2016 when they famously won four flags.

Fagan’s Lions coaching tenure started for the 2017 season, embarking on a rebuild that has led to back-to-back premierships in the past two years and could include a third straight if they triumph this season.

Surprisingly, the two clubs have never met in a final, despite their success in recent decades.

“They were at their peak when the Lions were really struggling a few years back,” Fagan said.