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A four-day turnaround between AFL games has prevented Brisbane from hitting the track for goal-kicking practice following their inaccurate game against Richmond
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan is backing his players to overcome their goal-kicking yips and has refuted suggestions it's a serious concern for the Lions' AFL premiership aspirations.
They have to quickly respond from Tuesday night's wayward display against Richmond, when they kicked 4.17 to lose by 41 points despite dominating periods of the contest in general play.
Due to the short turnaround before hosting the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba on Saturday night, the Lions have stayed away from trying to fix anything related to their goal-kicking accuracy.
"We've only had four days to train, so you reckon we've done much (goal-kicking practice)?," Fagan said on Friday.
"This is a first for AFL football playing games four days apart and doing it back-to-back.
"You can't expect the players to go out and play hard for four quarters if you train them hard in the days preceding. It's really all about recovery."
Fagan says the Lions simply had an off-night around goal against the reigning premiers and he doesn't see it as a long-term issue.
It was Richmond's 15th straight victory over Brisbane, having not lost to the Lions since 2009.
"We shouldn't carry on like the club kicks 15 more points than goals each week," Fagan said.
"It happened last (game) and a game against Adelaide. Outside of that, we've kicked more goals than points.
"The week before we kicked 14.7 against Essendon; it fluctuates.
"There were lots of elements of the game that were the best we've ever played against Richmond."
The third-placed Lions are set to welcome back some experienced reinforcements for their clash against the Bulldogs, with Luke Beveridge's men determined to snap a two-game losing run and force their way back into the top eight.
Long-kicking Lions defender Daniel Rich has recovered from a hamstring injury, strong marking forward Daniel McStay is back from suspension and veteran halfback Grant Birchall is available after being rested against the Tigers.
But Brisbane will be without explosive forward Cameron Rayner, whose consecutive 55-game streak since debuting in round one, 2018 will end.
Fagan expects the 20-year-old to miss up to a month.
