Before Brisbane's qualifying final against Melbourne last weekend, coach Chris Fagan admitted 'plan A' wasn't going to involve tagging star Demons midfielders Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver.
The two Melbourne stars ran absolute riot as their team defeated the Lions comprehensively by 33 points, with Oliver picking up 33 disposals, a goal, four goal assists and seven clearances, while Petracca kicked 2.2 from his 30 touches.
There was no doubt Oliver and Petracca were the two most influential players on the ground, while Brisbane's game-breaker Dayne Zorko failed to have a score involvement or hit the scoreboard from 20 possessions, with the Demons shutting him out of the game.
Fagan faces another midfield dilemma as the Lions take on the Western Bulldogs in a cut-throat semi-final on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs feature game-breaking midfielders such as Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae, while Tom Liberatore's in-and-under ability is crucial to their clearance game.
Oh how lucky we are 😍
— Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) August 26, 2021
Bailey Dale, Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli. Three incredibly deserving All-Australians. pic.twitter.com/ZKbfY2FVkn
Will Fagan send his midfield stars - Lachie Neale, Zorko, Jarryd Lyons and Hugh McCluggage - into a head-to-head battle against their Bulldogs counterparts?
Or will he look to quell the influence of the opposition engine room?
Deven Robertson has been used as a tagger on a number of occasions this season, and has found himself back into the Lions team after being dropped in round 20..
He could do a job on one of the big-bodied Bulldogs midfielders, like Liberatore or Bontempelli, but using him would mean less time in the engine room for Brisbane's gun starting midfield.
Depth midfielders Jarrod Berry or Rhys Mathieson could also be used in run-with roles, but neither have a huge amount of experience in tagging an opponent out of the game.
The decision that Fagan makes on how to deal with the Bulldogs midfield will be crucial, as there is no doubt that the Lions will be crashing out in straight sets if Bontempelli and Macrae have as much influence as Oliver and Petracca before them.
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