We got belted at stoppages, the inside-50 count was lopsided and the weight of numbers broke us eventually, despite the defence’s efforts at Leederville Oval on Sunday.
The Lions were fantastic and we were ordinary to lose by 55 points.
We now face East Perth, which is a significantly dangerous side with a good mix of WAFL players and AFL-listed personnel.
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READ NOWWest Coast youngster Tom Lamb kicked four goals against us last time so we’ll expect Marcus Adams, Nick Rodda or Joe Morrow to keep him quiet in the preliminary final at Arena Joondalup on Sunday.
The big determination of match-ups for us is whether Eagles big man Scott Lycett plays for the Royals. I’m expecting him to be named so he will most likely be a match-up for Rodda or Adams.
Michael Lourey is likely to be OK to face the Royals after injuring his ankle against Subiaco. He could have remained on the ground, but since we did not look like winning, we took him off about midway through the third quarter.
He was on light duties last night, but we will do everything we can to get him fit for the match. We might not make a decision on whether he can play until Saturday.
It will be really difficult for us to decide whether Jordan Jones comes into the side after recovering from what we thought was a season-ending hamstring injury to play reserves last weekend.
He has not played for us since round one so it will be a gamble if we pick him for a do-or-die final off the back of one twos game.
It is unlikely we will select him, but stranger things have happened.
We will push him harder than all the other players at training and keep the option open.