Latest news with #DarcyGardiner
News.com.au
12-08-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Darcy Gardiner keen to taste premiership glory after missing Brisbane's 2024 grand final win
Long-time Lions defender Darcy Gardiner has more reason than most of his teammates for wanting Brisbane to find its premiership spark from last season. The Lions have fallen out of the top four after losing two of their past three games and still need a win from their remaining two regular season matches – which include Friday night's clash against fourth-placed Fremantle in Perth – to guarantee themselves a top-eight berth. 'We're in this position now where we have to win – that's all there is to it for us,' said Gardiner, who debuted for Brisbane in 2014 and has made 177 AFL appearances for the club. Securing a top-eight berth would give the Lions a shot at reaching three successive grand finals and securing back-to-back flags. Gardiner played in Brisbane's four-point loss to Collingwood in the 2023 decider but missed out on last season's premiership success after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in May last year. Ironically, a season-ending knee injury suffered by Jack Payne two months ago gave Gardiner the chance to reclaim a permanent spot in Brisbane's backline, and the 29-year-old Queenscliff product is desperate for a chance to play in a winning grand-final team. 'It was disappointing last year … but it was still great for the club to win (the flag),' he said. 'I've got an opportunity now to have a crack at it if things go to plan. I'm pretty hungry. I'm at the pointy end of my career as well. 'I'm certainly not going to leave any stone unturned – that's for sure.' A run of six successive AFL appearances has Gardiner feeling settled and match-hardened. 'I'm starting to dust the cobwebs off, and I'm not blowing down the house out there as much … and I'm building that relationship and synergy with the other guys down there (in the backline) and just working well with them,' he said. However, the 'synergy' is being tested, with the Lions having been without four of their 2024 grand final defenders – Payne, Ryan Lester (concussion), Brandon Starcevich (hamstring) and Noah Answerth (achilles, season) – in their two-point loss to Sydney last Saturday night at the Gabba. 'We've seen in the past we've had guys come in, played roles and got it done. We think it happened on the weekend, we just didn't get the result,' Gardiner said. Lester is set to return against the Dockers, but a decision is reportedly yet to be made on Starcevich. Brisbane's injury list also includes co-captain Lachie Neale (quad), forward Kai Lohmann (calf), defender Keidean Coleman (quad) and utility Conor McKenna (hamstring).
News.com.au
17-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Brisbane Lions confident Darcy Gardiner up to task of replacing injured Jack Payne
Lions defender Ryan Lester has backed the 'reliable' Darcy Gardiner to make the most of his likely return to Brisbane's backline for Friday night's crunch clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, where the premiers must break a 22-year hoodoo to avoid a third successive loss. The Lions haven't won in their past 13 visits to Geelong's home ground, with their most recent victory at the venue having come in 2003 when a star-studded Brisbane side that included the likes of Michael Voss, Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Nigel Lappin and Jason Akermanis won by 14 points on its way to a third successive flag. 'We've been close a couple of times without getting results, so it'd be really nice to be able to win there, but we've got to play well,' Lester said in reflecting on Brisbane's GMHBA Stadium drought. 'They're really good side, (and) they're really good side at home. They're playing really well this year, so it's good challenge for us.' It's a challenge that has been made tougher by the loss of key defender Jack Payne, who will miss the rest of the season after rupturing the patellar tendon in his left knee in Brisbane's 11-points weekend loss to the GWS Giants at the Gabba. 'He's obviously pretty disappointed. He has had his injury battles in the past, and no doubt, he was having his best year he has had so far, which was so important to us,' Lester said of Payne, who had surgery on Monday night. However, Lester was adamant that 171-game veteran Gardiner, who is expected to replace Payne, was a more than a capable replacement despite his lack of top-flight football in recent seasons. Gardiner, 29, played only four AFL games in 2023, before his 2024 campaign ended in his seventh appearance when he suffered a rupture anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. He has played in six of Brisbane's 14 matches this season but mainly as a forward rather than the defensive role he held for several seasons in the Lions' line-up. 'The best thing about 'Dizzy' (Gardiner) is that he's reliable, and you know what you're going to get,' Lester said. 'He's done well to do some good stuff as a forward, but we've loved having him down back. Along with Harris (Andrews), the three of us have played a lot of footy together, which is good. 'We're very confident that despite 'Payney' being out and all the weapons that he brings, 'Dizzy' is a very good player in his own right, so we're looking forward to having him back there.' Lester was also confident the third-placed Lions could overcome their mini-form slump to get their bid for back-to-back premierships back on track. 'We're an experienced group, and we've been through lots of different scenarios over the last six or seven years, and this is quite similar to the ones we had last year when we had games that we lost where we had more shots,' he said. 'Because we're experienced, we're pretty confident that we know our footy is still good enough.'
