‘Flowed into gameday’: Great’s shock Lions call as ‘selfish’ claim emerges before cutthroat final

A 300-gamer has called into question Brisbane players' mindsets with reference to increasing the dollar amount on their next contracts.

It comes ahead of the Lions' cutthroat semi-final against Adelaide at the Gabba on Saturday night.

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Brisbane faces the prospect of September elimination after Sydney smashed Chris Fagan's outfit in last Saturday's qualifying final at the SCG.

The result, a 53-point loss while conceding a score of 141, underlined a leaky year in which it's given up 100+ points on nine occasions.

That includes opposition scores of 166 (Round 11), 154 (Round 21), 117 (Round 10) and 111 (Opening Round).

But speaking on the state of the Lions, North Melbourne great Drew Petrie suggested there was a "selfish" off-field mindset at play.

"I think over these last couple of years, you've seen player movement (at Brisbane)," the 332-gamer told Fox Sports News' AFL Tonight on Friday.

"Zac Bailey is staying at Brisbane, but players are increasing their value because they've got premierships and finals experience.

"So, to look elsewhere, they're going to get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more, so I wonder if they've taken their eye off the ball a little bit."

Bailey, 26, waited until September to sign a new contract; an eight-year deal after turning down $10 million over seven years at Adelaide.

Last October, Callum Ah Chee sought a move to Adelaide, while Brandon Starcevich started afresh at West Coast.

"(It's) not so much an on-field performance, gameday (thing), but what's flowed into gameday is a bit of a selfish mindset that's just clouding over that footy club at the moment, because of their success," Petrie continued.

"So, going back to the fundamentals of what's made them great is what Chris Fagan's going to have to work to do to ensure they beat Adelaide.

"I think they will beat Adelaide, but maybe there's a bit of a selfish, individual mindset that's creeping into that footy club at the moment, based on that success that they've had, and based on the dollars that they can get at other clubs."

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Bailey's retention is an enormous coup for the Lions, who would've thought they had little chance of keeping him around in this late part of the year.

"Throughout the whole period, I knew I wanted to stay at Brisbane," the dual All-Australian said after signing on the dotted line.

"I think these things just take a little bit of time. There was obviously some interest from down south that I had to really consider, but for me, there was no real rush."

He added: "I think throughout the year it was 50-50. It's now on me to make sure I keep trying to improve and take my game to another level.

"There's a lot of trust in me to perform, so now it's on me."

A win for Bailey's Brisbane on Saturday will grant them passage to a preliminary final clash with Hawthorn at the MCG next week.

The Lions are still hunting their third-straight premiership triumph in what is also their eighth-straight finals campaign under Fagan.