Brisbane director Leigh Matthews openly admits the Lions ‘did a backflip’ by trading James Aish.

But he has defended the club’s decision to send him to Collingwood.

The AFL great had a blunt message for Aish when speaking on 3AW earlier this month, saying the former top 10 draft pick wouldn’t be traded.

But the Lions did exactly that on Thursday, sending Aish to Collingwood in a deal that netted the Lions midfielder Ryan Bastinac from North Melbourne.

‘We’ve certainly done a backflip on our attitude two or three weeks ago,’ Matthews conceded on Sports Today.

‘But the circumstances change.’

And it’s those circumstances that made the deal more than worthwhile for the Lions, Matthews said.

‘I never even knew we might be able to get Ryan Bastinac to Brisbane,’ he explained.

‘When it became obvious that to get Ryan to Brisbane it required trading James Aish … Well, it wasn’t a terribly hard decision.

‘We’ve been able to use James to get a 24-year-old who has played 100-odd games and is a very capable player.’

LISTEN: Leigh Matthews clarifies his statement on 3AW