Brisbane keep Eagles at bay as Lachie Neale runs rampant
Brisbane showed the value of a rare home crowd in 2020 as they found another gear against West Coast. Lions star Hugh McCluggage said 1965 fans sounded like a whole lot more.
Lions
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Silky Brisbane midfielder Hugh McCluggage says the Lions got back to the one-two punch of patience and power in their 30-point win over West Coast at the Gabba on Saturday night.
After a slugfest in slippery conditions, the Eagles led at halftime before Brisbane went bang in the third term with five goals to blow the match wide open and claim their second-straight win.
McCluggage said it was just how Brisbane planned it.
“We try to grind early and hopefully we can take off late in games, which is what we were able to do last year,’’ he said.
“We knew we had to play hard footy in that first half given it was quite wet and the Eagles are a tough side.
“We had the fitness to be able to push on in the second half and usually that’s when things start to open up a little bit.
“That Freo game last week, we looked to be taking off at times but then we’d give away a couple of silly free kicks or make a few silly mistakes and we’d just let them back in it
“Against the Eagles, we were able to play our best footy in the third quarter so when they threw a punch at us, we were able to stop it.’’
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Along with Lachie Neale, McCluggage was outstanding for Brisbane with his class and skill level rising above the difficult conditions to finish with 26 disposals, 12 contested possessions, two goal assists, 10 score involvements, three clearances, five tackles and eight inside-50 entries.
“I was able to use the ball a lot better than what I did in the first two rounds and I was probably one of the boys that Fages (senior coach Chris Fagan) was talking about when he said some people were a bit below par against Fremantle last week,’’ he said.
“I was happy I was able to impact the game and be a bit cleaner. It was a big motivation for all of us to get the win for Harro (Harris Andrews) and Birch’s (Grant Birchall) milestone games so to contribute to that was great.’’
McCluggage said the crowd of 1965 played a role in the result but Brisbane could not rest easy with their home ground advantage against Adelaide this Sunday.
“It was unbelievable. I went to the game thinking it might be similar to no crowd but once we got there and they were all in that one section, it felt like there were 10,000 people,’’ he said.
“They were so loud and so passionate. It definitely gives you a five to 10 per cent boost.
“The home ground advantage is good to have but you definitely can’t take it for granted. Carlton went down to Geelong and knocked them off after the Cats had that big win over Hawthorn.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen, especially this season. It means you have to be on your toes.’’
NEALE RUNS RIOT AS LIONS OVERRUN EAGLES
Brisbane slipped, slid then smashed West Coast with a third quarter blitz to claim a 30-point victory over the wobbly Eagles at the Gabba tonight.
Without skipper Dayne Zorko (Achilles) who withdrew from the Lions side pre-match, Brisbane took two quarters to get a grip on the extremely greasy conditions before blowing past the Eagles with five goals to two in the third term.
Hugh McCluggage (26 disposals, 12 contested possessions and eight inside 50s) was outstanding for Brisbane while Lachie Neale (32 disposals, two goals, 166 KFC SuperCoach points) was a more than valuable foil including the match-sealing major in the fourth quarter.
Jarrod Berry booted three goals as Brisbane marked the milestones for rock-solid defenders Grant Birchall (250 games) and Harris Andrews (100 games) with a win that was more impressive the longer the game went to provide a none-too-gentle reminder that 2019 was no fluke.
Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui was magnificent for the visitors with 34 hit-outs and Andrew Gaff added 30 touches in his 200th game but it was another horror show for the West Coast who are now 0-2 in their hub life with mounting bumps and bruises adding injury to insult.
Brisbane roared into action after halftime after a wasteful opening half in front of 1965 spectators.
West Coast wilted against the Suns in the third term last weekend and it was Groundhog Day for the Eagles as the Lions burst out of the gates with goals to Berry, Charlie Cameron and Neale.
Cameron’s left-foot snap from up against the boundary line was the highlight of the matchwinning surge which was built on a contested ball landslide.
Neale and McCluggage were especially damaging for the Lions as they owned the centre of the ground and provided stellar service to their forward line who broke the shackles.
Josh Kennedy found some very rare open spaces after being dominated by Andrews for his first goal of the night while Liam Ryan chipped in with a beautiful set shot but majors to Oscar McInerney and Daniel McStay allowed the Lions to reassert their authority and take a 17-point lead into the last break.
The @brisbanelions started a 'LIONS' chant after the game 🗣
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 20, 2020
So good to hear! pic.twitter.com/cXJVkoFdae
The first half gave extra weight to the argument from Collingwood president Eddie McGuire to change the leather Sherrin footballs to a more wet-weather friendly dimpled surface.
The Gabba is normally quite slippery for night games due to the heavy dew. After intermittent rain in Brisbane during the day, it made a cake of soap more reliable than a Sherrin.
The wayward Lions had more scoring shots than the Eagles in the first half but still trailed by four points at the main break.
West Coast got out to an 11-point buffer early in the second term after Mitch Robinson handed the ball to the Eagles after a dangerous kick across the face of goal deep inside Brisbane’s defensive 50.
The visitors pounced and Liam Ryan kicked truly for West Coast only for Brisbane to bounce back quickly through Berry who fumbled, spun and snapped a banana kick.
And that was the last of the goals for the second quarter as the teams proceeded to slug it out in the difficult conditions.
Never in doubt @CharlesRanger23 ðŸ
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 20, 2020
(watch #AFLLionsEagles on 7) pic.twitter.com/5uUegDerXr
Brisbane dominated the early proceedings in the first quarter but failed to cash in through set shots to Cam Rayner and Cameron.
The Eagles kicked the first goal of the match after 16 minutes through Jack Darling after he was on the end of a beautiful pass from Jamie Cripps.
Naitanui converted a set shot after winning a free kick in a ruck contest to help West Coast completely swing the momentum with six –straight inside 50 entries.
A long bomb from Lions defender Brandon Starcevich after the quarter-time siren was critical for the home side to keep them in touch with the Eagles.
Lions senior coach Chris Fagan said it was “incredibly pleasing” to win without captain Dayne Zorko and ruckman Stef Martin who should be available for selection next week.
“I thought it was a really good four quarter performance. West Coast came out to play tonight. We eventually wore them down with our persistence,’’ he said.
“I thought our willingness to fight to win the contested ball and our willingness to put pressure on them all night long…was exceptional. We kept our work rate all night long and in the end we got rewarded.
“We felt that last week (against Fremantle) we had too many players that were below par. Half our group was and we were fortunate to escape with a win but tonight was a really good all-round team effort.’’
West Coast senior coach Adam Simpson said the 2018 premiers could not blame the Gold Coast hub for the performance.
“It’s just not good enough at the moment. It was a grind game and we didn’t do it for long enough,’’ he said,
“We are disappointed we didn’t win. Effort and intent was there. We had to adjust a few things, to the conditions…but we got overawed in the midfield, beaten in the contest and the game got away from us halfway through the third.
“We haven’t adapted well enough up here at the moment and that’s what we’ve got to work through. We are all in this together and we’ll keep fighting.
“We are trying to be pretty pragmatic with it. We are not feeling sorry for ourselves…it feels like it’s been such a long season but it’s technically Round 3. We haven’t come back from the 10 weeks off as well as we would have liked.’’
BRISBANE 1.2 2.6 7.9 10.14 (74)
WEST COAST 2.1 3.4 5.4 6.8 (44)
GOALS
Brisbane: J.Berry 3, Neale 2, Starcevich, Cameron, McInerney, McStay, Bailey
West Coast: Ryan 3, Darling, Naitanui, Ryan, Kennedy,
BEST:
Lions: McCluggage, Neale, J Berry, Andrews, McInerney, Lyons
Eagles: Naitanui, Gaff, Sheppard, Ryan, Kelly
VOTES:
3: Hugh McCluggage
2: Nic Naitanui
1: Lachie Neale
INJURIES
Brisbane: Dayne Zorko (Achilles soreness) replaced in selected side by Cam Ellis-Yolmen
West Coast: Nil
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Originally published as Brisbane keep Eagles at bay as Lachie Neale runs rampant