AFL round 14: Brisbane Lions close in on top eight with victory over St Kilda
St Kilda kicked their highest score of 2024 despite losing to Brisbane by 20 points. But it was little consolation for coach Ross Lyon.
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St Kilda’s effort to kick more than 100 points for the just second time this season was little consolation for coach Ross Lyon, who was left to lament a poor first-quarter against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Friday night.
Down 44-13 at quarter-time, the Saints outscored Brisbane 93-82 in the final quarters in their 19.12 (126) to 16.10 (106) loss.
“After quarter-time we win by 11 points,” Lyon said.
“They were very good in the first quarter. That’s when the game’s up for grabs.
“We wanted to take their uncontested marks off them. That’s how they play. We didn’t do that very well. That’s about the size of it.”
“We fought on and showed some character but we don’t want to live in that space really, but it’s a big ask – they’re a grand-final team.
“We knew it was a big challenge here but we didn’t give up. We know we’re a growth story and we’ve got to keep working at building out our list … but it’s going to take a bit of time.”
When asked if he was pleased with his side’s effort to kick a season-high 16 goals, Lyon was at his sarcastic best.
“I’m going to go home and light a candle. It’s fantastic. I’ll get a birthday cake out and go ‘yippee’,” he said.
“I don’t want to be flippant … but we felt we had opportunities like that last week (in a three-point win over the Gold Coast). We didn’t connect and just slaughtered (the chances).
“It’s a game of moments when you get momentum. When you’re coming from that far behind you can’t make that many errors. We just made a couple of errors with the ball that was costly when we were seven points (behind in the final quarter) and flowing.
“Their whole game is controlling the ball, so some teams that have beaten them have been able to take some marks off them.
“We just let them out way too easy. That’s probably the frustration.
“There were some signs of improvement. We’ve just got to keep working and building.”
Lyon was looking forward to his side’s bye next weekend before returning to action on June 30 against Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium.
“We get a break,” he said.
“It’s been a torrid period, a lot of close games, so we get to reset (and) recover.
“We’ll spend some time together. We’ll just keep building the spirit, the character and the culture.”
DANIHER-LED LIONS WIN SHOOTOUT OVER SAINTS
Welcome to the Joe Daniher Experience.
A week after his partner in crime ripped the Western Bulldogs to shreds, Daniher saved Brisbane’s blushes with a five-goal masterclass in a surprisingly free-flowing affair on Friday night footy.
The Lions’ spearhead uncorked a stunning left foot dart from the left-forward pocket to open the night’s scoring and sealed the deal with an identical effort to stifle St Kilda’s final quarter charge.
In easily his best goal kicking display of the season, each of Daniher’s goals came at crucial moments in the match — either beginning a run of Brisbane momentum or ending a St Kilda surge.
Mixed in with his moments of brilliance was a set-shot howler from almost directly in front. But that is the Joe Daniher experience that Brisbane fans have come to know and love from their mercurial key forward.
The 30-year-old’s bag was surprisingly necessary in a game that shocked the world for its free-flowing football.
After a week of vitriol from the football purists following the slog against the Suns, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon drew up a vastly different game plan that very nearly sent the Saints home victors.
After Brisbane blew the doors off with a seven-goal opening quarter, the Saints threatened to challenge but could never get within four goals. That until a stunning final quarter surge which got them within seven points, before a heartbreaking 50m penalty against Marcus Windhager sent young Lion Logan Morris to the line for a momentum sapping goal.
The Saints’ 106-point total was comfortably their highest score of the season.
Unfortunately, Brisbane’s 126 also marked the most points conceded for the year.
Against the No. 1 clearance and inside 50 team in the AFL, St Kilda won the stoppage battle 35-26 and matched the Lions in territory — and still they lost.
For Lyon it’s a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
On a night where St Kilda did so much right, where did it go wrong?
It might have been the decision to tag Lachie Neale instead of Hugh McCluggage.
Eyes boggled over the mooted money being thrown at Brisbane’s former free a few weeks ago but McCluggage’s incredible feats on Friday night proved why the Lions were so keen to keep the superstar midfielder on their books.
With Neale in the clutches of St Kilda’s super stopper Windhager all night, McCluggage was left to roam free at the Gabba and made the Saints pay with a pivotal first-half performance.
In just 40 second-quarter seconds the Lions’ latest million-dollar man booted two goals to rip the heart out of the St Kilda resistance and send the hosts into halftime with a healthy 25-point advantage that proved pivotal at the death.
At the turn McCluggage had 18 disposals, two goals and eight score involvements but just as impressive was his defensive work. He had a best-on two intercept marks and was easily the hardest runner on the ground
Meanwhile Windhager and Neale played do-si-do in a sometimes head scratching, sometimes humorous head-to-head that was still ultimately won by the Brisbane skipper.
In the pre-match preamble Lyon declared the Saints had considered tagging McCluggage before pulling the lever on the Windhager-Neale match-up.
And while Neale was well down on his 38 disposals and two goals from a week earlier against the Bulldogs, he still finished with 20 disposals and a game-high seven clearances.
Lyon preached the benefits of the tag in his post-match press conference last week after Windhager smothered Suns skipper Touk Miller in the Saints’ narrow victory.
But it was Brisbane that got the best of the battle of the tags on Friday night.
Jarrod Berry went to Saints skipper Jack Steele and held him to just 16 touches, while Brisbane’s resurgent midfielder had 24 of his own.
Windhager meanwhile was almost unsighted in attack for the Saints. He touched the footy just nine times and gave away three free kicks, including the soul crushing 50m penalty that signed the Saints’ fate.
Brisbane’s 20-point victory wasn’t quite the smashing to signal a September surge some would have hoped for.
But crucially the Lions, who this year have leant on their clearance and territory dominance, found a different way to win.
Coach Chris Fagan was unhappy with some of his side’s defending but made no apologies for Brisbane’s sometimes risky play.
“At times we were probably a bit too bold and fearless but that’s how I want us to play,” he said after his side’s sixth win from 13 matches this season.
“If we’re going to get back into the season we’re not going to do it by defending our way to it.
“We’re going to have to attack so that’s what we’ll keep doing … and just stay grounded, and just keep following the process, and don’t worry too much about the result and the outcome.
“We wanted to take the game on because St Kilda are so good at defending and getting numbers back and crowding up the forward line.
“It was a plan of ours that whenever we got the opportunity we would try to move the ball as quickly as we could … but we also turned the ball over in bad spots at the top of the arc and they were able to score off those.
“We would like to play the attacking style of game and be able to defend really well. If we kicked it a little bit more intelligently inside the 50, we might have prevented a few more of their scores, and I felt like we were just a little bit slow when we lost the ball to snap into that defensive mode.
“That’s something we can have a look at this week.”
The Lions are now among the most efficient scoring teams inside 50. Daniher, Hipwood and Cam Rayner are rounding into form. Young Logan Morris continued his stellar cameo campaign with another three-goal game and Kai Lohmann was just as impressive.
Fagan won’t want to draw up wins like this too often, but at this stage of the season the Lions simply have to bank points however they can get them.
As for Lyon, he will head back to the drawing board this week wondering which style best sets his side up for success.
On performance, it’s the dour defensive display. But the attacking football St Kilda produced on Friday night would have knocked a lot of teams off. They just so happened to run into an in-form Brisbane at its Gabba fortress.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
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