AFL Round 11 Hawthorn v Brisbane: All the news and analysis as Lions break 21-year hoodoo
Brisbane has broken a 21-year hoodoo, exposing a key weakness in Hawthorn’s premiership credentials in the process. And, adding to the Hawks’ worries, Jai Newcombe could face MRO heat.
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Brisbane’s 21-year hoodoo at the MCG against Hawthorn is over as the Lions small forwards exposed a lack of leg speed in the Hawks’ defence.
In Chris Fagan’s 200th game as coach, the Lions prevailed by 33 points to secure their first win in three weeks.
Callum Ah Chee (four goals) and Charlie Cameron (three) became the focal points inside forward 50 after quarter-time for the reigning premiers after Logan Morris booted his side’s first two majors.
The win marked the first time the Lions have beaten Hawthorn in Melbourne since Round 20, 2004 – although only five games had been played at the G since with most in Tasmania.
Fagan’s side had also not beaten the Hawks since 2019.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell declared his side remains a “work in progress” after back-to-back losses.
The Hawks “didn’t handle the occasion” according to Mitchell as they suffered a third defeat to top-eight opponents this season.
Of the seven wins so far, GWS is the only side in the top-eight, Hawthorn has beaten.
“We just didn’t have the answers required to beat a quality team,” Mitchell said post-game.
“I’ve been saying, we’re a work in progress, we’ve got some things to work on, that’s a good example of it.
“We didn’t quite have what it takes to beat them. We had some chances. Some good things (were) followed by multiple bad things.
“It doesn’t get it done against the best sides.
“It’s a big challenge for us.
“Centre bounce in particular, that’s two weeks in a row we’ve been really torched in there.
“I feel like we’ve been pretty good in that area for the last 18 months so it’s an area where we can be potent ourselves.”
MRO ATTENTION FOR LEADERS
Hawthorn star Jai Newcombe faces a nervous wait after his dangerous tackle late in the third term on Jarrod Berry. As Berry collected the ball, he was immediately set upon by Newcombe who lifted him off the ground and the Lions hard nut appeared dazed. The umpire awarded a dangerous tackle but Berry continued on after the incident.
Lions co-captain Harris Andrews drew the ire of Hawthorn supporters in the second term when he collected Connor Macdonald high in a marking contest. As Macdonald sat under a high ball coming out of defence, Andrews came off his direct opponent and struck Macdonald in the head with his forearm. Fortunately for the defender, the Hawthorn small forward was able to continue.
SLICE AND DICE ZORKO
Dayne Zorko showed his best and sometimes his worst. With a game-high 33 disposals, of which 29 were kicks, he consistently was able to open the ground up for the Lions through the middle and often ran around unmanned. Zorko finished with 996 metres gained. He had a couple of moments he would rather forget as well. In the first term, his kick-in went straight to Blake Hardwick who went back and kicked truly. Then in the third, his decision to go across goal was a poor one as he put the ball out on the full. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Jack Gunston wasn’t able to convert his snap.
CHARLIE STARTS HIS HARLEY
Charlie Cameron had kicked just one goal in the last two weeks when he arrived at the MCG but he sparked the Lions in the second term. The star speedster kicked three goals in four minutes to break the game open. They all came in different ways which proved why he’s so dangerous when on song. For the first he was found perfect by Kai Lohmann as he ran back into space towards goal with his opponent left for dead. For the second he ran into an open goal after being in the perfect spot to receive a handball from a crumbing Ah Chee. The third was the best of the lot as he ran onto his left, his opposite, before kicking truly as he ran towards the boundary sparking a wonderful celebration.
Scoreboard
HAWTHORN 3.1 5.4 7.8 8.12 (60)
BRISBANE 2.3 9.3 11.5 14.9 (93)
BEST
Hawks: Morrison, Weddle, Amon, Barrass
Lions: Ah Chee, Neale, Zorko, McCluggage, Berry, W.Ashcroft
GOALS
Hawks: C. Macdonald 3, Ginnivan, Hardwick, Moore, Nash, Weddle
Lions: Ah Chee 4, Cameron 3, Rayner 2, Morris 2, L. Ashcroft, W. Ashcroft, Bailey
INJURIES: Nil.
Crowd: 57,919
Umpires: Howorth, Meredith, Meyer, Power
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BRAYDEN MAY’S VOTES
3. Callum Ah Chee (BRI)
2. Dayne Zorko (BRI)
Lachie Neale (BRI)
Originally published as AFL Round 11 Hawthorn v Brisbane: All the news and analysis as Lions break 21-year hoodoo
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