Save our stoppages: Where it’s all going wrong for Brisbane — but there’s still time to fix it

Last week a banged-up Oscar McInerney was beaten by Tristan Xerri and Sunday Max Gawn had his way with Darcy Fort. Now, the Hawks could be set to unleash the blueprint to stop the Lions.

It is SOS – save our stoppages – at the Brisbane Lions after the reigning premiers were mauled by Melbourne in the middle on Sunday.

Without No. 1 ruck Oscar McInerney, who was a late out due to soreness, the reigning premiers were taken to task by Max Gawn in a match-defining head-to-head battle.

Darcy Fort capably filled the void in last year’s grand final triumph but the gap between he and the best ruckman of the modern era was obvious.

In Gawn, Melbourne boasts the most potent weapon in footy and the visitors wielded it with absolute venom.

Max Gawn had his way with Oscar McInerney out of the Lions’ team. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“It’s tough for every ruckman against Max. He’s the best ever, I’ve got no doubt about that,” Lions coach Chris Fagan said after the match.

“That’s no disrespect to any ruckman who has played the game. But (Gawn is) a tremendous player and he is a great weapon for them to have.”

Brisbane recorded the fewest hit outs of any team this season – just 17 – and was torched at centre clearance by the Demons as a result.

The previous week, a banged up McInerney and Fort lost the duel with North Melbourne ruck Tristan Xerri, leading to a lopsided clearance count in favour of the Kangaroos.

Brisbane was lucky to come out of that match with a draw but there was no such luck on Sunday, as the Demons powered ahead to record a major upset.

By the final term, Melbourne had perfected the blueprint to beating Brisbane.

With its advantage at stoppage, all that was left was to limit the Lions’ transition from defence to attack and they would be toothless.

And so it came to be on Sunday, in a painful fourth quarter at the Gabba, with the Demons blunting Brisbane’s movement from defensive 50 and thus taking away its two key scoring sources.

The Lions’ clearance concerns came home to roost with the Demons locking the ball in their front half and taking advantage of their dominance around the ball.

Twelve scoring shots to Brisbane’s two told the tale. It was the kind of lopsided quarter of footy that Lions fans have come to expect at the Gabba – only, not from the other team.

“Their ability to transition the ball in the first three quarters … was prevalent in the game. Although we had some dominance around contest and clearance at times, our ability to keep the ball in our front half wasn’t there,” Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.

“In the last quarter we were able to lock it away. I think we had 13 front half turnovers.

“It was a huge result.”

It has been a dramatic drop off around the ball from Brisbane, which only three weeks ago smashed the Gold Coast Suns – one of the best clearance teams in the competition – at the coalface in a statement QClash victory.

Brisbane will look to bounce back against Hawthorn this week. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty Images

McInerney’s fitness will be a major talking point this week, as the Lions prepare for a trip to Melbourne to face bogey side Hawthorn – a team they have not beaten since 2019.

To make matters worse, the Hawks rested No. 1 ruck Lloyd Meek for their trip to Darwin last week, meaning he will be cherry ripe for Saturday’s MCG blockbuster.

Fagan’s side has defied just about every hurdle thrown at it to this point.

The injury-plagued forward 50 has seen a conveyor belt of players roll through it. Brandon Starcevich’s concussion concerns have kept one of the best lockdown defenders in the competition on the sidelines. And no Joe Daniher has meant tinkering with a ruck rotation that was so brutally effective last season.

They were the bend-don’t-break Brisbane Lions. They moved the magnets and made it work. On Sunday, something finally had to give.

The good news is that, at 7-2-1, Fagan’s men have time to work it out.

Originally published as Save our stoppages: Where it’s all going wrong for Brisbane — but there’s still time to fix it