Here’s what our man Andrew Stafford says about this remarkable game:
Where do we start
It is hard to know where to begin in describing this Lions’ victory. To say they pinched it from the jaws of defeat would be an understatement. It was, in many ways, a heist: for two-and-a-half quarters, they were nowhere near it. They won the game in two electrifying bursts, late in the third quarter, and in the last 10 minutes of the match. Players who had been beaten all night — Dayne Zorko, Lachie Neale, Joe Daniher — all played match-winning hands. Daniher, especially, has copped endless amounts of stick for his alleged failure to produce when it matters. His two goals to win the match, both from very difficult angles under maximum pressure, showed mental steel. This side’s ability to play the big moments has been questioned many times (puts own hand up). To win this match from 44 points down, they had to win so many moments that mattered. You can only dip your lid. They’re off to a fourth preliminary final in five years.
What a night: The Lions celebrate.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Giants shattered
As much as this was night-time robbery by the Lions, it was a shattering loss for the Giants, one that will grieve all summer and well beyond. From such a strong position, they have exited these finals in straight sets. They lost no admirers when Sydney ran over the top of them in the qualifying final. But to let this game slip raises many more questions about their own frailties. They had this game absolutely on their terms. For three quarters, they won all the critical match-ups: Toby Greene on Brandon Starcevich, James Peatling on Dayne Zorko, Toby Bedford on Lachie Neale and Sam Taylor on Joe Daniher. They’d taken away the Lions’ uncontested marking game. Half the Lions side was struggling to get a kick. They stopped running, they lost their nerve, they missed chances to put the result beyond doubt. But in many ways, this game was representative of season 2024, in which even the biggest leads are just an invitation to the opposition: as Lions coach Chris Fagan said, when you’re walking on thin ice, you might as well dance, which he did with relish after the final siren.
Toby time: It wasn’t to be for the Giants, who squandered a 44-point lead.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
No fear
It took a young player completely without fear to turn this match the Lions’ way when the heat was on. That player was second-year gun Will Ashcroft, who has only recently returned from a knee reconstruction he endured late in his first year. When Lachie Neale and Dayne Zorko were struggling to shake their tags, when forwards Cam Rayner and Zac Bailey couldn’t buy a touch, it was Ashcroft who just kept running, kept his head, his feet, and his nerve. His stats line was impressive — 27 touches, nine clearances, five tackles, two direct assists — but it was his temperament that stood out. Here is a player who just keeps going, who is not shaken by the occasion, and whose skills hold up when the furnace is hot. The Lions have a hell of a player on their hands — and his brother Levi, who will be drafted as a father-son pick by the Lions, is rumoured to be even better.
