Brisbane Lions keep AFL grand final hype going against Collingwood

AFL grand final hype in Brisbane won’t be going away any time soon after the Lions claimed an eight-point win over Collingwood at the Gabba.

Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron tries to break the tackle of Collingwood’s Jack Crisp. Picture: Michael Klein

AFL grand final hype in Brisbane won’t be going away any time soon after the Lions overcame the loss of star defender Harris Andrews to claim an eight-point win over bogy side Collingwood at the Gabba on Friday night.

Still buzzing from this week’s historic call to shift the season decider to the Gabba in October, the Lions’ bold quest to be there on the big day appears on track after outlasting the Magpies 6.6 (42) to 5.4 (34) in the round 15 finale — their fourth straight victory.

Brisbane (11-3 record) have a top two finish in their sights with three games remaining after joining ladder leaders Port Adelaide on 44 points with their first Gabba victory over the Magpies in a decade.

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But the result was bittersweet with Brisbane’s All-Australian defender Andrews going down with a suspected hamstring complaint that is expected to sideline him before the finals.

Andrews is unlikely to play again in the home and away season — missing games against the Gold Coast, Sydney and Carlton — but will benefit greatly from the pre-finals bye.

The Lions were down to two men on the bench in the second half with Andrews joining youngster Tom Fullarton who suffered a quad injury in the first quarter.

There were walking wounded everywhere on both teams with Collingwood losing wingman Tom Phillips to a hamstring injury at the start of the final quarter.

Brisbane midfielder Jarrod Berry is confident the Lions have the depth to cover the loss of key personnel.

“Those guys go down, others step up,” Berry said. “This season is going to be won with the whole squad.”

Brisbane’s Dayne Zorko celebrates victory over Collingwood at the Gabba. Picture: Getty Images

The loss for the Magpies effectively ends their push for the top four and they will now have to fight to keep their finals spot alive as they wait for key players to return from injury.

More than 16,000 fans were at the Gabba last night with that number expected to be doubled for the grand final on October 24.

The AFL announced on Wednesday that the premiership decider would be played at the Gabba, the first time in the competition‘s history that the grand final has been held outside of Victoria.

Brisbane led by 18 at halftime after coming out swinging — literally — with firebrand Mitch Robinson appearing to spark a second term scuffle after tangling with John Noble that left Magpies’ Brayden Maynard trying to take on what seemed to be the entire Lions squad.

Brisbane led by 26 points in the third term before Collingwood ensured a thriller by kicking the final three goals, inspired by captain Scott Pendlebury (29 touches, seven tackles, seven inside 50s).

Brisbane may have silenced plenty of critics during their remarkable rejuvenation but one question remained — can they handle the big stage?

The Lions fell short in their first finals campaign in a decade last year with a straight-sets exit but Brisbane’s perceived stage fright appeared to set in much earlier during their Easter Thursday blockbuster against the Pies.

The Lions looked overawed in a rare prime time clash at the Gabba in a 62-point loss to Collingwood.

The stage was set for Brisbane to show how far they had come when they lined up under the spotlight on Friday against a battle hardened Magpies following the historic AFL grand final call.

This time the Lions did not fluff their lines in an encouraging rehearsal before the finals with Jarryd Lyons (27 touches, 17 contested possessions) and Berry (24 touches) inspirational. The monkey is finally off Brisbane’s back — well, one of them at least. The Lions reigned supreme against the Pies for the first time since round 21 2014, snapping a six-game losing run. It also marked their maiden victory over their rivals at the Gabba in a decade.

The Gabba had been a home away from home for Collingwood who had a 9-1 record at the venue since 2012 and had the wood on Brisbane by winning 11 of their last 13 matches. And the Pies looked set to maintain their hold on Brisbane after surprisingly playing more games at the Gabba than the Lions had over the last month.

Brisbane had other ideas to finally break the hoodoo — now if they could only beat Richmond, who have won their past 15 clashes.

It seems 12 days of practice has not quite rectified Brisbane’s biggest problem ahead of the finals.

Brisbane arrived at the Gabba ranked dead last in the league for goalkicking, converting just 48.2 per cent of their shots at goal — and did not dramatically improve.

The Lions’ radar was again off early, going goalless in the first term before appearing to turn the corner in the second.

Eric Hipwood (two goals) and Cameron Rayner were two of the worst offenders early for Brisbane, but appeared to overcome the yips by kicking truly early in the second and suddenly the Lions booted four straight. No team ranked as the worst in accuracy has won the flag since the turn of the century.

Herald Sun