Brisbane Lions roar back into top spot
Brisbane has reaffirmed its premiership credentials and moved to equal top spot on the ladder with a hard-fought four-point win over Melbourne.
Brisbane has reaffirmed its premiership credentials and moved to equal top spot on the ladder with a hard-fought four-point win over Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Sunday night.
The Lions looked to have the game sewn up at the last change until the Demons booted the only three majors in the last term, and when Jake Melksham banged through his third late in the quarter he cut the margin to two points.
They didn’t get any closer, however, and will be disappointed with the amount of gettable set shots they missed throughout the night.
Brisbane earned a vital four points with the 7.11 (53) to 7.7 (49) win.
Lachie Neale was at his prolific best after being allowed to roam as he pleased, with Jarryd Lyons, Hugh McCluggage and Dayne Zorko all causing problems for the Demons.
Star Dees ruckman Max Gawn dominated Lions Archie Smith and Oscar McInerney in the air, and Jack Viney, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver had their moments, but weren’t as influential on the contest as their opponents.
Demons recruit Harley Bennell has been on a footy rollercoaster since he was Gold Coast’s second ever draft pick in 2010. It’s been that long, some might even forget he was a Sun.
The gifted yet injury-prone midfielder’s last game at Metricon Stadium came in the Suns’ 37-point loss to Port Adelaide back in round 22, 2015, and his return as a Demon wasn’t fun either.
Bennell didn’t give the stats keepers much to do after starting on the interchange bench and blew a golden chance to hit the scoreboard late in the third quarter to get his team to within eight points.
Charlie Cameron did what Bennell couldn’t less than a minute later to make matters worse.
With Stefan Martin (back) missing for the Lions, Melbourne looked to have a clear advantage going in, and big Maxy relished the battle against his far less experienced opponents.
McInerney’s brain fade in the opening minutes of the second term didn’t help his side, when a silly 50 penalty allowed Gawn to find Bailey Fritsch for his second major of the night.
The Dees couldn’t capitalise on Gawn’s immense presence at stoppages and around the ground however, and it was Brisbane’s ground level stars who were more damaging.
Melbourne’s hitout numbers (44-18) looked good on paper, but the Lions’ were outstanding at the clearances (35-22) and it was a major factor in the result.
If the loss wasn’t bad enough for Gawn, he was used as a stepladder by Cam Rayner midway through the second quarter.
The young Lion launched himself into orbit thanks to the use of a knee fair and square in the back of Gawn’s head, and the big man took a while to get up.
Unfortunately for Rayner, he couldn’t hold onto what would have been a clear mark-of-the-year winner.
We don’t blame him, from that height it was a long way down.
When the nominations are released on Monday and he thinks about the serious hanger that got away, Cam will be a disappointed kid.
Simon Goodwin decided against a minder for Brisbane ball-magnet Neale and at quarter-time, he might have been seriously rethinking that call after the Lion started with nine touches and two centre clearances.
Viney paid attention to Neale for most of the night and found his fair share of the Sherrin for the Dees, but his opponent’s impact negated much of his hardness around the contest.
In fairness to Goodwin, the Lions have multiple onballers in prestige form, so it must have been a tough decision when he contemplated whether or not to send someone to Neale, Zorko, or McCluggage.
In the end he backed his own midfielders, and although Petracca, Oliver and Viney were fine contributors, they lowered their colours.
Neale finished with a game-high 33 disposals.
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