Lions beat Crows but Dayne Zorko set to miss Port Adelaide challenge

A wayward Brisbane gave Adelaide a sniff of a chance before winning by 37 points for a third-straight victory.

Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko, centre, at three-quarter time during the Lions’ win over Adelaide Crows at the Gabba on Sunday. Picture: AAP

A wayward Brisbane gave Adelaide a sniff of a chance before winning by 37 points for a third-straight victory punctuated by more injury concerns for captain Dayne Zorko.

The hosts dominated on Sunday afternoon to lead by 40 points at halftime at the Gabba, but were almost made to pay for their wastefulness when the winless Crows kicked four unanswered goals to get within 16 in the third term. But after seven consecutive behinds, Brisbane’s Zac Bailey kicked straight and Daniel Rich skipped one through from 60 metres out as the hosts shot away to a 10.23 (83) to 7.4 (46) win.

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Lachie Neale (0.6) and Hugh McCluggage (1.5) managed 11 behinds between them to offset an inside-50 count more than double that of their rivals.

“In every which way, the statistics for the game looked fantastic, except for the most-important stat in football,” Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said. “But a lot weren’t set shots – just opportunities we created … they (Neale and McCluggage) could’ve had field days if they finished off their work.”

Zorko’s calf injury – after another which forced him out of last week’s defeat of West Coast – was more of a concern, though.

His comeback lasted less than a half, Fagan expecting him to miss next week’s top-of-the-table clash with unbeaten Port Adelaide.

“He came into the game today fully fit … I’m disappointed for him, he worked really hard to come back and train magnificently on Thursday and, unfortunately, something’s given,” he said.

“Port are in tremendous form at the moment; if we were coming into finals at the moment, they’d be flag favourites.”

Rival skipper Rory Sloane appeared to roll his ankle but completed the game, while second-gamer Will Hamill (concussion) was a casualty and emerging forward Darcy Fogarty was a late scratching after badly bruising his shoulder on Friday at training.

Those injuries heaped more misery on a Crows side that was flogged last week by Gold Coast and is still facing two more weeks in their Queensland hub.

Former Crow Charlie Cameron enjoyed the return of 8312 vocal fans, taking a huge final-quarter mark and employing his trademark handlebars celebration after a second goal.

Lincoln McCarthy was the early target up front, twice marking strongly to produce goals while Eric Hipwood (two goals) was also accurate and Ryan Lester proved his mettle in defence.

The Lions pressure dropped off in the third term, and under-fire Crows forward Taylor Walker kicked two goals and sett up another to flip the script.

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks hoped Fogarty wouldn’t spend long on the sidelines given there was no structural damage to his shoulder.

“There were some positive signs … we were in the fight and managed to shift the mindset slightly and saw what footy we’re about,” he said. “It’s such a small shift to get yourself there … that’s what we’re aiming for. At this point, we’re just struggling to sustain it.”

AAP