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AFL 2021: Brisbane Lions lock up top-four finish with tense win over West Coast Eagles

The Brisbane Lions managed to finish the season in the top four thanks to a tense win over the West Coast Eagles on Saturday evening.

Greg Davis
7 min read
August 22, 2021 - 8:04AM
NCA NewsWire
The Lions have snuck into the top four. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
The Lions have snuck into the top four. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Brisbane forward Linc McCarthy produced one of the most important points in club history with his last-minute snap in the 38-point win over West Coast at the Gabba sending the Lions into the top four for the AFL finals.

Brisbane needed to reach 119 points to West Coast’s 87 to leap over the Western Bulldogs and claim the double chance for the finals and McCarthy delivered with a towering snap in the final 30 seconds after a nerve-jangling final term.

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Charlie Cameron kicked a goal after the siren to seal the deal but McCarthy’s point was the score that mattered in one of the most tense and pulsating home-and-away matches played at the Gabba in recent memory with so much on the line. The result sent coach Chris Fagan into a frenzy from the boundary line.

Brisbane eventually finished just 0.5 points ahead of the Bulldogs on percentage after 23 rounds of football to thrust themselves right into flag contention after a rollercoaster final term when each score had all involved reaching for the ‘live ladder’ with the Lions slipping in and out of the top four.

The Eagles will miss the top eight but it was no fault of ruckman Nic Naitanui who had 23 disposals, 21 contested possessions, 10 score involvements, 10 clearances and 53 hitouts.

The Lions had heroes all over the ground with captain Dayne Zorko, Lachie Neale, Daniel Rich, Joe Daniher and Keidean Coleman playing pivotal roles.

The Lions led by as many as 30 in the first term but the Eagles flew back into the contest in the second quarter and got within four points of Brisbane.

After Port Adelaide defeated the Western Bulldogs on Friday night, Brisbane were 0.1 behind the Dogs on percentage and needed to enjoy a big win over the Eagles to jump from fifth to fourth on the ladder.

West Coast needed to win to stay in the hunt for the top eight and had it all to play for as well which set the stage for a mini-final.

After being dominated in the back-half of the first term, West Coast drastically swung the momentum back in its favour in the second quarter, kicking five goals to three with Naitanui sparking the Eagles into attack as they cut Brisbane’s buffer to 11 points at the main break.

After the Eagles kicked the first two goals of the game, Brisbane went on a seven-goal tear with the quick hands of Nadia Cockatoo producing three goal assists for the Lions who led by 23 points at the first change with Rich at the fore for the home side.

The third quarter was a tight and tense affair with Daniher’s goal on the siren proving to be the difference between the sides as Brisbane held a 17-point cushion at the last change.

Jarrod Berry was one of five multiple goalscorers for the Lions. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Jarrod Berry was one of five multiple goalscorers for the Lions. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Historical pain

That umpiring failure to play a free kick against Geelong defender Mark Blicavs in the dying seconds of the Round 2 at Kardinia Park was still being felt on Saturday at the Gabba. If the free kick was rightly paid and Zac Bailey kicked the winning goal from close range, the Lions faithful would not have had their calculators out trying to work out the margin required to jump the Bulldogs on the ladder on percentage. They’d already be cemented inside the top four. But instead, the ‘live ladder’ was working overtime. Losses to St Kilda (Round 17) and Hawthorn (Round 20) along with the sluggish start to the 2021 campaign did not help Brisbane either.

Eagles’ free fall

What now for West Coast? The Eagles have had a dramatic and diabolic drop in form in the back-half of the year to miss the top eight so the hard questions will be asked in Perth. Whatever word you want to use – rebuild, regenerate, re-tool, recycle, renovate – it is time for the Eagles to rejuvenate the list. The core of the side that claimed the 2018 premiership isn’t getting any younger and some hard calls on club greats may need to be made. A shocking fadeout like 2021 will not be tolerated again. The way the Eagles took up the fight to Brisbane after quarter-time will have Eagles faithful asking, “where’s that been?”.

Silver lining

Lions vice-captain Harris Andrews was a late out with a tight hamstring and was replaced in the 22 by fellow key defender Marcus Adams who was ultra impressive. Adams was sidelined for five weeks with a foot injury. Adams had been in stellar before getting hurt and his absence had been felt by the Lions. While the loss of Andrews was a blow, the chance to get some valuable gametime into Adams ahead of the finals was the silver lining to the cloud. The Lions will also welcome back Mitch Robinson from a calf injury for the first week of finals.

Daniher’s rare feat

With a towering drop punt in the first term, Lions key forward Joe Daniher notched up the record of kicking a goal in every game this season. The last AFL player to do it was … Joe Daniher in 2017 when he was at Essendon and earned an All-Australian selection. After playing very little football in his last few years at Windy Hill, Daniher’s durability since moving to the Gabba has been a revelation along with his impact on Brisbane’s forward line. Fellow new Lions recruit Nakia Cockatoo showed some touches of class to set-up three goals in the first term.

Elliot Yeo, who missed nine months of footy from last August, was one of the Eagles’ most prolific ballwinners on Saturday. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
Elliot Yeo, who missed nine months of footy from last August, was one of the Eagles’ most prolific ballwinners on Saturday. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Lions purring

Brisbane senior coach Chris Fagan said the Lions are right in the hunt for the 2021 premiership after earning a top four berth with a riveting 38-point win over West Coast at the Gabba on Saturday.

A towering Linc McCarthy left-foot snap with 30 seconds left in the match allowed Brisbane to jump from fifth to fourth on the ladder, pipping the Western Bulldogs by just 0.5 percent after 23 rounds of football to earn the invaluable double chance.

Throughout the match, Brisbane slipped in and out of the top four on percentage but a fourth quarter burst of five unanswered goals helped lift the Lions out of the very real proposition of a sudden-death elimination final at the Gabba next week. They could now play in Victoria next week against Melbourne.

Fagan reiterated his belief that this Brisbane team is better suited to finals football than any other side in his tenure at the Gabba and that a flag is in the offing if they play to their potential.

“I just believe our best football this year is the best we’ve played over the last four or five years and if we can reproduce it enough over the next month we’ll take a bit of beating,’’ Fagan said.

“We’re not the only team that can say that. Port Adelaide are going well, Melbourne are going well, Geelong are going well.

“We’ll all have our stories to tell but it all comes down to how you perform on the day in finals.

“For starters, it’s (a top four finish) a good reflection on the club. For three years in a row we’ve been able to finish in the top four and that’s what good clubs do. I’m really proud of everyone at the club, not just the players.

“It’s been a mighty effort by the Lions over the last five years to come from where we’ve come from to put ourselves in this position.”

Fagan sent a text message to his players on Saturday morning to explain the mathematical scenario required to make the top four.

He felt like the bid for the double chance was gone with a minute left in the match and joked it was “never in doubt”.

“To be honest, I thought we wouldn’t win by enough to move up. I’d almost resigned myself to that fact but our boys, like they’ve had a habit of doing over the last three or so years, found a way to score pretty quickly and in the end, it was never in doubt,’’ he said.

“In my 20-odd years I’ve been in a situation where we had to win and win by a certain amount, which made it quite tricky.

“We made up seven points in the last 30 seconds, which is quite amazing.”

Fagan said Harris Andrews was rested due to “hamstring soreness” and he would be fit to play finals. Mitch Robinson (calf) is set to return as well.

Influential defender Harris Andrews will play finals. Pic: Michael Klein
Influential defender Harris Andrews will play finals. Pic: Michael Klein

Meanwhile, West Coast senior coach Adam Simpson said “everything” was up for review this summer after the Eagles fell short of the top eight for the first time since 2014.

“We’ve got to get better. It’s been a pretty big campaign over the last several years and we need to take a breath, work out how we are going to get better. It starts with everything in our department and we’ll get onto that,’’ Simpson said.

“It’s obvious, the inconsistencies we’ve had this year with a whole wide range of things that we’ll look into, the injuries, the synergy, the fluctuations in-game. All those things we are going to look at and dig pretty deep.

“I still think there’s lots of talent on our list. There’s some good kids coming through. We’ll look at getting our list better straight away as best as we can. Got to bring it all together.’’

Simpson said the Lions were just too strong when it mattered most.

“Both teams had a lot to play for. I thought we played with spirit but we weren’t just good enough in the end to handle their pressure,’’ Simpson said.

“We ran out of steam in the end and it obviously didn’t go our way. We couldn’t sustain what we were doing. Brisbane were playing for a larger margin and they really challenged that. We were playing to win as well and we opened the game up.

“We hung in there and fought pretty hard but just weren’t good enough. The effort was there today. Energy and effort was there from the start and unfortunately there’s just been too many times this year where we just haven’t brought that same intensity when we’ve needed to.

“We’ve got to learn and grow from that. There were some positive signs tonight.”

Score:

LIONS: 7.2/10.4/13.6/19.11 (125)

EAGLES: 3.3/8.5/10.7/13.9 (87)

Goals:

LIONS: Daniher 4, Berry 3, Cameron 3, McStay 2, McCarthy 2, Zorko, Rich, Neale, Lyons, McCluggage

EAGLES: Ryan 3, Darling 3, Vardy 2, Cripps 2, Allen, Waterman, Jones

Greg Davis’ best:

LIONS: Zorko, Neale, Daniher, Rich, Adams, McStay, Coleman

EAGLES: Naitanui, Shuey, Yeo, Ryan, Sheed, Witherden,

Injuries:

LIONS

EAGLES: Oscar Allen (concussion)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Greg Davis’ votes:

3: Nic Naitanui

2: Dayne Zorko

1: Lachie Neale

Crowd: 21,845

Originally published as AFL 2021: Brisbane Lions lock up top-four finish with tense win over West Coast Eagles

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/sport/afl/afl-2021-brisbane-lions-lock-up-topfour-finish-with-tense-win-over-west-coast-eagles/news-story/3dcb6af2d6016e8cdece6f1953517bdf