Lions destroy Crows with statement win at the Gabba
Andrew Stafford |
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has admitted he needed to “poke the bear” this week to get the best out of his side as they push for a third premiership in a row.
The Lions have been patchy early this season, but put the competition on notice with a statement win at the Gabba over Adelaide, running out convincing 52-point winners, 19.13 (127) to 11.9 (75).
It was a rebound performance after last week’s narrow defeat at the hands of an improved Melbourne, after which Fagan questioned his side’s application in defence.
But against the Crows, the Lions found a better balance between attack and defence, keeping the Crows to just seven goals at three-quarter time.
Fagan said that after a sustained period of success – with the club playing in three consecutive grand finals and winning the last two – the hardest thing for players was to stay hungry.
“The hunger’s still there. You saw it tonight,” he said.
“Every now and then, as coach, you’ve got to poke the bear and try to get them going again.
Adelaide had hung in gamely until midway through the second quarter, with cheers for skipper Jordan Dawson after he slotted a goal that briefly gave the Crows a narrow lead.
Teammates rushed to Dawson, who was returning to the fold after the loss of his brother Jaryd in tragic circumstances on April 15.
But the next 10 minutes belonged to the Lions, as they slammed home four goals to break the game open before halftime.
Brisbane had winners everywhere, with veteran small forward Charlie Cameron continuing his rich vein of early-season form with four goals to again be among his team’s best.
Lachie Neale had the ball on a string with 42 possessions, while Zac Bailey (3 goals, 29 possessions), Will Ashcroft (36 touches) and defensive giant Harris Andrews were prominent contributors.
Dawson finished his side’s best player, with two goals from 28 disposals in a superb performance that would have taken great mental resolve.
Forward Luke Pedlar was excellent with three goals, and Izak Rankine showed flashes with two remarkable first-half majors, but the Crows were blown away by the Lions’ skill in space and pressure at the contest.
Brayden Cook kept them in it with a 55-metre bomb early in the third quarter, but the home side put the foot down after that, kicking a further seven straight goals to put the game to bed before the last change.
The Lions had 11 individual goalkickers and were queuing up in the last quarter, with the margin blowing out to a game-high 64 points.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks was quick to give credit to the Lions.
“It wasn’t out of nowhere. They’ve won the last two premierships, we knew we were coming across to a big, big challenge,” he said.
“They were very good. They dominated us in the contest – our stoppage was minus 1000 metres, so when you get that sort of number coming through you’re in a bit of trouble.”
“We were probably a bit lucky to hang in there for the first half, then the floodgates opened.”
Brisbane are now back in the top six with a 4-3 win-loss record, eight points adrift of joint ladder leaders Sydney, Fremantle and Hawthorn.
But on this performance, the back-to-back premiers showed they will still take a lot of stopping to be denied their second premiership threepeat this century.
AAP