Lions thrash Gold Coast in AFLW drubbing

Ed Jackson | February 17, 2022

Ruthless AFLW premiers Brisbane have put Queensland rivals Gold Coast firmly back in their box, smashing the Suns by 69 points at Metricon Stadium.

The Suns came into Thursday’s rescheduled QClash on the back of three wins in their past four matches but had no answer to the Lions’ experience and aggression, Brisbane easing to a 12.13 (85) to 2.4 (16) victory.

It’s Brisbane’s highest score, eclipsing their previous best tally of 65 and the victory margin is also the biggest in Lions’ history.

It’s also just two short of Carlton’s all-time record score of 87 – set last year against the Suns.

Brisbane’s fifth straight win means they leap up to fourth on the ladder, behind Monday’s opponents Melbourne on percentage only.

“It’s fantastic. Your dream game, how you want to set it up, they were terrific,” Lions coach Craig Starcevich said.

“Just the pressure around the contest, go forward and score. Still a little bit inaccurate but we’re getting picky now.

“We played Carlton here a month ago. We thought we were pretty good that night.

“Tonight was better.”

Former Sun Taylor Smith kicked three goals in the rout as the Lions claimed a fifth-straight win to move into fourth on the ladder.

Courtney Hodder booted two majors as nine different Lions scored goals.

The 21-year-old was awarded the QClash medal as best on ground for her display which also included 17 disposals and four tackles.

Lions skipper Emily Bates (23 disposals, 14 tackles) led by example in the big win while midfield dynamo Cathy Svarc (12 disposals, 10 tackles) was a constant menace as the Suns simply couldn’t handle Brisbane’s run and pressure throughout. 

Gold Coast didn’t score a goal until five minutes into the final quarter with Tori Groves-Little’s finish avoiding the ignominy of repeating the 0.2 (2) final score in last year’s QClash.

Experienced forward Sarah Perkins added a second for the hosts with less than five minutes to play with a nice set-shot finish but the Lions had the final say with the last two goals of the contest.

“We understand tonight we were comprehensively outplayed,” Suns coach Cameron Joyce said.

“We’ve got a game in five days’ time against the Dogs and we’ve got to get some respect back, which I think we’d really earnt in the first five rounds but we lost a little bit tonight.”

The Lions are back at Metricon Stadium on Monday night for a mouthwatering clash with the third-placed Demons before Gold Coast host the Western Bulldogs on Tuesday.