The Brisbane Lions Reserves produced one of their best performances for the season last Saturday, despite falling one-point short of upsetting the third-placed NT Thunder at the Gabba.

Only a couple of kicks separated the sides at every change, but ultimately the straight-shooting Thunder were able to hold on to win by the narrowest of margins – 17.5 (107) to 16.10 (106).  

With Matthew Leuenberger and Brent Moloney sidelined with Achilles soreness, the undermanned Lions’ task became even tougher when regular ruckman Archie Smith was also ruled out pre-game due to a concussion suffered against the Giants.

It meant the Lions’ side boasted just 12 listed players – less if you take into account that Andrew Raines only played half a game as the senior emergency.

But buoyed by the injection of some talented Queensland U18 top-ups, the Lions fought gallantly against their highly fancied opponents.

“Our listed players were absolutely terrific,” Development Coach Matthew Francis told lions.com.au.

“We also got some of our quality top-ups back, who had been unavailable over the past couple of weeks because of the State U18 Championships. (The top-ups) are really starting to get a feel for how we want to move the ball.

“One of our young kids, Harris Andrews, was particularly impressive. He took some nice marks, and showed a little bit up forward next to our more hardened regulars.

“The whole team showed good character and fight. There were two times – in the first and third quarters – when we got 4-5 goals behind and had to work our way back into the game.”

The Lions Reserves were left ruing some missed opportunities in front of goal and finished the game with four more scoring shots than the Thunder, who were deadly accurate with 17.5 for the game (they’d kicked 13.1 up until three quarter-time).  

“Obviously you always look back at what would’ve or could’ve been had we taken some of those opportunities,” Francis said.

“They were just a little bit cleaner in front of goals. They couldn’t miss.

Please find below Matthew Francis’ appraisal on each of the listed Lions who played against the NT Thunder last Saturday.
 

Jack Crisp

Jack was really good. He hit the scoreboard again with two goals, so is becoming a valuable goal-scoring midfielder. He moved the ball beautifully and combined well with Zac O’Brien and Robbo to give us some real strength at stoppages.

Nick Robertson

It was a typical Robbo-style of game, he had a real crack. He kicked a great goal from a stoppage in the third quarter. Used the ball well, and really took it up to the Thunder in the midfield.

Jordan Lisle

Played a role up forward, and finished with four goals. He played a very clever game, and managed to get some space on his opponent by outsmarting him a couple of times. Jordy knows how to get to the drop of the ball. His fourth goal came a minute into the third quarter, so he hit the scoreboard quite early.

Andrew Raines

Rainesy only played the first half as he was senior emergency. He finished with 14 disposals on his wing, and was ever-reliable. He did a pretty good job on one of their more dangerous players.

James Polkinghorne

It was Polks’ first game back from injury, and he will benefit from the run. He played mostly on the wing and a bit on the ball as an inside mid. He went for an absolutely spectacular mark at one stage. He’s always doing exciting things. Still has a bit to work on.

Jonathan Freeman

Didn’t get a lot of possessions, but looked really dangerous when he got a run and leap at the footy. He took some nice marks, and kicked a couple of goals from four shots. He probably needs to get to more marking contest and just cover the ground better, because when he flies for marks, he can look very impressive.  

Jackson Paine

Jackson finished with five goals. We moved him forward obviously from down back where he’d spent the past few weeks. He was terrific. He, Jordy, and Jono kicked 11 between them, and were all really dangerous. Painey got himself in dangerous positions and capitalised with good contested marks.

Isaac Conway

Played mainly across the half-back flank. In the third quarter he helped us get the ascendency, but contributing towards two goals from half back. He basically won the hard ball and following the flow of play through by getting multiple possessions. Just needs to keep working on his kicking to add polish to his game. His contested footy is tremendous.

Nick Hayes

Nick was probably our best. He was given a job on arguably their best player, Christopher Dunn, and kept him quiet. He intercepted marks used the ball beautifully. He set up our attacking moves and gave plenty of drive.

Jordon Bourke

Jordon played on Darren Ewing, who is the NEAFL’s leading goal-kicker. He kept him to six touches, but Ewing kicked 4.2. He still did a tremendous job. He reads the play beautifully and his great hands were on show for the crowd in attendance.

Zac O’Brien

Another good day for Zac. He not only won a heap of possession – he had close to 30 – but he also had 10 tackles and nine clearances. He was very valuable and took on Cameron Ilet head-to-head in the first half.

Sam Michael

It was really workmanlike performance from Sam. He competes so very hard, but probably didn’t have as much influence in terms of possies around the ground. He was still very valuable in terms of his running patterns, and can really hold his head up high.