It was 32min 56sec of football artistry. If you didn’t see it, do yourself a favour and have a look. And if you did, treat yourself and watch it again. Because it was something very special.
Television commentators trumpeted the Lions’ brutal third-quarter assault on St.Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the club’s best quarter in 10 years.
And it was. Eleven years actually. The Lions outscored the Saints by 50 points in a 9-3 to 1-1 blitz.
But it was much more.
In 740 games and 2960 quarters played by the Brisbane Football Club it was only the 14th time they have outscored the opposition by 50 points in a quarter.
And, most significantly, it was only the second time they’ve done so in 358 games and 1432 quarters away from the Gabba.
The goals came in bursts on Saturday from a Lions side that looked noticeably refreshed after the mid-season bye.
Charlie Cameron, who kicked three goals in the first quarter, got it started again after halftime when he goaled 2min:37sec and 4:09 into the term and Lincoln McCarthy followed at 6:23m.
After a brief pause Mitch Robinson goaled when the timeclock showed 12:28 and then, after almost 10 minutes and St.Kilda’s only goal of the quarter, the Lions piled on five goals in eight minutes.
It was Allen Christensen at 22:51, Hugh McCluggage at 25:14, Eric Hipwood at 27:14, Dayne Zorko at 29:30 and Dan McStay at 30:58.
Christensen from a tight angle pic.twitter.com/k7Ba9co00b
— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) June 22, 2019
The only other time the Lions have scored so decisively in a quarter away from the Gabba was in Round 4 2008 against Port Adelaide at the old Football Park, when, after trailing by 33 points at three-quarter time, they piled on 9-6 to 1-1 in the final term to win by 20 points.
It was Daniel Merrett’s 50th game. Simon Black was best afield, Daniel Bradshaw kicked five goals and Jonathan Brown four, and Matthew Leuenberger was a standout rucking solo after Jamie Charman was a late withdrawal.
Saturday’s win was the Lions’ biggest away from home since Round 21 2014, when they beat Collingwood by 67 points at the MCG. Zorko was best afield wit 36 disposals and two goals.
It was a big day, too, for Oscar McInerney, who had a career-best 10 contested possessions and pulled down a career-best six contested marks.
His contested mark count was one that has been bettered by only two players in club history since full statistics were kept for the first time in 1999.
Bradshaw holds the club record at nine, while Brown once had seven.
Bradshaw also had six contested marks twice, Brown once, and Dan Merrett, Harris Andrews, Alastair Lynch and Tom Rockliff once.
And the electrifying Cameron matched his career-best five-goal bag for Adelaide in the 2017 preliminary final to jump to ninth on the League goal-kicking list this season and became the 45th member of the Brisbane Five-Goal Club.
It was just the fourth time since 2013 that a Lions player has kicked five or more goals in a game, with Eric Hipwood having twice booted six goals and Dayne Beams five goals once.
Members of the Five Goal Club, with details of how many times each player has kicked five or more goals in a game for the club, are:-
BRISBANE FOOTBALL CLUB - 5+ GOALS IN A GAME | |||||||
Player | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total |
Bradshaw, Daniel | 19 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 38 |
Brown, Jonathan | 17 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 1 | 34 |
Lynch, Alastair | 16 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
|
| 30 |
Merrett, Roger | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
|
| 16 |
Hardie, Brad | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| 1 |
| 12 |
Akermanis, Jason | 6 | 2 |
|
|
|
| 8 |
Molloy, Jarrod | 5 | 2 | 1 |
|
|
| 8 |
McGrath, Ash | 5 | 2 |
|
|
|
| 7 |
Voss, Michael | 4 |
| 1 |
|
|
| 5 |
Leppitsch, Justin | 3 | 1 |
|
|
|
| 4 |
McRae, Craig | 3 | 1 |
|
|
|
| 4 |
O'Brien, Cameron | 2 | 1 | 1 |
|
|
| 4 |
Schache, Laurence | 3 | 1 |
|
|
|
| 4 |
White, Darryl | 2 | 1 | 1 |
|
|
| 4 |
Capper, Warwick | 1 | 1 |
| 1 |
|
| 3 |
Edmond, Jim | 2 |
|
| 1 |
|
| 3 |
McIvor, Scott | 2 | 1 |
|
|
|
| 3 |
Power, Luke | 2 | 1 |
|
|
|
| 3 |
Clark, Mitch | 2 |
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|
|
| 2 |
Fevola, Brendan | 2 |
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| 2 |
Fidge, John | 1 | 1 |
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|
| 2 |
Hart, Shaun | 2 |
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|
| 2 |
Headland, Des | 1 | 1 |
|
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|
| 2 |
Hipwood, Eric |
| 2 |
|
|
|
| 2 |
Hutton, John |
|
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| 2 |
|
| 2 |
Johnson, Chris | 2 |
|
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| 2 |
Owen, Rod | 1 |
|
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
Scott, Chris | 2 |
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| 2 |
Beams, Dayne | 1 |
|
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| 1 |
Brennan, Jared |
|
| 1 |
|
|
| 1 |
Cameron, Charlie | 1 |
|
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| 1 |
Cameron, David |
| 1 |
|
|
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| 1 |
Clarke, Troy | 1 |
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| 1 |
Gastev, John |
|
| 1 |
|
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| 1 |
Harris, Bernie |
| 1 |
|
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| 1 |
Judge, Ken | 1 |
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| 1 |
Keating, Clark | 1 |
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| 1 |
Lawrence, Steven | 1 |
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| 1 |
Merrett, Daniel |
|
| 1 |
|
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| 1 |
Murphy, Michael |
|
|
| 1 |
|
| 1 |
Notting, Tim |
| 1 |
|
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| 1 |
Peos, Paul | 1 |
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| 1 |
Phillips, Brenton | 1 |
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| 1 |
Roberts, Mark | 1 |
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| 1 |
Williams, Mark |
| 1 |
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| 1 |
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|
|
|
| 130 | 51 | 28 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 213 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total |
From the Fitzroy history books, eight players kicked 10 or more goals in a match a total of 11 times.
MOST GOALS IN A GAME - FITZROY | ||
Goals | Player | Year |
12 | Bob Merrick | 1919 |
12 | Jack Moriarty | 1928 |
11 | Bernie Quinlan | 1984 |
11 | Richard Osborne | 1989 |
10 | Jimmy Freake | 1915 |
10 | Jack Moriarty | 1933 |
10 | Fred Hughson | 1938 |
10 | Bob Beecroft | 1978 |
10 | Bob Beecroft | 1979 |
10 | Bernie Quinlan | 1983 |
10 | Mick Conlan | 1984 |