The Brisbane Lions and Geelong clashed twice in 2013, and although most were predicting blowouts, both turned out to be epic encounters.
The Round 13 clash at the Gabba won’t soon be forgotten by Lions fans, as they witnessed a ‘Miracle on Grass’.
Trailing by 52 points late in the third quarter, the Lions produced their greatest ever come-back to steal victory from the Cats after the final siren.
The fairytale was completed by Ash McGrath, who lived out every footballer’s boyhood dream by calmly slotting the match-winner from outside 50m in his 200th game.
The Lions proved it was no fluke in Round 23 at Simonds Stadium, when they came within one point of causing another major upset. McGrath was the hero again with six goals.
The combined margin from both games was just six points, with the Lions and Cats each taking home one win.
Although a calf injury will keep McGrath sidelined for this Sunday’s game, Geelong midfielder James Kelly said his team would be far more wary of their opponents this time around.
“Yeah they are a little bit (of a difficult match-up), it’s probably just a bit of a mindset thing too,” Kelly told geelongcats.com.au.
“I think a couple of times we’ve played them maybe we weren’t on as much as we should have been. If one team is going as well as they can and the other is five or 10 per cent off you can lose on any day.
“Going into this week we just have to make sure that we’re really switched on and ready to play.”
Cats wary of Lions
The Lions and Geelong faced-off in two epic encounters last year