The Brisbane Lions were clinical in their 18.8 (116) to 8.7 (55) win over Sydney yesterday at the SCG and are now undefeated in their past three fixtures to take a step further towards solidifying a place in the NEAFL top six.
Lions coach Mitch Hahn was pleased with the way his side won.
“Our ability to win the inside ball against a team who has been good all year was fantastic” Hahn told neafl.com.au.
“At the end of the day, we were plus 17 for contested footy.”
The Lions got off to the perfect start through Corey Lyons who kicked the opening goal in 56 seconds. Brisbane dominated the early proceedings and had the first 19 points of the game.
Jake Brown kicked a beautiful snap against the run of play for the Swans at the 13-minute mark. After a nervy start, the Swans then settled to be behind by a single point at quarter-time.
The Swans hit the front two minutes into the second term through James Bell. The second quarter evened out with both sides going
However, the Lions kicked three goals to end the quarter, giving them a 19-point buffer at the main break, the highlight being Cody Stackelberg’s right-foot snap.
The Swans, who were playing 13 academy players, toiled hard in the third quarter but to no avail. Swans ruckman Darcy Cameron kept the Swans in the hunt with a fantastic mark and then slotted the set shot in the 24th minute to drop the margin back to 24 points.
However, the Lions experience came to the fore and began to slow the game down in order to grind out a result and went into three-quarter time with a four-goal lead.
The game opened up in the final quarter with the Lions kicking seven goals to Sydney’s one. Similar to the first quarter, the Lions scored in the first minute of the game through a clever soccer off the deck by Zac Bailey.
It was all one-way traffic, especially in the last 10 minutes as the Lions kicked four goals, with young forward Connor Ballenden booting two of those goals.
Brisbane’s leaders were exceptional all afternoon. Claye Beams led the way with 31 disposals, 10 marks, seven tackles, six clearances, six inside
He was supported well by Ben Keays (31 touches, eight clearances, seven tackles, three inside
Hahn was all praise for his on-field leaders.
“If we are to continue going forward and playing finals then we need our senior players to play good footy. That was really pleasing,” he said.
“We had a really even contribution from a lot of our players tonight.”
Darcy Cameron was best afield for the Swans, ending the afternoon with 28 touches, 13 marks, a remarkable 48 hit-outs, six clearances, three tackles, three inside
Rising Star nominee Bailey Stewart was the best for the contingent of academy players with 11 disposals and eight tackles.
Dean Towers (23 disposals, six clearances, six inside
The Lions were dominant all day and played fantastic uncontested football and were always playing the game on their terms. Brisbane collected 162 more disposals than the Swans (393-231), were +63 for marks (104-41) with many of those being uncontested and also had 17 more contested possessions than their opponents.
The win sees Brisbane remain in the hotly contested sixth position on the NEAFL ladder and are only two points outside the top four, with Hahn conceding that “every game is now a final for us.”
Veteran Rohan Bewick suffered a cork to his hip early in the game for Brisbane but is expected to return in the coming weeks.
The Lions will have the bye next weekend before taking on the Gold Coast SUNS a week later. The Swans will travel down to Canberra to take on the Canberra Demons who will be keen to put their 103-point defeat against Southport behind them.
Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions at the SCG
BRISBANE 3.2 8.3 11.5 18.8 (116)
SYDNEY 3.1 5.2 7.5 8.7 (55)
GOALS – Brisbane: Z Bailey 3 T Wooller 2 C Ballenden 2 L Dawson 2 C Lyons 2 C Beams R Lester J Quint B Keays C Stackelberg B Sloan J Preval. Sydney: J Rayner 2 D Towers 2 D Cameron 2 J Brown J Bell.
BEST – Brisbane: J Frost C Beams B Keays R Lester T Wooller C Cox. Sydney: D Cameron D Towers J Brown J Maibaum.
