Brendan Fevola and Carlton stand in the way of the Brisbane Lions and the 2007 NAB Cup, after the mercurial forward lifted the Blues to an unlikely comeback semi-final victory at Carrara on Saturday night.

In a game of wildly fluctuating fortunes that wasn't far short of rivalling the Lions' infamous Round 18 loss to the Western Bulldogs of 2005, Carlton started the better of the two sides, leading by five points at quarter-time and a couple of goals mid-way through the second quarter.

But the Roos, looking for a second win in two starts at their Gold Coast "home" roared back into the contest and then some. Shannon Grant booted three consecutive goals in typically opportune style to put the Shinboners six points in front at half-time and, when Glenn Archer belied his advancing years to goal twice early in the third quarter, it was the Kangaroos by 37 points. At that stage, it looked less a question of if Dean Laidley's side would win but by how much.

Fevola and the Blues had other ideas, however. The enigmatic spearhead, whose troubled off-season included an unfortunate incident in Ireland and much-publicised marital problems, kicked six second-half goals in compiling a total of eight for the match - including a super goal. Far from being overrun by their hosts, it was actually Carlton that surged, booting 10 unanswered goals en route to a 15-point win. A couple of late Roos goals restored some respectability to the scoreboard.

Fevola's heroics helped set up what promises to be an intriguing grand final match-up against the Lions. The two combatants finished 13th (Lions) and 16th (Carlton) in 2006 and were largely unwanted in NAB Cup betting - indeed the Lions, quite improbably, have been the longest-priced side throughout the competition, starting at a quote of $41 entering the Round 1 showdown with St Kilda in Cairns. Even after beating the Saints and fellow 2006 finalists the Western Bulldogs, the Lions were still NAB Cup underdogs going into Friday night's win over highly-fancied Geelong.

The Lions will enter Saturday night's pre-season finale at a much tighter price, particularly if Jonathan Brown and/or Daniel Bradshaw are selected to make their first appearances of 2007. Both have been working their way towards full fitness and the presence of either or both of the spearheads on the Lions' teamsheet would presumably result in a significant shortening of the odds of the NAB Cup going to the Gabba for the first time.

Whether Brown and Bradshaw play or not, there are plenty of positive signs for the Lions. Justin Sherman and Michael Rischitelli continue to emerge, Simon Black and Luke Power are in characteristically fine fettle and draftees James Hawksley, Matt Tyler and Chris Schmidt all will have gained invaluable experience from Friday's semi-final at Docklands.

Jared Brennan looks at home in his new defensive role, Beau McDonald appears to be regaining the form that made him one of the AFL's most promising young ruckmen before persistent knee problems, and Irishman Colm Begley gives the impression he has been playing the oval-balled game for a lot longer than 16 months. The rookie from County Laois is maturing nicely as an attacking defender and provided a highlight against Geelong when he ran forward to supergoal on the run, with a towering left-foot bomb that travelled the best part of 60m.

The battle between the Lions' cubs and Denis Pagan's young Blues promises to be an exciting one. Apart from finding a way to stop Fevola, who has now booted 15 goals in this NAB Cup and is seemingly deadly within 65m of goal, the Lions will also have to worry about the likes of Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs, Eddie Betts and Nick Stevens.

Murphy, once a potential father-son recruit for the Lions, looks even better than he did in his polished debut season of 2006. Against the Roos he twisted and turned out of trouble, was rarely caught and had little difficulty finding the footy and disposing of it effectively. Last year's No. 1 selection Gibbs is another who seems extraordinarily mature for his young years, impressively unhurried in his distribution, while will-o-the-wisp Betts was busy versus the Kangaroos and Stevens showed his class with a brilliant last-quarter goal from the boundary.

In the weekend's regional challenge action, Fremantle accounted for Hawthorn by 21 points at Subiaco Oval, Melbourne eclipsed Richmond by 28 points and Port Adelaide continued St Kilda's barren pre-season run with a 57-point thumping at AAMI Stadium. Adam Goodes again starred as Sydney ran out 56-point winners over Collingwood at Narrandera, West Coast came back from 29 points down in the third term to beat Adelaide by seven points in Alice Springs and Luke Darcy's return from two knee reconstructions saw the Western Bulldogs defeat Essendon by 11 points.

Fremantle 12.12 (84) d Hawthorn 9.9 (63)

Only a week after seeing Jeff Farmer and Michael Johnson suspended and Dean Solomon cleared of a striking charge, the Dockers were in the thick of things again, a third term melee a feature of a 21-point win against the Hawks on Saturday night. This time, however, it was Hawk Brownlow medallist Shane Crawford who went into the umpire's notebook - reported for striking veteran Docker Peter Bell. Boom off-season recruit Chris Tarrant played his first game for Fremantle but had little impact on the contest as Adam Campbell kicked three goals for the home side.

Melbourne 15.13 (103) d Richmond 10.15 (75)

Travis Johnstone returned to the Demons lineup after sitting out the previous two matches with a broken toe. He immediately struck form with 25 touches in Melbourne's 28-point win. David Neitz and Jeff White kicked three goals apiece for Melbourne, while summer addition Graham Polak was one of four Tigers to contribute two goals. Clint Bizzell's comeback from a horrid run with injury continued to gather momentum as he was named in Melbourne's best, along with second-year midfielder Nathan Jones.

Western Bulldogs 15.12 (102) d Essendon 13.13 (91)

It was a match for comebacks as Luke Darcy and Robert Murphy both returned from knee reconstructions for the Bulldogs and Essendon skipper Matthew Lloyd, coming off an injury-ruined 2006, booted seven goals - more than half his side’s majors for the match. As Darcy played his first game since Round 6, 2005, gun youngster Adam Cooney slotted neatly back into the Bulldogs' lineup and ex-Lion Jason Akermanis was among the best for the victors. Aside from Lloyd's contribution, former captain James Hird was in good touch for the Bombers, getting plenty of possessions and snapping a goal.

Port Adelaide 21.14 (140) d St Kilda 12.11 (83)

Port Adelaide's history of getting mileage out of re-treads looks like continuing after Richmond discard David Rodan kicked an eye-catching four goals in a 57-point romp. The Saints had all kinds of problems with the Power's speed around the ground, with draftee Nathan Krakouer kicking three goals and last year's Rising Star winner Danyle Pearce weighing in with two. New St Kilda coach Ross Lyon remains without a win, although Stephen Milne's four goals and good performances from Nick Dal Santo and Robert Harvey will have given him heart.

West Coast 12.12 (84) d Adelaide 11.11 (77)

West Coast finally fielded something close to a full-strength team and it paid dividends when they reeled off a seven-goal burst to emerge seven-point winners in Alice Springs. Daniel Kerr, Chris Judd and Dean Cox all returned to the Eagles' side, but it was youngster Shannon Hurn who was adjudged best field for West Coast, which trailed by 29 points in the third quarter. Adelaide had Graham Johncock and Tyson Edwards in their lineup for the first time in 2007, with Nathan Bock and Scott Welsh kicking three goals apiece for the Crows.

Sydney 19.9 (123) d Collingwood 10.7 (67)

Big-time football returned to Narrandera for the first time in seven years – part of the AFL's bid to raise money for the drought-afflicted. Adam Goodes was the star of the show, booting four goals in a resounding Swans victory. Long and straight kicking was a feature of Sydney's win, while the Magpies were well served by veteran midfielder Paul Licuria and second-year excitement machine Dale Thomas.