The Lions were left to lament a wayward third quarter in which they sprayed 2.7 to 2.2 to trail by 15 points at the last break, before falling 15.16 (106) to 8.13 (61).
It was a bold display nonetheless, given that they fielded 14 listed players and eight raw young top-up players.
“The guys hung in there and had a crack,” said Lions coach Craig Brittain.
“Part of being a good player is taking your opportunities and if we had been level or in front by a bit at three quarter time, it would have been a different mindset for us and them.”
Brittain said the quality of the top-up players was not at the same level as during the year because most the players who had qualified had opted to play with their mates at under 18 or reserves level in the finals series.
He was also concerned about the number of young, light-bodied players who had to be pitchforked into the fierce, physical battle of a QAFL final.
To add to their difficulties, the Lions lost Kieran King in the second term when he was knocked out, had Matthew Leuenberger on limited game time, and had to be wary of rotating his senior players constantly because the Lions seniors were being touted as playing on Friday night and 3-4 players from the game with in contention to be elevated due to a growing injury toll at the Gabba.
Mt Gravatt, with former Lions Shane Morrison and Tom Tarrant back after long injury layoffs, looked razor sharp from the outset, handling the ball with a renewed assuredness.
Ruckman Ryan Head was outstanding early and continued in that vein all day, more than matching Leuenberger at the centre bounces and taking a number of strong mars around the ground.
The Vultures had two goals on the board in the opening four minutes, before Tim Notting sparked his side, playing with plenty of zeal and kicking a long range goal from inside the centre square.
Morrison was lively at centre-half-forward and Gavin Grose controlled centre-half-back, and it was only a relay free kick and then 50m penalty against frustrated former Lion Darryl White that gifted the Lions their second goal on the stroke of quarter time and kept them within 10 points.
Nathan Gilliland had the ball on a string in the second term, but it was Rory Lake who really hurt the Lions with two goals in each of the opening two quarters.
Lake played the game smart all day, reading the play superbly and continued his purple patch of form that has been prevalent for the last five weeks.
Troy Selwood and Notting kept the Lions in the game, although Notting didn’t finish off his work as well as he could.
Selwood was prolific at half-back and through the midfield, although the Lions lacked a target up forward with Tarrant too strong for the much bigger Daniel Murray and Tom Rockliff struggling to find space near goal.
The Lions’ defensive structures were sound, using a spare man back and running the ball out at will.
They trailed by 20 points at the main break and should have got closer in the third, spraying a number of shots from close range.
Bradd Dalziell started to find a lot of the ball and Rhan Hooper did a couple of flashy things, while Pearce Hanley gave plenty of life from defence.
But the Vultures were just too composed in the final term, with PNG recruit Peter Labi booting the first two goals at the three and 10-minute mark to seal the game.
The second was from a clever tap-on by White, who had started the game strongly but took a number of heavy hits that limited his influence.
Head continued to win plenty of ball in the midfield, while fellow ruckman Joel Smouha did likewise.
Mick Hamill won plenty of hard-ball in the middle quarters and then ran the game out strongly, while Josh Vearing controlled the game from half-back and used the ball particularly well in the cross-breeze.
The highlights of the game came 25 minutes into the final term when Grose ‘passed’ the ball 70 metres from a free kick by the defensive behind post that landed in Sam Carins’ arms running full tilt near the centre. Carins then bounced three terms and speared the middle of the goals from 50m that brought the small crowd to its feet.
SCOREBOARD
Brisbane Lions 2.4 4.5 6.12 8.13 (61)
Mt Gravatt 4.2 7.7 9.9 15.16 (106)
GOALS - Lions: Dalziell 2, Notting 2, Clarke, Hanley, Hooper, Rockliff. Mt Gravatt: Lake 4, Labi 2, Cleary 2, Carins 2, Pratt, Morrison, Furfaro, Barry, Dosser.
BEST - Lions: Selwood, Dalziell, Hanley, Dzufer, Notting, Rockliff. Mt Gravatt: Lake, Gilliland, Head, Carins, Vearing, Smouha.
