Lions.com.au takes a closer look at some of the statistics from the team’s Round 17 match against Melbourne in Darwin.

Slow starters
The Lions have long identified their first quarters as being a weakness, and the trend continued last Saturday night when they trailed Melbourne by nine points at the opening break.

The Lions have still won just three of their 16 first quarters in 2013, which is the equal lowest in the AFL along with the Western Bulldogs.   

The Lions have also kicked the fewest first quarter goals in the competition (37), after being overtaken by Melbourne (38) and Greater Western Sydney (39) over the weekend.

Sharing goals
Michael Voss said he was pleased with the Lions’ ability to share the goal-kicking load in the absence of regular spearhead Jonathan Brown.

Brent Staker and Josh Green led the way with three goals apiece, while Daniel Merrett and Jack Redden also booted multiples.  

The Lions now have seven players with double figure goals for the season, with five others having contributed seven goals or more.

At this rate, the Club is on target to better its total of 11 double figure goal-kickers from both last year and 2011.

Inside 50 targets
In Rounds 15 and 16, Jonathan Brown was the Lions’ direct target 13 and 10 times respectively, but his absence forced the Lions to be a little more unpredictable when moving forward.   

Makeshift forward Daniel Merrett was the main target last Saturday night with five forward entries headed his way, while Rohan Bewick and Josh Green each had three.

Disposals
Tom Rockliff racked up a game-high 34 disposals and seems to be relishing the added responsibility of playing more minutes in the midfield.

In fact, Rockliff has averaged 28 disposals over the past three weeks in Simon Black’s absence, which is a notable improvement from the 19 disposals he averaged between Rounds 8-14.

Maguire stands tall
After conceding five goals in the opening term, the Lions limited Melbourne to just six more goals across the final three quarters.

In his 50th match for the Club, Matt Maguire stood tall in defence against the Demons, with a team-high six hard ball gets, 10 rebounds, seven spoils, and four marks from opposition kicks.

Maguire’s promising form since returning from injury, along with Justin Clarke’s continued development, has given the Lions the added luxury of playing regular full-back Merrett up forward on occasion.

Running Man
Excitement machine Pearce Hanley gains more metres than any of his Lions teammates, largely due to his ability to run through the lines.

This was clearly on display again last Saturday night, with Hanley producing seven running bounces – the equal most of any player in the AFL for Round 17.

He now ranks third overall in running bounces with 40 – behind Sydney’s Nick Malceski (45) and Collingwood’s Heath Shaw (57).