The win, however, was soured by a suspected season-ending knee injury to young forward Bryce Retzlaff in the opening minutes of the match.
Reserves Coach Nathan Clarke said the potential loss of Retzlaff would be a cruel blow for both the big Queenslander and his team.
“If the injury is as bad as expected, it will be an absolute killer blow,” Clarke said.
“It was a fairly innocuous incident, just one of those contests you would see every day in every game of footy around Australia.”
“Before Saturday’s game, he was second on the NEAFL leading goal-kickers list and has just had a terrific season.”
Clarke was proud with his team’s effort to adapt to Retzlaff’s early loss and go on to secure what he labelled as arguably their “best win” so far in 2012.
“The win was even more meritorious given we lost Retzy early,” Clarke said.
“We kicked away in the second quarter, but I felt as though we were in control for most of the match - even when Gold Coast kicked four goals in a row in the third and got to within a few goals.”
“They butchered the footy a bit which made our life easier, but I don’t think our skill level was quite what it could have been either. We also seemed to have the ball camped in our forward 50 a lot, but just couldn’t score. It was a low-scoring, tricky sort of day.”
“Overall, it was probably our best win. To keep 18 listed players to one goal in a half of footy was a supreme defensive effort.”
In Retzlaff’s absence, Jordan Lisle was one player who stepped up to fill the void with a game-high five goals.
“Jordan is terrific one-on-one inside 50m, he’s agile and quick, and has quite a lot going for him attribute-wise. He would be a scary proposition for most key defenders,” Clarke said.
“He kicked a ripping goal in the third quarter, where he chased down a defender, put a smother on, turned on a dime, and banged it over his shoulder.”
“We’re still just working on him with the way he leads at the ball carrier.”
Clarke also lauded the effort of Claye Beams who was named as the best on ground.
“Beamsy was particularly strong in the first half, and had a lot of clearances,” he said.
“He was also running long and gave us an option at the kick-out. There was one time when he led for the ball from the kick-out, didn’t get used, but kept running hard and eventually became part of the same chain of play inside our attacking 50m. He ended up having a shot on goal which shaved the post, but it exemplified his willingness to work hard.”
“Claye might not be the quickest bloke in the team, but he has the right attitude.”
FINAL SCORE
Brisbane Lions 0.2 7.6 8.9 10.12 (72) def
Gold Coast 1.1 1.3 5.7 7.8 (50)
LIONS GOALS
Lisle 5, Buchanan 2, Starcevich 2, Karnezis
LIONS BEST
Beams, J. Clarke, Buchanan, Lisle, S. Clarke, Bartlett
