The Brisbane Lions reserves suffered a shock 53-point loss to a depleted NT Thunder in their Round 12 QAFL Velocity Sports Cup clash in Darwin on Friday night.

Despite fielding 14 listed players, the Lions struggled with the interstate travel factor and warm conditions, falling away badly in the second half to lose 18.10 (118) to 9.11(65).

Following an exact pre-match travelling and preparation ritual as the senior side when it travels, the Lions started brightly enough at TIO Stadium.

They booted the first three goals in front of a disappointing crowd of just 2000, the Friday night fixture clashing with a host of other sports across Darwin.

Tom Rockliff, Tim Notting, and local top-up player Jack Harding all goalled and the Thunder appeared to believe the pre-match forecasts of doom for a side that had a bare 23 to choose from and all of their tall key defenders sidelined.

But a bone crunching attack on the footy by new Thunder ruckman Ryan Smith seemed to awake the home team from their slumber and after goals from James Puautjimi, Munkara, and Bradley Palipuaminni on the siren had the Thunder right back in the game.

Puautjimi, who stands just 168cm tall and weighs 60kg, was again in the thick of things early in the second term and his initial goal gave the Thunder the lead for the first time, then he followed it up with another from an uncanny snap from the pocket.
The Lions were winning plenty of uncontested possession through Bradd Dalziell and James Hawksley but it wasn’t until Daniel Dzufer snuck forward and goaled followed by big ruckman Daniel Murray from a mark 20m out that the Lions were back in the hunt.

Full-back Aaron Cornelius was having a great battle with Thunder spearhead Darren Ewing - when the ball was sat high it favoured the Lions defender but Ewing to his credit was prepared to push long up the ground and dish off to his oncoming runners.

The alarms were sounding in more ways than one for the Lions as the fire alarms started ringing around TIO Stadium for the latter part of the second quarter.

Big Peter MacFarlane took advantage of a defensive lapse from the Lions to mark and goal from the square as the bells tolling around the ground were accompanied by the half time siren with the Thunder in front by four points.

As is normally the case, the third quarter opened right up with the locals kicking the first four goals.

Joel Tippett, who won the Lions’ share of ruck knocks, scored from the goalsquare to temporarily halt the home side run-on, but the parochial Thunder crowd came to life after a clever knock on from Iggy Vallejo created another goal for Palipuaminni.

The Lions gave themselves a sniff when Adam Spackman got his kick away from outside 50m just before the siren and some poor, defensive work from the Territory allowed the ball to bounce through, leaving the Lions in arrears by 23 points at the last break

But the last quarter became a procession with the Thunder boys loading up and kicking the first three goals to put the Lions to the sword.

Rockliff, who had done well to recover from a heavy knock with Smith in the first quarter, kicked his second but then it was show time with clearly the best player on the ground in Palipuaminni kicking his fourth.

The robust Ewing bagged his fourth second half goal after the siren, which saw the Thunder gain some revenge for the 88-point belting they received from the Lions at the Gabba in Round 2

For the home side, the excitement created by Palipuaminni and Puautjimi was a feature, as was the debut of young under 18 player Patrick Heenan, who is playing with permission from Melbourne Grammar where he boards.

Heenan in his bright orange boots may have set the fire alarms off in the second quarter as he burnt up the turf on the Grandstand wing.

Vallejo was critical when the game was in the balance, Lohde and Mark McLean were all class as were the injury-hampered Ilett brothers, who still hit in hard and low when the situation warranted.

The Thunder would have also been pleased with the return of Damien Roe who was a constant springboard into attack

For the visitors, Dalziell was clearly their best with over 30 possessions, Cornelius did a solid job despite conceding four goals to the new Ray Hughson Medal leader in Ewing, Rockliff was creative when he got the ball, and Tippett won his share of taps but Brisbane lacked the extra rotations through the midfield to take advantage although Pearce Hanley never stopped trying

But all honours to the NT Thunder who continued their unbeaten run in the Top End as they surge towards cementing a spot in this years Velocity Sports Cup finals series.

SCOREBOARD

NT Thunder        3.0   6.3   12.6   18.10 (118)
Brisbane Lions   3.3   5.5   8.7      9.11 (65)

GOALS - NT: D. Ewing 4, B. Palipuaminni 4, J. Puautjimi 3, P. MacFarlane 2, S. Munkara 2, K. Lohde, I. Vallejo, C. Ilett. Lions: T. Rockliff 2, D. Murray 2, T. Notting, J. Tippett, A. Spackman, D. Dzufer
BEST - NT: B. Palipuaminni, I. Vallejo, P. Heenan, D. Roe, M. McLean, P. MacFarlane. Lions: A. Cornelius, J. Hawksley, T. Rockliff, D. Dzufer, J. Tippett, J. Roe.