A SECOND half resurgence by the Brisbane Lions, led by star forward Jonathan Brown, just wasn't enough to prevent an opening round defeat to the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco on Saturday night.
The Lions eventually went down by 16 points, but six goals from Brown and a Lion-hearted effort after the first quarter gives fans plenty of hope for a positive season.
The Eagles had an early 37-point lead and the Lions hit the lead in the third quarter, before West Coast ran out eventual 14.8 (92) to 11.10 (76) winners.
West Coast showed no early signs of missing Chris Judd and Ben Cousins as its midfield completely dominated proceedings in the opening term.
Eagles ruckman Dean Cox gave Matt Priddis, Daniel Kerr and Adam Selwood first use of the ball for the home side while Simon Black played a lone hand for the Lions with 10 opening quarter possessions.
The Lions’ cause was not helped by the early loss of playmaker Jed Adcock with an ankle injury.
The height of Mark Seaby created headaches for the Brisbane defence and makeshift forwards Beau Waters and David Wirrpanda chipped in with two goals each for the Eagles.
The home side had six goals on the board before Brown, who had struggled to get into the game, posted his side's first with just 60 seconds left on the clock, leaving the Lions 30 points adrift at the first change.
The second quarter quickly turned into the Jonathan Brown show with the star forward converting three strong marks into goals to drag the Lions back into the contest.
Black was finding the ball at will, Nigel Lappin, Troy Selwood and Travis Johnstone slowly worked their way into the game and Jamie Charman and Matthew Leuenberger began to exert more influence at the stoppages.
An awkward landing in a marking contest deep into time-on left Brown on the ground clutching his left calf, but he appeared to recover as the Lions went to the long break just 19 points down.
The visitors made their move in the third quarter aided by a string of basic skill errors by the Eagles.
Black continued to rack up quality possessions around the ground and the Lions worked overtime to effectively shutdown the Eagles' midfield. Kerr, in particular, was showing signs of a restricted preparation and began to struggle against a close-checking Luke Power.
Brown kicked his fifth goal but the quarter belonged to Daniel Bradshaw. Returning after missing all of 2007 with a knee reconstruction, Bradshaw showed agility and judgment to post three goals in an eight-minute burst to give the Lions the lead for the first time of the evening.
The Eagles were looking rattled before goals to Cox and Adam Hunter saw them regain a seven-point advantage at the final break.
The Lions wasted early chances in the final quarter, posting two minor scores, before the Eagles appeared to steady with consecutive goals from Chad Fletcher, Quinten Lynch and Mark LeCras.
But the Lions were not done with and a running goal from Josh Drummond was quickly followed by a freak snap from Jonathan Brown to again narrow the gap to 11 points as time-on loomed.
The Lions’ run was finally broken when Brent Staker slotted through a steadier for the Eagles at the 24-minute mark and the home side began to run down the clock.
Simon Black led the way all night for the Lions with 30 class possessions and Brown’s six goals will send a shiver down the spine of rival defenders.
Colm Begley, Joel MacDonald and Drummond provided great run from defence while Lappin and Power recovered from subdued starts to help curb the Eagles’ midfield dominance.
Johnstone was useful in his first official hit-out with the club and the return of Bradshaw will give the Lions more options up front.
The Lions now return to the Gabba where they face Collingwood on Friday night.
WEST COAST 6.2 7.5 10.7 14.8 (92)
BRISBANE LIONS 1.2 4.4 9.6 11.10 (76)
Goals: West Coast: B Waters 2 D Wirrpanda 2 M Seaby 2 M LeCras 2 M Braun D Cox A Hunter C Fletcher Q Lynch B Staker. Brisbane Lions: J Brown 6 D Bradshaw 3 J Charman J Drummond.
Best: West Coast: D Cox B Waters D Kerr M Seaby M Priddis. Brisbane Lions: J Brown S Black D Bradshaw L Power J Drummond.
Umpires: M Head M Ellis C Hendrie.
Official crowd: 39,591 at Subiaco Oval, Perth.
