Brisbane’s 85-point AFL defeat of Collingwood has put them within reach of the Western Bulldogs ahead of the final round in the battle for fourth spot.
Scores were level at 33-33 before the Lions kicked nine consecutive goals either side of halftime in the 22-10 (142) to 8.9 (57) blowout at the Gabba.
Brisbane’s first ten shots from beyond 30 metres were all on target in a rare carve up of a Magpies side that had conceded more than 100 points just three times in their last 52 games.
The percentage-boosting win leaves Brisbane needing to beat West Coast and the Western Bulldogs to lose against Port Adelaide in next week’s final round to leapfrog them into the top four.
The contest began with four goals inside the first three minutes, Daniher (three goals) twice finding Cameron, who finished with six goals, and kicking one of his own.
In all Daniher had six possessions, three inside fifties, one goal, two behinds, two goal assists and a near miss on a huge mark in the goal square in a box office first term.
His eventful night stretched into the final quarter, marking strongly but bizarrely giving up a relatively simple set shot to kick it 30 metres backwards to Lachie Neale, who missed.
Earlier, bright spark Jack Ginnivan kicked two goals from Harris Andrews turnovers and Jordan de Goey (27 disposals, six clearances) kicked one to level the scores and threaten a boilover.
Brisbane broke the game open though with six straight goals in a lopsided second quarter that saw them log a staggering 26 inside 50s to the Magpies’ five.
Daniel McStay’s (three majors) goal edged the Lions ahead and five more followed, Daniher snapping his third and Lachie Neale launching a snap from 45m off one step to open up a 37-point halftime lead.
Unselfish play led to Cameron, Nakia Cockatoo and McStay majors in the third term – they had 11 different goal scorers in total – before Brodie Mihocek broke a run of nine-straight Brisbane goals.
Mihocek could come under scrutiny for a high shoulder on Tom Fullarton that felled the Lions’ tall in the second term, while Trey Ruscoe (ankle) also limped to the rooms in the third term.
Brisbane’s dominance was a shared effort, with Hugh McCluggage (30 disposals, 10 inside 50s), Jarryd Lyons (29 touches, nine tackles, four scoring assists) and Lachie Neale (30 touches) and Dayne Zorko (29 touches, nine tackles, 10 inside 50s) leading the way.
Kane
Roar Rookie
Howe and Roughead won't bring much in. Howe's been out the best part of 2 years and no other side would want Roughead.
Chris
Guest
Collingwood need a major clear-out this spring. Cox Roughead and Howe are not going to help us move forward. I think that even Pendlebury is worth moving on at this stage. We need to review our recruiting strategy. What's missing? Size; Pace and Key Position Players. Brodie Grundy for Captain and Mark Williams for coach.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
The pies need to move a lot of the chaff on from their list. I think de goey needs to be thrown into the deep end, and they need to consider moving on Howe and Roughead in this years trade period to build draft capital to match a bid on Nick Daicos. I think pendles can stay but he needs to be moved out of the midfield.
Sometimes I wonder if commentators actually watch the game. They can wax lyrical about Harvey allowing DeGoey to play with more freedom (Buckley was already trying to transition him to the midfield) but he was ineffective at the clearances. Brisbane strolled into their forward line so repetitively that it left our defence helpless. I am starting to think Graham Wright has too much influence on the football department. I realise he is filling a void at the moment but dont like seeing him sitting right next to the coach in the coaches box on matchday.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Pretty solid 4 Quarter effort once again from the Lions. Something that has definitely been lacking the month previous. Good to see us kicking pretty straight too. Very good tune up- like a bit of the same next week in hope of stealing a top 4 spot