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Opinion
As one king of the jungle has roared its last, another is perfectly placed to take their place.
Richmond has looked in trouble for most of the year and it all came to a head on Friday night in a humiliating loss to St Kilda.
While top four was already out of the equation, and their draw is friendly enough to still make finals and even potentially finish top six, it’s going to take some kind of surge for them to contend.
In the wash up of a full weekend of football (finally) that included the Tigers’ loss, a thrilling Melbourne-Essendon clash, North and Carlton getting a win, and West Coast’s ineptness against a powerful Dogs outfit, Brisbane’s win over Geelong has been a little bit lost.
In fact, the Lions are sneaking beautifully under the radar overall and can well lay claims to being the frontrunner for this year’s flag.
A 1-3 start to the season amid games in Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat as they escaped COVID had a few asking questions about their validity.
But they weren’t the only preliminary finalist from last year to start the season slowly.
As it turned out, their early losses were to a Sydney side that was both legitimate and white-hot, Geelong thanks to the worst umpiring decision of the season, and premiership-threat Bulldogs in peak form.
From Round 5 on, Brisbane have not just built into the season, but been outright impressive along the way. A 9-1 record from their last ten matches includes an average winning margin of 45 points and some outright thumpings of some very good teams – Geelong by 44, Port by 49, Essendon by 57, and Richmond by 28 after being 19 points down halfway through the second term.
The Lions have found a nice balance of doing just enough against the lesser ranked teams, but being ultra-impressive against those in the top half of the ladder.
Joe Daniher (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Their only loss in the last two-and-a-half months was against ladder-leading Melbourne, but not before they had put the Demons to the sword in the first half, splitting apart their defence. It was genuinely a game of two halves in neutral territory and both sides enhanced their premiership credentials.
The Lions don’t want for anything in their tilt for a flag after finishing top two on the ladder the last two seasons.
Their multi-faceted forward-line is as good as there is in the competition, as their scoring power in recent times can attest.
Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood have worked well together as the tall forwards, each playing a different style but presenting defenders with issues due to their athleticism and ability to score from long range. Charlie Cameron has found his groove after a slow start, while Zac Bailey and Lincoln McCarthy are fine support acts, both just pure and natural footballers.
None of these five have missed a game, which is important given Daniher is new to the club. They are a tough group to cover and that doesn’t include Dan McStay providing an aerial and scoring threat as third tall.
The midfield group is firing on all cylinders too, with Hugh McCluggage, Jarryd Lyons and Dayne Zorko in All Australian contention. Lachie Neale is on the verge of finding his Brownlow form after putting his injury woes behind him, and Mitch Robinson as consistent as ever on a wing.
Lachie Neale (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
They are all capable inside the contest and out, so are never out of the game, and with three years playing together are now in the zone as a team within a team.
The defence is led as always by Harris Andrews, and Marcus Adams as key defensive support has already played more games this season than in any previous. Daniel Rich is in career-best form, Brandon Starcevich is making a name as a lockdown defender and Grant Birchall continues to provide calm experience.
With Darcy Gardiner and Ryan Lester still to be added to the backline mix and Jarrod Berry to the midfield, as all three first-choice players hit the comeback trail from injury, there is still upside to the team.
The Lions are top three in both attack and defence, and don’t face another top-six team between now and finals.
They play on the edge and get in the face of opposition. They are experienced and desperately hungry after two years in a row where they have finished second but not made the grand final.
Melbourne are trying to make every post a winner, but it’s rare for the team on top to win the flag. It’s just too hard to be up all year. They are still a worthy challenger.
The Bulldogs have come up short against a few good teams and still have questions marks if they can’t get their game on their terms.
Geelong can look old really quickly when they are off their game.
The story of the Lions under Chris Fagan is one of perpetual improvement and progress from one year to the next. They are still on the rise and 2021 is shaping as their year.