Not much was being made of the Brisbane Lions’ recent MCG record prior to this game.
LOL… just kidding – plenty of people were talking about it, and coming up against another team eyeing off a flag, many of those people expected that they’d likely struggle again at the Grand Final venue, especially against a high-quality team like Melbourne.
However, what we saw from the Lions, through the first three quarters at least, was a team that pays no mind to hoodoos or curses, and with a brand of footy that was reminiscent of their 2023 side, they exorcised their demons at ‘the home of football’.
And they did it in more ways than one, too.
The Lions were ferocious at the contest. Their tackling, shepherding, and willingness to do all the little things far surpassed anything Melbourne could do in retaliation. The lead ballooned out to 49 points early in the last quarter, and it looked as though we might have been in for a complete blowout, before the Dees managed to get a bit of a run on, to close the gap to just 22 points.
The margin flattered the Dees who, with a few exceptions, were outplayed and outworked by their Brisbane counterparts all over the park. The Melbourne forward line was atrocious, and we’ll get to that, but so much credit has to go to the defensive work of the Brisbane mids and wings, getting back to make life miserable for the likes of Ben Brown, Harrison Petty, and Bayley Fritsch.
In contrast, both Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood burst out of the blocks against one of the best one-two defensive punches in the game.
Anyway, enough yapping – time to get into the nitty gritty of this one. Here is the good, bad, and ugly of the Lions’ big win over the Dees.
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