Brisbane Lions Greater v Western Sydney Giants
The Champions v A Possible Contenders
Disco Monagle
Preamble
If the talking heads are to be believed, then the Premiership has already been decided, as the media blowhards fawn all over the Magpies with their excessive hubris. Hysteria aside, history has a habit of kicking such hyperbole in the middle stump and if recent seasons are any guide, then the mid-season runaways of previous years have not carried their elite June form to the ultimate glory. The best examples are Sydney 2024 and Melbourne 2022.
What is being lost in the washup of the season so far has been the form of the reigning premier, Brisbane. This time last year the ‘Bears of old’ were way out of contention, but it is now AFL folklore what the Roy Boy Lions achieved in 2024 as they stormed home late in the season to win the flag.
The Lions have entered the second half of the season in second spot on the ladder with a healthy buffer over the changing pack, and there is still plenty of room for improvement to come in the countdown to the finals.
At the beginning of season 2025, the Lions were a clear favourite to go back-to-back ahead of the Greater Western Sydney Giants who were considered the team most likely to go to the next level this year.
The Giants season fo far this year has had a touch of the yeah/nah/yeah about it, as their form has varied from week to week; win strong one week and then be fully exposed the following. As much as the Giants form has yo-yoed this season, their win/loss ledger is still in the black, and they have a cemented a good foundation to mount a challenge later in the season.
This midseason game has a bit of a Rocky I about it – the Lions are Appollo Creed, and the Giants are Rocky Balboa. The Boxcar Big Big Sound are scrapping their way through this season to hopefully be in a position to challenge the highly polished and professional Lions or Pies or Cats on the Grandest Stage of All come the last Saturday in September.
While both teams need a win this Round 14 clash, it is arguable a defeat probably would not be fatal to either team chances later in the season. This matchup at the Lions’ Den might just be a dress-rehearsal for later in September.
Unless one team blows the other team of the park and totally exposes them, then both coaches will be taking notes for later in the season.
Let the game begin.
The Game
Lions: 5:05:35 / 9:10:64 / 10:13:73 / 13:18:96 were defeated by the
Giants: 5:00:30 / 8:00:48 / 12:03:75 / 17:05:107
Goals:
Lions: Morris 5, Bailey 1, McCluggage 1, Rayner 1, Bailey 1, Day 1, Dunkley 1, Fletcher 1, Neale 1, Starcevich 1
Giants: Hogan 6, Cadman 5, Brown 3, Jones 1, Himmelberg 1, O’Halloran 1
Best:
Lions: Morris, Zorko, Fort, McCluggage, Fletcher, Neale, Berry
Giants: Hogan, Cadman, Idun, Callaghan, Brown, Jones, Ash, Whitfield, Kelly, Rowston
The Last Two Minutes – GWS Have Finally Figured It Out
In the finals last year, the Giants were knocked out in straight sets. They were in with a chance in both games with a minute or so left, but they failed to handle the late game pressure. The problem for the Giants last September was not their fitness, nor was it their skill level or endurance, but rather they had no sustainable game plan in the dying minutes of both matches.
In the last quarter of this high-quality match, the Giants jumped out to five goal lead early, and at that stage it looked like how far the men in orange, but they were playing the Lions at the Gabbatoir and, as expected, they made a charge for a late victory.
When Rayner goaled with under three minutes left on the clock all momentum was with the home team, and the pressure was suddenly back on the Giants. Given the Giants recent failures in tight finishes, their biggest enemy was not the Lions, nor was it time left on the clock, but it was the mental test as to whether they have learned anything from last years final series.
It was a bit bumpy, and there was some trepidation, but the Big Big Sound succeeded.
The standout highlight from this match was the defensive mark Jesse Hogan clunked in the Lions goal square with about a minute left on the clock. As great as Hogan was in this match at the other end of the ground, his defensive efforts in the last minute or so were sublime.
If the Giants go all the way this year, then this will be the game they will look back on as the one that gave the players, coaches, administrators and fans self-belief.
The Lions have awoken the sleeping Giants.
A Little Taste of September in June
Over the last couple of weeks, there have been some really ordinary games, franked by messy mistakes, inaccurate passes, dropped marks, long periods of time between scores, and low scores. It would be fair to say the games the AFL have tried to advertise as marquee have not lived up to expectations.
In the depths of winter, the AFL as a whole needed a classic, memorable game, and it was the Lions and the Giants playing a game scheduled for the graveyard slot of 1:40pm on a Saturday afternoon who provided the injection of class and entertainment the competition needed.
Opposite to what I have written in previous reviews, and to quote Molly Meldrum, do yourself a favour and watch this Gabbatoir classic.
Let’s break it down.
The Return of the Marking, Goal Kicking, Super Forward
Jesse Hogan, 6 goals, 12 marks and 16 possessions.
Aaron Cadman, 5 goals, 13 marks, 19 possessions.
Logan Morris, 5 goals, 7 marks, 15 possessions.
When was the last time we have seen power forwards record such numbers?
Hogan, Cadman and Morris take a bow.
It has been many a year since a game has been so dominated by the marking forward, who finished off their aerial work with goals. To those who have never seem the likes of Lockett, Dunstall, Lloyd, Buddy, the Wiz, Alan Jakovich, Salmon, and McKenna in their prime, then the performances of Hogan, Cadman and Morris at the Gabba were a step back in time to an era when the power forwards ruled the game.
With Toby Greene missing, Jesse Hogan and Aaron Cadman took centre stage and then some, while the enigmatic Callum Brown stepped up as a handy replacement for Toby in the Giants forward with three goals of his own.
Jesse Hogan continues to improve and flourish playing for a club in area as far removed from the AFL as can be imagined, with the relative anonymity away from the AFL bubble suiting his life and his career. In the dying minutes of this game, it was the maturity of Hogan who stood before the Lions and victory.
Hogan’s six goals were the result of set shots from marks. Some teams are lucky to take six forward fifty marks in an entire game, so the performance of Hogan clunking marks and kicking goals was something special.
Apart from the late defensive mark Hogan grabbed, the other show reel moment from Hogan was when the ball was rebounded from the Lions forward fifty through the centre and into the vacant Giants forward line in the third quarter. As the ball bounced, the race was on between Hogan and Harris Andrews to get the loose ball. As both players tried to outrun and outmuscle each other, it was Hogan who got kicked the ball from midair from the inner side of his foot to slot a miraculous goal.
It is a serious contender for goal of the year.
While Hogan did what Hogan does when he is in form, young Aaron Cadman playing in his 49th game came of age in this game.
Cadman finished the game with five goals, all bar one from contested marks and set shots, in a performance that proves he belongs in the big time. There was a real synergy between Hogan and Cadman throughout this match as they both knew when it was time to go and when it was time to put on a block to allow the other space.
While Hogan may have kicked goal of the year, Cadman may have taken mark of the year with a grab he took in the fourth term on the shoulders of Eric Hipwood. It was a ripper
If you haven’t seen Hogan’s goal, or Hipwood’s mark, then do yourself a favour and watch them.
All good teams with brute forwards need a classy small or mid-sized forward to kick a goal or three, so the oppositions defence is caught guessing every time the ball is in the forward vicinity.
In the absence of Toby Greene, it was Callum Brown who filled the role as the third forward target, and he finished the game with three goals, including two set shot goals in the last quarter as the Giants stamped their imprimatur on this game.
This week it was Brown who stood up in place of his captain, but in the next couple of games it might be Toby Bedford or Darcy Jones who step into the small forward role. Bedford and Jones both had solid games and they both look threatening when they are in the 50-metre arc.
Since the Grand Final last year, Logan Morris has matured into one seriously good forward. Like his Giants counterparts, four of his five goals came from set shots after being the right position to finish the work of his midfielders up the ground, while his fifth goal was a set shot from a free kick.
It was a complete performance by Morris who has stepped up this year to take the torch handed down by Joey Daniher. Morris proved in last year’s Granny he was a class act, and he hasn’t allowed the success he has had so early in his career to got to his head and he just keeps getting better each time I see him player.
Set Shots
The genesis of this review thus far has been about set shots and with 28 set shots at goal between the two teams, then set shots were always going to be the primary difference at the end of the game, with the Giants being able to hold their bottle better than the Lions under pressure. This game was decided by set shots, with the Giants making the most of their set shots while the Lions were less proficient with their set shots.
Greater Westen Sydney kicked 12 goals and one behind from set shots, while the Lions managed eight goals and seven behinds from their fifteen set shots, in turn fluffing their chances of victory.
Twenty-eight set shots by key forwards in an era dominated by midfielders and running defenders was very entertaining and it is to be hoped it is not a one-off novelty.
Kai Lohmann – Harvey Norman
Kai started this game as the sub, so it would have been expected he would play only a bit part in this match late in the game, but with the horrific injury to Jack Payne late in the first quarter Lohmann was brought into the game earlier than anticipated.
At quarter-time, Ben Dixon jokingly called Lohmann ‘Harvey Norman’, as in no interest for two months, and while I chuckled to myself, I really wanted Kai to prove him wrong.
Alas for the young premiership player, who is Tony Modra lookalike, he had a shocker of a game, with little to no impact on the contest.
While I praised Morris earlier in this review, Kai Lohmann is a different personality but given time he will develop into a consistent and reliable forward. Lohmann is still a work in progress, and it would not harm him to hang with Callum Ah Chee for a time, as Ah Chee is a player who has taken time to add consistency to his game.
Bad Kicking is Disastrous Footy
Eight goals and seven behinds to the Giants twelve goals and one behind from set shots only partly tells the story of why the Lions lost at their cherished home ground, the soon (sooner the better) to be demolished Gabbatoir.
(I wonder is they will bring the greyhounds back to the Gabba when the Lions depart?)
In the first quarter, the Lions dominated nearly aspect of the game with Hugh McCluggage and Lachie Neale controlling the game between the arcs, but alas all the good work by the Lions up field was undone by bad kicking in front of goals.
Five goals and five behinds is normally considered as a good quarter of football, but when your opposition kicks five straight goals from limited chances, then the score does do justice for the early dominance. Almost like a sequel to the Hawks and Crows match the night before, the Lions should have had the Giants buried by the first break, but they led by only five points.
In the second quarter the Lions continued to dominate the match, as they blew the margin out to 21-points, but it should have been more. While the Lions struggled to kick straight with four goals and five points, at the other end of the ground Cadman and Hogan couldn’t missed as they kicked three goals between them for the term.
Nonetheless, the Lions held a handy 16-point lead at the main break, and apart from the Giants accuracy in front of goals, the Lions were well in front on all the metrics.
Halftime Break
For the sake of hoping I don’t forget later, Jaspa Fletcher doesn’t get the same accolades as the Ashcroft brothers, but I am yet to see him play a bad game. Fletcher seems to fly under the radar with the Ashcrofts’, Neale, McCluggage, Zorko, Rayner and Dunkley taking the midfield’s spotlight.
I reckon within the walls of the club; Fletcher would be amongst the most respected players in the team.
The Second Half
Early in the third quarter Jesse Hogan went bang bang reducing the healthy halftime lead the Lions at the break to under a goal.
Game on.
At halftime I had Lachie Neale noted as being the best on ground, but after the main break Xavier O’Halloran was moved onto Neale and he put the clamps on him. Neale was held to three possessions in the third quarter and his first half brilliance was effectively shut down by O’Halloran in the second half.
Kingsley’s decision to tag Neale in the second half proved pivotal, while Fagan’s non-decision to not tag Finn Callaghan was costly. It looked like Callaghan had leprosy as not one Lions player went near him as he gathered possessions at will.
With Neale’s influence was being thwarted, Callaghan, Lachie Ash and Lachie Whitfield took control of the flow and rhythm of the game, ably supported by the ever-reliable Tom Green and the Giants captain for the day, Josh Kelly.
At three quarter time with the Giants taking control of the stoppages, and the Lions still up for the fight, a classic game was developing.
If inaccuracy was the millstone around the Lions neck in the first half, well it only got heavier in the second half. In the third term the Lions could only manage one goal and three behinds, while the Giants slammed on four goals and three behinds for the quarter.
Two points the difference at the last break.
In the third term, Hogan was the main man for the Giants, but in the last quarter Cadman became the man and he didn’t disappoint.
With Hipwood being sent down back after the injury to Payne, the Lions backline was in disarray come the last quarter. The usual reliable Harris Andrews was being out-bodied by both Hogan and Cadman, and when Old Mother Hubbard went to Cupboard to find a defender to stop the onslaught the cupboard was empty.
Starcevich looked like he needed the run after coming back from injury, Zorko was still Zorko gathering the ball at will, but the efficiency of his possessions was well short of his normal standards, and Eric Hipwood looked more like Eric the Eel as he splashed around in the defensive end of the ground.
I have never thought about this before, but picking a sub each week does have a science about it. The player selected to watch three quarters of a game and then running laps after the final siren must be versatile.
Fagan and his coaching staff were errant by selecting the specialist forward Lohmann as the sub.
When Payne went off injured and Lohmann was called up for duty, the whole balance of the Lions lineup was thrown out of balance with Lohmann sent forward and Hipwood sent up back to man either Cadman and/or Hogan.
On a day when forwards were marking everything in sight and kicking goals, Hipwood was denied the opportunity to fill his boots as the Robin to Morris’ Batman. There was a negative flow on effect with the Lions selecting the wrong sub.
Midway through the last quarter the Giants stretched their lead out to nearly five goals, with Brown and Cadman getting full reward from their set shots.
Almost game over. Almost.
Brisbane didn’t win the flag last year by merely laying down when things don’t their way, and with the Giants cruising to a memorable away win, the Lions found their teeth again and a challenge was mounted.
Goals to Morris, Rayner and Fletcher brought the game back to a winnable position and they were suddenly back on top of the Giants, winning the stoppages and contested ball, but their Achilles heel of inaccuracy would cost them dearly.
With the Lions were charging back into the game, Callum Ah Chee had two chances to bring the game to back within a goal, but he missed twice from set shots.
End of story.
Back to the beginning and the Giants held their nerve and won a game they would have lost last year.
Finally
This was a high-quality game of football played with finals intensity, and both teams would have learned something about the other team if they are to meet again in September.
The ruck battle was interesting with Darcy Fort taking the chocolates over Nicholas Madden (not related), but Madden wasn’t disgraced. I was surprised to learn Darcy is the Lions favoured ruck option with the Big O playing in the Magoo’s.
Connor Idun has developed into a really handy player, who he is a reliable and a player who can fill a multitude of roles. Idun is tough as, and the type of player who would perform well in September. Consistent players like Idun don’t get much recognition from the media, but they are the heart and soul, and they are much loved within the walls of their club. He completely blanketed Charlie Cameron, and should be given serious consideration when the coaches award their votes.
Brisbane’s form seems to have trailed off a bit as they get closer to their bye in Round 16, but at this stage it can’t be called a hungover. Like Collingwood last year, the Lions are victim to AFL’s desire to make the season longer with the season being from 26 weeks a decade ago, to now stretching out to 31 weeks in 2024 and 2025. It does hurt the teams who make the Grand Final and then are forced to front up in the fabricated Opening Round.
I read an article about the Gabba about two weeks ago, highlighting that little to no money was now being spent on maintenance and necessary upgrades with the Stadium now walking the green mile.
I hope the AFL and/or AFL’s Players Association decides the Gabba is now an unsafe workplace. The handling of Payne’s injury in the first quarter was a shemozzle. Firstly, Payne was placed on a stretcher without the medi-car anywhere to be seen. Secondly, when the medi-car did finally arrive the staff had no idea of where the exit was for Payne to be placed in an ambulance. It was slap-stick amateur hour.
With nearly 3,500 words written it is time to put this review to bed and send it to Fearless Leader.
Next week the Lions travel to GMHBA Stadium to take on the Cats, while the Giants host the Suns in a battle between the new kids.
Footy is a passionate game so leave a comment is you agree or disagree with any aspect of this review.
