It was the biggest Queensland Derby of all-time, with a Preliminary Final berth on the line. After the first few minutes, the Brisbane Lions demonstrated, once again, why they’re one of the powers in the modern game.
The pressure of the Lions at stoppages, and the second efforts of the midfield, put the brakes on the power running of the Gold Coast midfield duo of Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell. In turn, that allowed their own midfielders to get off the chain.
Hugh McCluggage had quite a few questions asked of him after last weekend, but he found the footy at will, and as Will Ashcroft elevated his game in the second quarter, the Suns were found wanting.
After Ben King got off the chain early, the Big Daddy of AFL defenders, Harris Andrews, moved over onto him. And that was that for the Gold Coast spearhead. Meanwhile, Cam Rayner treated his body like a battering ram, crashing through tackles at every opportunity to open up scoring opportunities.
In many ways, it was a vintage Brisbane performance, and whilst I am sure many will say it was a vintage Gold Coast performance, I reckon those people are missing the point.
The Lions will go on to face the Magpies in a massive Preliminary Final next Saturday to complete their 2023-2025 finals trilogy, but the season of the Gold Coast should not be dismissed so easily. They may have played their Grand Final last week, winning their first final, but the pieces are in place for an extended run of success… except one, which we’ll get into.
Anyway, plenty of massive positives to come out of this one if you’re a Lions fan – let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Big Statements.
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