Wow… what can you say about this game?
Halfway through the second quarter, there was a lull in the contest. It was almost as though the Brisbane Lions believed they had done the hard work, they’d established their lead, and were content for the game to play out with both teams winning their share of the footy, caught up in the ebb and flow of the game. Even-stevens.
With a 46-point margin in their favour, you can understand how they thought that.
I mean, this was the Gabba. This was their fortress. And they were playing a team that looked all at sea without their star defender, Jacob Weitering, holding down the fort.
But strange things happen when there is a shift in attitude, and the opposition can sense it. I once heard Dermott Brereton talking about realising when a team had taken the foot off the pedal, even just a little, and how you could capitalise on their malaise.
Carlton capitalised on that Brisbane lull. They capitalised in a big, big way.
The Blues fought hard to start breaking even in the contests and on the spread – they were the first steps, and once they were able to get one goal on the board as a result in the second term (David Cuningham getting on the end of a broken play) others soon followed. Charlie Curnow snagged his first, and as soon as play resumed after the main break, he added three more in the first eight and a bit minutes of the third.
And that’s when the navy blue wave rolled in, washing over the now-inaccurate Lions, who were basically stranded on the beach, hoping for their own tide to come back in.
But it was gone, and Carlton suddenly seemed irresistible. .
It was fitting that Harry McKay, the man so many questioned about his own inaccuracy, was the one to make the Lions pay. With just over a minute remaining, he took a strong mark inside fifty against Harris Andrews and slotted his third goal for the evening to give the Blues a huge Round One win on the road.
Let’s jump into all the nitty gritty of the game the Blues may have stolen, the Lions may have lost, or Carlton may have shown tremendous heart to win, depending on where your loyalties lie. Here’s The Mongrel’s Good, Bad, and Ugly
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