Lions upset Port Adelaide at the Gabba
Brisbane Lions grind out a second consecutive win, defeating Port Adelaide by 37 points.
PT1M37S 620 349- Autoplay OnOff
- Video feedback
- Video settings
Brisbane Lions 1.2 7.6 11.8 15.12 (102) Port Adelaide 2.3 3.9 6.13 8.17 (65)
Goals: Brisbane Lions: Green 3, Robinson 3, Leuenberger 2, Christensen 2, Adcock, Beams, Lester, Rich, Taylor. Port Adelaide: Monfries 3, Gray, Cornes, Schultz, Wingard, Amon.
Best: Brisbane Lions: Beams, Rich, Taylor, Robinson, Martin, Green. Port Adelaide: Gray, Boak, Wingard, Monfries, Hartlett, Lobbe. Injuries: Brisbane Lions: C Beams (knee soreness) replaced in selected side by Aish.
Umpires: Foot, Meredith, Mollison.
Crowd: 15,957 at the Gabba.
Sometimes even teams at the bad end of Struggle Street just seem to click. Brisbane Lions fans have had little to cheer about this year, but at half-time, they stood to applaud their team from the field. They'd won their fourth quarter of the season. By the end of the game, they'd won six, and taken a very good opponent to the cleaners.
Mitch Robinson of the Lions rejoices after increasing the team's lead over Port Adelaide at the Gabba on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images
It's doubtful anyone – including, perhaps, Port Adelaide – saw it coming. The home side's endeavour was up from the outset, but their ball movement and execution let them down. It was a different side that took the field for that second quarter. Clearly, coach Justin Leppitsch had instructed them to play on at all costs; damn the torpedoes.
It was brave, and daring, and it often came unstuck, but the young Lions persisted, and they were rewarded with six goals to their opponents' one. The Power were rattled by the speed and directness of the Lions' play, and the pressure they were putting on their ball carriers.
From there, it was mainly a question of whether they could keep up that level of commitment and run, and whether Port could regather their composure. They probably could have started by putting a tight tag on Daniel Rich, who had cut the Power to ribbons with 15 possessions and four goal assists in the first half.
He was quietened from there, but instrumental in the result. So too Nick Robertson, who was having his best game for the club. Mitch Robinson, ditto. Josh Green, baked by his coach a fortnight ago, was dynamic and lethal around goal. Lewis Taylor had rediscovered the dash, and panache, that saw him win last year's Rising Star award.
One incident symbolised the Lions' collective commitment. James Aish, a late inclusion for this game and the subject of intense scrutiny as to his future intentions, was collected high early in the third term. The way his teammates rushed to his defence would have told him how much they want him to stay put.
And when former captain Jed Adcock kicked a beauty on the run, the message was clear that the Lions weren't about to surrender what was now an impressive 27-point lead without a fight. The Power hit back with goals to Jay Schultz and two to Angus Monfries, only for the Lions to land a flurry of blows in return.
Robinson sharked his second major from a stoppage. Dayne Beams, who played the game of a leader if not a captain, jagged his first from the other pocket. And Green kicked a game-breaking snap that saw the Lions take a very healthy 25-point lead into the last change. The Power were wasteful – three behinds in extra time of the third quarter signalling a team that wasn't on its game – and played with more than a hint of a team that had taken their opponents lightly.
