Zevon
Moderator
- Moderator
- #1
What a footy team the Lions are. Back to back flags now, and perhaps only a dicey advantage call away from it being a threepeat! Been saying it all year: Their best is better than anyone’s, they just need to find it for long enough. Today they did. Epic effort to go the long way through the finals, overcome injuries and then blow the Cats away after half time. Hearty congratulations, well deserved premiers. Let’s wrap it up…
First Quarter: It was a goalless draw for a long period to start the game before Ollie Dempsey swung through the first, capably answered by Kai Lohmann at the other end after a beautiful passage of play for Brisbane. The Lions went on to blow a swag of chances… Zac Bailey in particular could have had one of the all time great Grand Final first quarters but he kicked four behinds. Very little in the scoreboard at the first change.
Second Quarter: Geelong put through the first goal through Jack Bowes but then Brisbane sprang to life and kicked four of the next five. Charlie Cameron and Levi Ashcroft kicked rippers, and the other Ashcroft nailed a brilliant pass to set up Hugh McCluggage. But, like they did in the prelim, the professional Cats stopped the rot. Incredibly the two sides went into half time dead level on the scoreboard, dead level in kicks and dead level in handballs (the inside 50s were nearly level too at 27-26). The massive outlier was the free kick differential, as “holding, Geelong” became the umpires’ favourite two words in the English language. Controversial decision by a few off-field staff not to put Jezza Cameron in the sheds for a head injury assessment too.
Third Quarter: They sparred back and forth for a few minutes before a very risky Max Holmes chaos ball into the middle was punished by the Lions when Bailey got on the end of the turnover and soccered through a goal. We waited a while for the next one too, when a cracking run-down from a badly wounded Jeremy Cameron set up Holmes to even things up again. Off Jezza went after that; he hadn’t looked right all day and we didn’t see him again for the quarter. It was the other Cameron with a couple of goals to buy the Lions some breathing space - one from a clever mark, one from a lightning fast run when Lohmann got the ball to him out the back. One more to the super sub Lachie Neale with a bomb from 50 and suddenly the Lions were well and truly on their way.
Fourth Quarter: All the talk leading in was that Brisbane were going to find it hard after playing every week of the finals, battling injuries and playing an “underdone” Lachie Neale, but it was the Cats that looked absolutely gassed in the last quarter. Brisbane cut loose and once the result was obvious Geelong didn’t have any further appetite. It meant the game turned into a glorified - and glorious - training run for the winners. Will “Andrew McLeod” Ashcroft was a worthy back to back Norm Smith medalist. Honourable mentions to Fletcher, Bailey, Zorko, McCluggage, Charlie Cameron, and the best defender in the competition, Harris Andrews. All brilliant.
Don’t forget to post your Liked, Learnt, Hated below… along with any other thoughts you had about the Grand Final!
First Quarter: It was a goalless draw for a long period to start the game before Ollie Dempsey swung through the first, capably answered by Kai Lohmann at the other end after a beautiful passage of play for Brisbane. The Lions went on to blow a swag of chances… Zac Bailey in particular could have had one of the all time great Grand Final first quarters but he kicked four behinds. Very little in the scoreboard at the first change.
Second Quarter: Geelong put through the first goal through Jack Bowes but then Brisbane sprang to life and kicked four of the next five. Charlie Cameron and Levi Ashcroft kicked rippers, and the other Ashcroft nailed a brilliant pass to set up Hugh McCluggage. But, like they did in the prelim, the professional Cats stopped the rot. Incredibly the two sides went into half time dead level on the scoreboard, dead level in kicks and dead level in handballs (the inside 50s were nearly level too at 27-26). The massive outlier was the free kick differential, as “holding, Geelong” became the umpires’ favourite two words in the English language. Controversial decision by a few off-field staff not to put Jezza Cameron in the sheds for a head injury assessment too.
Third Quarter: They sparred back and forth for a few minutes before a very risky Max Holmes chaos ball into the middle was punished by the Lions when Bailey got on the end of the turnover and soccered through a goal. We waited a while for the next one too, when a cracking run-down from a badly wounded Jeremy Cameron set up Holmes to even things up again. Off Jezza went after that; he hadn’t looked right all day and we didn’t see him again for the quarter. It was the other Cameron with a couple of goals to buy the Lions some breathing space - one from a clever mark, one from a lightning fast run when Lohmann got the ball to him out the back. One more to the super sub Lachie Neale with a bomb from 50 and suddenly the Lions were well and truly on their way.
Fourth Quarter: All the talk leading in was that Brisbane were going to find it hard after playing every week of the finals, battling injuries and playing an “underdone” Lachie Neale, but it was the Cats that looked absolutely gassed in the last quarter. Brisbane cut loose and once the result was obvious Geelong didn’t have any further appetite. It meant the game turned into a glorified - and glorious - training run for the winners. Will “Andrew McLeod” Ashcroft was a worthy back to back Norm Smith medalist. Honourable mentions to Fletcher, Bailey, Zorko, McCluggage, Charlie Cameron, and the best defender in the competition, Harris Andrews. All brilliant.
Don’t forget to post your Liked, Learnt, Hated below… along with any other thoughts you had about the Grand Final!
