Lions make Freo third strike

Brisbane Lions 21.15 (141)  def.  Fremantle 10.13 (73)

After stamping their authority on the contest in the first term and never giving up their stranglehold, Brisbane cruised to their third straight win with a 68-point victory over a lacklustre Fremantle at the Gabba today.

Despite kicking the first goal through Heath Black, Fremantle’s hopes of a first ever win in Brisbane were realistically dashed by the time they kicked their second major: the Dockers trailed by 30 points after Justin Longmuir kicked truly late in the opening quarter.

In between, the hosts played power football with big forwards Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw kicking two each while Fremantle struggled to make any impact around the ground. Michael Voss was battling with the Carr brothers, and Justin Sherman was having fun picking up exciting possessions at will.

Freo’s efforts were summed up when forward Ryan Murphy looked destined to grab the ball and kick an open goal, but young Lions defender Julian Roe bumped him off the ball at the last moment, Brisbane swept the bal up forward and Bradshaw slotted a shot from 50-metres out on the boundary.

At quarter-time, the Lions led by 31 points, and while Fremantle seemingly lifted in the second term, they lost every quarter on their way to a crushing loss.

The visitors weren’t helped by two late changes: key forwards Luke McPharlin and Jeff Farmer were ruled out and replaced by Paul Medhurst and Shaun McManus. They also lost Scott Thornton to an ugly shoulder injury in the second term that will rule the running defender out for some time.

Brisbane simply had more winners around the park, with Brown booting seven goals and Bradshaw three, and Sherman gathered 27 possessions in arguably his best performance of his career.

Freo skipper Peter Bell tried valiantly, collecting 27 touches. The Dockers had four multiple goal kickers, with Matthew Pavlich, Paul Medhurst, Heath Black and Longmuir kicking two each.

With the Lions in control after just one quarter, the onus was always going to be on the visitors to make the play, and for part of the second term it looked a possibility. They dominated possession for periods, and had the ball in their forward line, but despite five scoring shots in a row, only one of them was straight which let the Lions of the hook.

Brisbane effectively shut the game down and took a 39-point lead into the main break.

The third term was the Brown Show, the burly forward kicked three to snuff out any hope for Fremantle, with the Lions leading by 45 points at the final change.

Medhurst started the final term positively for Fremantle with a major, but Brown snagged his seventh to restore the margin.

Heath Black kicked a goal from the centre square, but from there it was all Brisbane as the Lions banged on the next five goals in quick succession to end the match with an exclamation mark and keep their season alive.

Both sides play next Saturday night, with Brisbane looking to continue their hot form against Collingwood at the MCG and Fremantle hosting Richmond at Subiaco.

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