The feature of the off-season has been the way the bottom half of the Lions’ playing list has performed and tonight was no different, assisting their team to a 16-8-104 to 11-6-72 victory.
Top draft pick Jared Brennan was so good for a second consecutive week that coach Leigh Matthews admitted he had another special talent at his disposal.
Richard Hadley was prolific in the first half before being rested, and again as soon as he came off the bench midway through the last term. Fellow third year player Ash McGrath did not put a foot wrong in defence, and three-gamer Shane Morrison took a string of strong marks at centre-half-forward in the second half.
He only had a short run in the last term, but even Rookie List player Joel Macdonald got a bit of the ball and laid a terrific tackle in his first game in open company.
“They’re going okay,” Matthews said of the young group pushing through.
To compliment their efforts, most of the senior players on the list are building their form in readiness for the season proper.
They will round off their preparation with a final Wizard Regional Challenge practice match against the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval at 2pm next Saturday.
St Kilda showed plenty of fight throughout the clash and at one stage led by three goals midway through the second term. But as has been a Lions trademark in recent years, they could not stop the home side kicking goals late in each quarter.
The smaller, SCG-like confines of Coorparoo made for a very physical contest and both sides went particularly hard at the ball.
Brisbane has experienced much cooler evenings for the past week and the game was played in almost perfect conditions, apart from a brief shower of rain late in the game.
A crowd in excess of 4000 made their way to the suburban ground, about 3km down the road from the Gabba, to watch a Lions line-up still missing seven premiership players in action.
The Saints too were without several experienced players, including captain Aaron Hamill, defenders Max Hudghton and Steven Lawrence, rover Aussie Jones, and the underrated Justin Peckett.
Hamill’s presence was missed most as the Saints became one-dimensional in attack.
After being soundly beaten at full-forward by Daniel Bradshaw early, Nick Riewoldt moved to centre-half-forward with telling effect. He took a string of strong marks opposed to All-Australian defender Justin Leppitsch and booted four of his side’s 11goals.
The Saints also received outstanding service from former Demon Stephen Powell, who took over in the midfield during the middle stages.
But they did not have the defensive firepower to quell the Lions, whose inspirational skipper Michael Voss spelled forward on several occasions and finished with four goals for the evening. Two of those came when his side trailed by the three goals in the second term, and the final one sealed the game late in the last term.
Voss spent virtually the entire night on the ground and was important without dominating.
He and former fellow co-captain Alastair Lynch have enjoyed top preparations and the latter also looked in fine fettle tonight.
Lynch attacked the ball with real zip and while he only kicked the one goal, he set up a handful of others. So impressive was he that he lasted more than three quarters, after earlier declaring his intentions to play just the first half.
“We want to be careful with Lynchy in March but the fact that everybody has the last weekend off means you’re a bit conscious of getting a bit of work into them,” Matthews said.
“We might only have played Lynchy for half the night, but he was playing alright and he said he didn’t feel like he was getting fatigued.
“Once it got a bit after three-quarter-time, we thought that was probably enough.”
Fellow experienced stars Leppitsch, Chris Johnson and Jason Akermanis were rested for the entire second half.
Johnson was close to best on ground when he pulled off the boots, while Akermanis played a role in each of the Lions’ three goals in six minutes to finish the second term after a quiet start.
Johnson read the ball brilliantly and ran hard down the ground throughout his 60-minute stint and has been in rare form throughout the three-game preparation to date.
Best-on-ground honours, however, went to livewire Luke Power who was the most consistent player over four quarters and finished stronger than any player on the ground.
Power ran hard all night, and the Saints had no answer to his speed and uncanny ability to read the ball off packs at ground level. Power’s clever kicking to position also set up numerous attacking opportunities, and it was most appropriate that he should receive a handball from Voss and top his game with a goal 19 minutes into the last term.
He had solid support from Brad Scott, who returned from a minor toe problem as if he had never been away.
Young ruckmen Jamie Charman and Dylan McLaren won their share of knocks and got involved in the play around the ground, again highlighting the depth of the Lions’ big man stocks.
Recruit Blake Caracella used the ball deftly on several occasions and kicked one sublime goal, scooping a contested ball off the ground at full tilt and goalling on the run.
Bradshaw spent two quarters at full-back where he was best afield in the opening term and still high up in his side’s best at halftime. He had a quieter third term at full-forward, but a spring to the wing to lay a strong tackle gave him some impetus and he booted two goals in the last term and had a hand in two others.
How they lined up:
B: McGrath, Bradshaw, Johnson.
Milne, Riewoldt, Black
HB: Caracella, Leppitsch, Morrison
Burke, Maguire, Goddard
C: B Scott, M Voss, Pike
Powell, Harvey, Montagna
HF: Brennan, McLaren, Shattock
Thompson, T Schwarze, Blake
F: McRae, Lynch, Power
Moyle, Gehrig, Murray
R: Charman, Hadley, Akermanis
Capuano, Ball, Hayes
I/C: Gram, Macdonald, Wright, Michael, Notting, White, Black
Baker, B Voss, B Schwarze, Oliver, Houlihan, Knobel, Brooks
So good was Bradshaw early, that he kick-started two of the Lions’ first three goals of the evening.
He outmuscled Riewoldt to mark near his own goal and then sent a long kick forward which eventually finished with Voss to goal without the Saints touching the ball.
With Brennan providing a strong target across half-forward and Lynch steaming down the ground from full-forward, the Lions looked particularly potent.
Bradshaw beat Riewoldt three times one-on-one in the opening six minutes, and five minutes later the gun young Saints moved to centre-half-forward in revelled in having more space to work with.
He got a couple of touches and was involved in a play that set up Allan Murray, who was impressive all night, to goal from 45m on an angle for the Saints’ first at the 16 minute mark.
While the Lions had the better of the early going, the goal seemed to give the Saints plenty of confidence and they broke even at the clearances.
Power kicked a special, diving, snap goal after taking the ball from a ruck contest in the forward pocket, and Bradshaw repeated his earlier effort of kick-starting a goal deep in defence.
In between, Riewoldt’s running ability and some smart work by Robert Harvey helped set up former Gold Coaster Riewoldt’s first goal of the night.
The Saints slammed on five of the next six goals without a blemish after quarter-time, with Riewoldt marking everything that came his way. Powell, Harvey, Murray and Jason Blake took complete control of the midfield, until Tim Notting was injected into the game at the 16-minute mark.
Notting’s leg speed helped give some spark to his side, and Notting developed into one of his side’s better players in his first game of the summer after recovering from knee problems.
The Lions clawed back the lead on the halftime siren with a left foot special by Akermanis, although the Saints came again with the first two goals in the opening eight minutes of the second half.
Wholesale changes at halftime saw Brownlow Medallist Simon Black and outstanding defender Mal Michael join the fray for the first time, along with speedster Jason Gram.
Black and Power gradually regained the ascendancy in the midfield and the goals started to come for the Lions. In contrast, Riewoldt was removed from the ground 16 minutes into the third term after colliding with Brad Scott and spent the remainder on the sidelines.
The Saints obviously don’t want to burn out their gem, but could muster just a solitary goal after Riewoldt’s departure.
Brennan surged strongly back into the game as the Lions piled on another three goals in the last five minutes of the term.
St Kilda continued to fight hard but they were eventually brushed aside in the final term, with Power, Brad Scott and Notting running everywhere and Voss and Bradshaw lurking dangerously up forward.
Scores:
Brisbane Lions 3-1 7-3 12-5 16-8-104
St Kilda 2-1 7-1 10-2 11-6-72
Goals, Lions: Voss 4, Power 2, Bradshaw 2, Caracella, McRae, Lynch, Akermanis, Pike, Hadley, White, Morrison. Saints: Riewoldt 4, Powell 2, Burke, Montagna, Maguire, Harvey, Murray, Milne.
Best, Lions: Power, Brennan, Bradshaw, B Scott, McGrath, Johnson, Voss, Hadley, Notting, Lynch. Saints: Riewoldt, Powell, Murray, Harvey, T Schwarze, Blake.
At Coorparoo
Crowd: 4000 approx
