It was a quiet start for Jonathan Brown on his 250th match as the Lions managed just one shot at goal in the first quarter. Things got so bad for the big fella that he went to centre half-back to make a tackle early on. He also drifted into midfield and the ruck in an effort to get his team going. When finally some service came his way, he went onto kick four goals with the second major slotted after a trademark 'Browny' grab. Coming across the pack, he was the last man into the contest and with eyes only for the ball he grabbed the Sherrin at its highest point and secured the ball at the second attempt.

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After the controversy over the lack of kicks he received in the first four games, the absence of Tyrone Vickery on Thursday meant the Tigers were looking at him at every opportunity early on and he marked five times in the first quarter. He only managed one more in almost half the game before taking another two in the late stages of the third, converting both kicks when the game was on the line. Him standing up was especially poignant as his miskick earlier led to a coast-to-coast goal from Lewis Taylor that gave the Lions their only lead.

After Brent Macaffer nullified him last week, Trent Cotchin would have been licking his lips when he saw second-gamer Nick Robertson line up against him in the first quarter. In fairness Robertson was no pushover and he and his teammates tried to rough the Tigers’ skipper up early but Brandon Ellis, Nick Vlaustin, Dan Jackson and Reece Conca all gave him the protection they didn’t provide against the Magpies. As the game went on, Cotchin was allowed to roam free and even squeaked a goal with a grubber kick to extend his side’s lead to double figures in the third, ending the game as the likely best-on-field with 32 touches.

“I think it’s a good concept but the names need to be bigger,” Leigh Matthews said on commentary about the initiative to put the players’ names on guernseys. As is often the case, Lethal has a point. The AFL’s initiative had a mixed reception with the biggest issue being that in an effort to avoid intruding too much on the clubs’ designs, they went too small with the lettering. It will always be difficult for the crowd in attendance to see the names, but it would seem imperative that the television audience can at least make them out during set-shots and contests which was not often the case.

It may have been as much due to Richmond’s familiar tendency to idle when in front, but the Brisbane Lions at least avoided extending their unwanted record by going into a sixth game without winning a quarter. The Lions became the first team in VFL/AFL history to go four games without winning a quarter after their 113-point drubbing at the hands of Port Adelaide. Rohan Bewick and Jackson Paine’s goals from free kicks late in the second gave them a 3.1-2.2 advantage and made the game closer than it should have been at that point.