THE Brisbane Lions trounced competition cellar-dweller Melbourne by 55 points at the Gabba on Saturday night.
In perfect conditions for footy, the Demons went goalless in the second and third quarters as the Lions won 16.15 (111) to 8.8 (56) to consolidate fifth spot on the ladder.
Melbourne battled gamely in the last quarter, kicking six goals to three, but the damage was done.
For much of the first three quarters, the contest resembled a training run for the home team, with the Lions booting 12 unanswered goals between the 18-minute mark of the first quarter to the four-minute mark of the last.
Melbourne actually led by five points in the first term when Russell Robertson goaled after a strong mark, but it was to be their only joy on a dismal night.
The Lions did as they pleased, running through the middle in large numbers and rattling up over 70 possessions more than their opponents.
It gave the power forwards plenty of opportunities. Captain Jonathon Brown kicked five and moved to the top of the Coleman Medal standings with 45 for the season.
His sidekick Daniel Bradshaw added four.
Their opponents Matthew Warnock and James Frawley were far from disgraced but the supply was just too plentiful to stop. Small forward James Polkinghorne also continued to grow in stature, taking some excellent contested marks and finishing with two goals.
Jared Brennan ran riot with a 10-possession first quarter and, despite dropping some easy marks, displayed his usual array of tricks to be among the Lions’ best.
NAB Rising Star favourite Daniel Rich also oozed class, getting plenty of the ball and spotting up both forwards for first half goals, and added two of his own.
Luke Power (33), Simon Black (28) and Jed Adcock (26) had a field day in the middle of the ground, while defenders Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull enjoyed successful returns from injury.
The Demons barely had a winner all night, although Aaron Davey’s use of the ball was sublime.
His 31 possessions were all class, although he was often let down up-field by teammates.
Trailing by 74 points at the final change, Melbourne battled on, with Cameron Bruce’s long bomb from outside 50m breaking a goal-drought that last over two quarters.
But their victory in the final quarter was achieved when the sting was very much out of the contest.
The start of the match was a sign of things to come as Rich picked up a loose ball 40m out and snapped truly on his trusty left foot inside 40 seconds.
The first quarter then developed into an arm wrestle with respective dangermen Davey (12 possessions) and Brennan (10) running loose but unable to do much damage on the scoreboard.
The Lions answered accurate kicks from Cale Morton and Robertson with majors to Bradshaw and Polkinghorne to take a 10-point lead at the break.
Polkinghorne’s goal was particularly clever, marking strongly under pressure and going back to convert from a tight angle.
The Lions then took the game away in the second quarter with six unanswered goals.
Brown bagged three for the quarter, including one on the run from 50m, while he also delivered a beautiful left-foot chip pass for Bradshaw to kick his second.
Robertson’s poster at the 22-minute mark stopped a run of 47 unanswered points but did little more as the Lions took that exact margin to the major break.
Melbourne’s misery continued in the third as the Lions slammed on another four unanswered goals.
Bradshaw and Brown continued their march, while Rich’s second goal was a superbly worked ball-up where Merrett tapped to his advantage and he run into an open goal.
BRISBANE LIONS 3.4 9.7 13.13 16.15 (111)
MELBOURNE 2.0 2.2 2.5 8.8 (56)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Brown 5, Bradshaw 4, Rich 2, Polkinghorne 2, Stiller, Roe, Sherman
Melbourne: Sylvia 2, Morton, Robertson, Bruce, Jones, Jurrah, Davey
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Rich, Brennan, Brown, Power, Adcock, Black
Melbourne: Davey, Morton, Bruce, Green, Sylvia, Frawley
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: None
Melbourne: Matthew Bate (illness) replaced in selected side by Nathan Jones
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Hay, Jeffery
Official crowd: 23,750 at Gabba
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club or the AFL.
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