The courage was liberally sprinkled around among the Lions playing ranks, with the indefatigable Nigel Lappin running the game out strongly to help his side to a tense 12.12 (84)-10.15 (75) preliminary final win over Geelong at the MCG tonight.
Rather than a comprehensive four quarter rout of a rival, the Lions earned this victory the hard way. They had to scrap their way out of a hole for much of the night, but their sheer determination and will-to-win prevailed over an opponent that could not produce a knockout blow.
Michael in particular, and Robbie Copeland and Chris Johnson were all outstanding under fierce attack in the first half.
Michael has been the competition’s best full-back over the last four years, despite not receiving an All-Australian berth, and destroyed the ball at every opportunity. He alternated between minding Ben Graham and Kent Kingsley, going back into the former after he started with the Cats’ first two goals.
Kingsley was on the bench by midway through the third term as Michael constantly got a late fist to the ball when the leading forward appeared to have marks sewn up.
Michael was strong in the air and had six defensive rebounds by halftime.
So much in control was the Geelong midfield that they had enjoyed 35 entries to their forward 50 compared the Lions’ paltry 18, yet the Lions led by four points.
Copeland not only took danger man Gary Ablett out of the game, but also chopped off the delivery directed towards Graham and Kingsley.
Johnson also extricated the ball from packs with his usual aplomb and also assisted numerous times at the fall of the ball.
The Cats enjoyed the early midfield supremacy with five centre breaks to one in the opening term, and their transition from defence to attack functioning much more smoothly than the Lions’.
Cameron Ling was more damaging than Simon Black early, James Bartel eclipsed the in-form Richard Hadley, and Joel Corey got on top of Martin Pike on the wing.
Luke Power and Michael Voss made most of the early midfield running for the Lions, although Voss spent half his time forward, and booted one goal while resting and another running down from the centre.
Geelong looked faster and the Lions took a major body blow when Steve Johnson jumped into Power late after the little left footer had cleared the ball from half-back.
Power lay motionless on the ground for several minutes before being assisted to the sidelines by the trainers.
Fortunately, Black and Lappin wrested back some of the control later in the term, no doubt fired by the Power incident, and the Lions led by two points at the long break.
The positive was that the trio under serious injury clouds – Lappin, Clark Keating and Alastair Lynch – had all survived the half.
Lynch had kicked one goal and was posing problems for All-Australian full-back Matthew Scarlett, while Keating was solid at the ruck contests without being dominant around the ground.
Ling had 14 possessions, five clearances and two goals to the main break, while Graham had 10 possessions and made six inside 50s opposed mostly to Justin Leppitsch at centre-half-forward.
The Cats had won the clearance battles 17-12 at that stage, although the introduction of Tim Notting off the bench early in the second term had given the Lions a much needed injection of run.
Bradshaw had started alongside Lynch before being benched late in the first term, before returning to provide some forward line run in the second.
He became a match winner in the third with three goals, and finished with 4.2 for the match.
Bradshaw booted all three of the Lions third quarter goals, including two in two minutes in time-on.
It came after tall young Cat Charlie Gardiner had threatened to break the game open with two goals of his own in two minutes midway through the quarter. The Cats’ 10-point lead at that stage put the Lions in dangerous territory.
“If they had kicked one more goal at the stage it could have made things very difficult for us given the nature of the game,” coach Leigh Matthews admitted of the concern in the coaches box at the time.
The Bradshaw onslaught came opposed to the highly rated Scarlett, after the dour Cat had been relieved of his duties on Lynch. The veteran Lynch was too strong in the air for Scarlett, but missed identical set shots from 20m early in the third term.
Bradshaw may have been stung by the sight of teammate Shaun Hart being assisted from the field with his nose being held in place by club medicos. The two had collided as Hart courageously ran back with the flight of the ball.
“We suffered a bit from ‘friendly fire’ on the night,” admitted captain Michael Voss, who had earlier been winded in a collision with Hart. “It showed how hard the guys were going for the ball.”
Hart, who has talked about retiring at the end of the season, was taken immediately to hospital where scans revealed fractures of both cheekbones and a broken nose.
Geelong suffered a telling blow around the same time when David Haynes limped from the field clutching a hamstring. Haynes had been engaged in a spirited duel with Chris Scott and gave the Cats plenty of early spark.
Leading by four points at the last change, the Lions had the ball in Lynch’s hand within seconds of the bounce, but another hurried set shots from 20m missed again.
His finished with 1.4 for the night and ironically it was a handball that would have most impact later in the term.
Lynch stormed forward on lead to grab the ball on the bounce and dished off a perfect slick handball to Jason Akermanis to goal midway through the term and put the Lions in front. And it was Lynch who centred the ball to Blake Caracella to goal again entering time on that gave the Lions an 11-point buffer.
Caracella took the mark and goalled under immense pressure. Like close mate Power, he enjoyed a double digit last quarter with 10 possessions and played his part in the Lions finishing the game strongly.
In between those goals both sides squandered opportunities, and the defence was under constant pressure.
Power had returned in the third quarter and appeared to be suffering the effects of the heavy head knock, but the fog cleared enough for him to collect 11 kicks and two handballs in a stunning last term.
Given a running role in the midfield, he played a kick behind the action and took two saving marks near the defensive goalsquare, while setting up plenty of rebound for his side.
The Cats had their chances, with Paul Chapman missing a close range snap under pressure at the 26 minute mark, and Peter Riccardi missing under the least amount of physical pressure of the term on the run from 35m minutes earlier.
As good as Graham was with his nine marks, 16 kicks and two handballs, his return of 0.4 – all from set shots – didn’t help his side.
“They (Geelong) were very good and we had to battle all night,” Matthews said.
“I couldn’t believe all the media talk before hand about us being hot favourites because they had won 10 of their last 12 games and lost one of them by a skerrick.
“They played as we expected them to.”
Matthews was matter-of-fact about the courageous performance, and the gutsy display of Power.
“You come to expect that from him. It’s not out of the normal,” Matthews said.
The Lions will now face one of their arch rivals in Port Adelaide in the grand final.
“It’s the grand final that the public probably deserves because they have finished top for the last three years,” Matthews said.
“They have been the best side over the last three years, and we have been the best side in September.”
Scores:
Brisbane Lions, 3.3, 6.4, 9.10, 12.12 (84)
Geelong, 3.5, 5.8, 8.12, 10.15 (75)
Goals, Lions: Bradshaw 4, Voss 2, Lappin, Caracella, Akermanis, Brown, Notting, Lynch. Cats: Ling 2, Ablett 2, Gardiner 2, Kingsley 2, Corey, Chapman.
Possessions, Lions: Lappin 30, Black 25, Power 22, B Scott 21, Caracella 19, C Scott 17, Akermanis 15, Voss 15, Brown 14. Cats: Ling 26, Corey 23, Bartel 21, Milburn 19, Graham 18, Hunt 18, King 16, Woczinski 16, Moloney 14.
Best, Lions: Michael, Lappin, Bradshaw, Black, Copeland, Brown, Power, B Scott, Akermanis, Voss. Cats: Ling, Graham, King, Corey, Bartel, Haynes.
Umpires: James, Kennedy, Rowe
Crowd: 55,
At the MCG
Inside 50: Lions 40, Cats 59
Clearances: Lions 31, Cats 27
Centre Breaks: Lions 10, Cats 10
Tackles: Lions 42, Cats 42
Free Kicks: Lions 16, Cats 20
