THE BRISBANE Lions will meet the Western Bulldogs in a semi-final after sensationally running down Carlton to win by seven points at the Gabba on Saturday night.
In their first finals appearance since 2004, the Lions started poorly, assembled a gritty fightback to lead at half time, fell behind again and then shredded a 30-point fourth-term deficit to win 16.15 (111) to 15.14 (104).
Ten points down at the 21-minute mark of the final quarter, it was NAB AFL Rising Star Daniel Rich who broke from a stoppage to send a trademark long ball through from the arc.
His was followed by two goals in three minutes to Daniel Bradshaw (five goals); the first to give the Lions the lead and the second the icing – a curling snap from deep in the left forward pocket.
The elimination final victory sends the Lions to their date with the Bulldogs at the MCG on Friday night, while the Blues' season – which produced 13 wins – is over.
This clash was very nearly decided by the spread of goalkickers: Carlton finished with 11 contributors, while the Lions' traditional attack led by Bradshaw and Jonathan Brown (four goals) looked very good at times and one-dimensional at others.
Carlton had to cope with an early drought for Brendan Fevola, who was being forced under incoming balls by full-back Daniel Merrett, however, its smaller forwards made the most of their opportunities.
Fevola was able to break Merrett's shackles after half time, but had little influence in the fourth as the Lions slammed through six goals without reply.
In the third term, he kicked two goals of his own, unselfishly lobbed to Nick Stevens for another and put tackling pressure on a Lions defence missing Josh Drummond (quad) and Joel Macdonald, who were late withdrawals.
Half-back Ash McGrath (19 possessions) further raised his value with some breaking run and courageous efforts though Jason Roe would have felt better for the result after some early jitters and errors.
Veteran Simon Black, clearly compensating for a hamstring strain, was crucial for the Lions in the centre and played a telling role in ripping back their early deficit. He had 11 first-term possessions and finished with 29.
He started in a head-to-head with Chris Judd (30 possessions), which eventually became a tagging job for teammate Michael Rischitelli, but the Blues skipper was also very good.
Often fed by Luke Power (24 possessions, nine tackles), Bradshaw had more success than Brown though it took both spearheads to lift the side after it trailed by 21 points at the 10-minute mark of the first quarter.
Back-to-back goals had the Lions nine points behind but those efforts were eroded by Jeff Garlett and Eddie Betts, who with Cameron Cloke returned from club suspensions.
The ruck duel between Mitch Clark (15 possessions, 20 hit-outs) and Matthew Kreuzer was compelling, though Kreuzer had greater support from Shaun Hampson and Cloke.
Clark's work around the ground was significant and when the Lions didn't have the ball, they were tackling ferociously.
The Lions had trailed by six points at the first change – and Judd's long goal made that 13 – but they came very strongly.
Justin Sherman and Brown kicked their second goals, Brown's from Jared Brennan's superb clearance, and the skipper had to surrender another when forced from the ground by the blood rule. Travis Johnstone, who had a solid game, finished it off.
But it was Bradshaw's booming ball that squared the scores soon before the main break.
The third quarter belonged to Carlton. Marc Murphy kicked a goal within 30 seconds, tagger Aaron Joseph returned to the field after spending over a quarter on the sidelines with an ankle injury and Fevola took control.
Twenty-four points ahead at the last change, Carlton looked home. Adding to a remarkable third-term snap over his head – Cloke pushed the visitors 30 points clear.
How things changed from there. With two goals each to Brown and Bradshaw and singles to late inclusion Rhan Hooper and Rich, the Lions did the unthinkable.
And for 16 of their 22 players, it was a first final to remember.
Brisbane Lions 4.4 8.7 10.10 16.15 (111)
Carlton 5.4 8.6 14.10 15.14 (104)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Bradshaw 5, Brown 4, Sherman 2, Johnstone 2, Rich, Redden, Hooper
Carlton: Fevola 3, Cloke 2, Stevens 2, Betts, Carrazzo, Garlett, Houlihan, Judd, Kreuzer, Murphy, Russell
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Black, Bradshaw, Brown, Clark, Sherman, Power
Carlton: Judd, Murphy, Kreuzer, Fevola, Stevens, Carrazzo
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Drummond (quad) replaced in selected side by Hooper, Macdonald (TBA) replaced in selected side by Hawksley
Carlton: Joseph (ankle)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: McLaren, Wenn, Jeffery
Official crowd: 32,702 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
