By Michael Whiting
THE BRISBANE Lions have stormed to a 65-point victory over Gold Coast SUNS in the third edition of the QClash on Saturday night after a big second half by captain Jonathan Brown.
In a bad night for the SUNS, captain Gary Ablett was assisted from the field in the final minutes after appearing to hyperextend his knee following a collision with Andrew Raines.
While the incident looked bad, the Suns later tweeted Ablett had only jarred his knee, and SUNS coach Guy McKenna said post-match he hoped the injury was minor.
"He’ll have the necessary scans tomorrow, just to see there’s nothing major from a structural point of view," he said.
It was opposing skipper Brown who inspired his teammates with three goals after the main break to lead the Lions to a 17.9 (111) to 6.10 (46) win.
The Lions kicked 10 goals to one after half-time as Tom Rockliff (36 disposals and 10 clearances) won the Marcus Ashcroft Medal as best on ground.
Brown's second goal late in the third term was the 500th of his career and drew the biggest cheer on a night riddled with mistakes and sloppy execution.
The win lifts the Lions to a 2-2 record ahead of hosting premier Geelong at the Gabba next Saturday night, while Gold Coast remains winless after four rounds.
Lions coach Michael Voss said his team's pressure set up the win in slippery conditions.
"I thought we played pretty well," Voss said.
"We set up the game in the first half with our pressure and our attack on the footy, which hasn't been at the standard we need it to be.
"I thought our approach to want to get the ball back when we lost it was, at times, first class."
After leading by eight points at half-time, the Lions, and Brown, sprung to life.
His first goal came after taking an uncontested mark running back with the flight of the ball, and he had most of the 21,980 spectators gasping just minutes later when trying for a repeat dose.
At the same end of the Gabba where he was knocked out by Mitch Clark and Geelong's Harry Taylor last July, Brown raced headfirst into a contest including big ruckman Ben Hudson.
Bodies went everywhere but Brown jumped back to his feet.
The captain's contribution was matched by returning key forward Aaron Cornelius, who was an outstanding target, taking 10 marks and kicking 4.3.
The first half was punctuated by a raft of errors from both teams as they turned the ball over more often than they hit targets.
But led by their two key marking targets and a 14-disposal third term by Rockliff, the Lions took control.
Rockliff was the star of a midfield shootout, but was ably assisted by Simon Black, who showed no ill effects from the broken hand that kept him out for one match, gathering 31 touches.
SUNS coach Guy McKenna was furious after full-time, saying Gold Coast's effort had dropped away in the final two quarters.
"After last week’s effort, and then the start of [this] game’s effort, I was almost confident – knowing we haven’t turned the corner, of course, but then to fall away like we did in the second half … probably disappointed, more than frustrated, with the effort in the second half," he said.
"It’s just a mindset. We can get them bigger, we can get them faster, but it’s a matter of them concentrating for longer. That’s a challenge with such a young side.”
Raines did a fine job on Ablett despite the Brownlow medallist getting 33 touches.
Earlier, small defender Jarrod Harbrow suffered a dislocated elbow in the second quarter after a mistimed tackle on Todd Banfield.
Harbrow had to be immediately replaced by substitute Luke Russell after he fell awkwardly.
BRISBANE LIONS 3.3 7.4 12.5 17.9 (111)
GOLD COAST 2.4 5.8 5.9 6.10 (46)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Cornelius 4, Brown 3, Rich 3, Rockliff 2, Adcock, Banfield, Merrett, Polec, Raines
Gold Coast: Bennell 3, Smith, Swallow, McKenzie
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Rockliff, Black, Cornelius, Hanley, Golby, Polec, Raines
Gold Coast: Ablett, Brennan, Bennell, Swallow, Hunt, Smith
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Polkinghorne replaced in selected side by Sheldon
Gold Coast: Harbrow (dislocated elbow), Ablett (knee)
SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane Lions: Sam Sheldon replaced by Ryan Harwood at three quarter time
Gold Coast: Jarrod Harbrow replaced by Luke Russell in the second quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Kamolins, Ryan
Official crowd: 21,980 at the Gabba
