Australian Football

Match Report

There was no repeat of Q Clash 1, as the Brisbane Lions thumped Gold Coast in the first Queensland derby of the season. The Suns stunned Brisbane to win the corresponding game in 2011 – a night that still burns in the memories of Lions’ players and supporters. Gold Coast was competitive in the first half and looked capable of causing another boilover, but the Lions piled in 10 goals to one in the second. The Suns’ pain was further compounded when captain Gary Ablett hurt his knee in the dying minutes of the contest and could miss up to three weeks. Opposing skipper Jonathan Brown had a much better night, kicking three goals, including the 500th of his career in the third quarter. Reigning Lions best-and-fairest winner Tom Rockliff received the Marcus Ashcroft Medal, collecting 36 touches in a commanding performance, upstaging Ablett, who was coming off three consecutive 40+ possession games. Ben Hudson was the sole Lions ruckman after Matthew Leuenberger was missing due to an Achilles injury. The only disappointing aspect of the night for the Lions was the crowd figure, which was extremely poor for a derby match.

GOALS:

Brisbane: Cornelius 4, Brown 3, Rich 3, Rockliff 2, Adcock, Banfield, Merrett, Polec, Raines

Gold Coast: Bennell 3, Smith, Swallow, McKenzie
 


BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Brisbane: Rockliff, Black, Cornelius, Hanley, Golby, Polec, Raines
Gold Coast: Ablett, Brennan, Bennell, Swallow, Hunt, Smith


BEST - THE AGE
Brisbane: Rockliff, Black, McGrath, Hanley, Cornelius, Raines
Gold Coast: Ablett, Bennell, Swallow, Smith, Hunt

COACHES COMMENTS
Michael Voss (Bris): I thought we played pretty well. 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.

Guy McKenna (GC): 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 ... [I am] probably disappointed, more than frustrated, with the effort in the second half.

Umpires: Donlon, Kamolins, Ryan