Brisbane Lions beat St Kilda by 20 points at the Gabba, holding on in a frenetic final quarter
Brisbane Lions have withstood a brilliant final term from St Kilda to grab four vital premiership points at the Gabba.
The Lions broke out early with a seven-goal opening quarter, but the Saints dragged themselves back into the game in the second and third quarters.
Late goals looked to have put the game beyond the visitors reach with a quarter to go, but a seven goal to four final term gave the home side a big scare before they clinched the win by 20 points.
Jack Higgins kicked five goals in a losing cause for the Saints, while Joe Daniher matched him for Brisbane, supported by three goals to young forward Logan Morris.
Brisbane now sits half a game out of the top eight, although Fremantle (seventh) and GWS (eighth) are still to play this weekend.
The Saints’ Dan Butler was put on report in the first quarter for a trip on Brisbane’s Ryan Lester.
Look back at how the action unfolded in our live blog.
So despite a hit-and-miss 2024 season so far, the Lions are not done yet by any manner of means.
For Chris Fagan and Brisbane, thingss are starting to come together. If they can put a run together, things could get interesting.
They’ll be well worth watching in weeks to come.
We’ll be back tomorrow with three games, starting with Western Bulldogs vs Fremantle, then Richmond vs Hawthorn at the MCG and Dusty Martin’s 300th.
We’ll wrap things up with the Crows and the Swans at Adelaide Oval.
Thanks for joining us tonight, we’ll see you again tomorrow.
FT: Brisbane Lions 19.12 (126) def St Kilda 16.10 (106)
Joe Daniher has kicked five goals as Brisbane survived a frenetic late fightback from St Kilda for a 20-point AFL win at the Gabba.
The Lions led by 37 points at three-quarter time on Friday night but the margin was whittled down to seven points with nine minutes left as St Kilda came charging home.
A tough 50m penalty against St Kilda tagger Marcus Windhager for being over the mark proved to be the turning point, with a successful set shot from Logan Morris sparking a run of three quick goals to Brisbane.
Daniher’s 50m set shot from the boundary was the sealer, with the 19.12 (126) to 16.10 (106) win lifting Brisbane to their second straight victory.
With 5.1 and 12 marks from 20 disposals, Daniher turned in a huge effort, while Dayne Zorko was also influential with 30 possessions.
Jack Higgins kicked five goals for St Kilda and Max King three, while Jack Sinclair racked up 32 disposals.
Lachie Neale was given hell in a hard tag by Windhager, but the star Brisbane midfielder fought through a tough first half to finish with 20 disposals and seven clearances.
Brisbane were smashed 13-1 in clearances in the opening term, with Neale restricted to just three possessions.
But it mattered little to the Lions, who kicked seven goals to two in a dominant display as their slick ball movement proved too hot to handle.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon delivered an almighty spray at quarter time, and it seemed to work as the Saints kicked 4.5 to 3.3 in the second term.
Higgins kicked three of those goals, helping close the margin to 23 points at the long break.
Neale received three free kicks in the second term alone after the umpires finally started to notice Windhager’s often over-zealous methods.
Brisbane also had success tagging, with Jarrod Berry tallying 15 first-half disposals while nullifying Jack Steele (six possessions).
The third quarter was a topsy-turvy affair, but the Lions made the most of some ill discipline from St Kilda to snare three late goals and kick out to a 37-point lead.
But just as all hope seemed lost, St Kilda stormed back in the final term, kicking 6.1 from eight inside 50s at one stage to close the margin to single figures before the Lions kicked clear.
The Saints tried to shut down the Lions by tagging Lachie Neale with Marcus Windhager.
The Lions star was quiet early, but he ended up the game with 20 disposals, seven clearances, six inside 50s and four score involvements. Not bad.
Overall, though, it made little difference, as Hugh McCluggage starred for the home side.
He racked up 26 touches, two goals, 11 marks, five inside 50s, a huge 12 score involvements and 535 metres gained.
