Brisbane Lions put horror show behind them to thrive on the big stage

The Guardian

4 days ago

The last time Brisbane beat Collingwood at the MCG, Logan Morris was in year 3, Jack Crisp was a Lions player and Justin Leppitsch was his coach, and Tony Armstrong was the Magpies' leading possession winner. Current Lions coach Chris Fagan has placed a great emphasis on breaking horror streaks – an 11-game run of outs at the MCG, 15 in a row against Richmond, and two decades of losses at Kardinia Park. Their away record against Collingwood probably didn't constitute a hoodoo, but it was something that needed to be addressed, and the perfect way to right the previous week's wrongs.
Brisbane were as bad as they've been for years in their defeat to Gold Coast last week. The heavy conditions disrupted their normal rhythms. They were bogged and bullied. They were Rowelled. 'It better be a one week thing,' Fagan said.
This week's clash with the Pies was the biggest home and away crowd the Lions have played in front of, and they thrive on that sort of stage. The Suns aberration aside, the reigning premiers have been going through the motions a bit this year – just doing what they need to do and turning up the wick for 20-minute periods. It's as though they need the blade against their skin to really get serious.
The Lions' midfielders had their pants pulled down last week. But they have a midfield that bats unusually deep, and with far too much quality and variety for the Magpies to handle. They are so crisp, so in sync, and so powerful in the way they explode from contests, spread and flock. This allowed their zig-zagging kicking game to flourish at the MCG. The Lions kick in pentagons and parallelograms – one small, one backwards, one medium, one sideways, one diagonal – all invariably inch perfect. All night, their shapes and patterns shifted the Magpies' zone and had their defenders on their wrong leg.
This gave Brisbane aerial supremacy as well. With Joe Daniher screening Melbourne's calls from his hammock, Oscar McInerney banged up and Eric Hipwood still more of a decoy than anything more prominent, responsibility fell to the promising Logan Morris and Henry Smith. The latter is a big lump of a lad who has been around for a while but was playing just his fifth game. Morris is 191cm, which in this era of tall forwards constitutes an old school 'Collingwood six-footer'.
The 20-year-old Morris was a handful all night for the Pies, and was particularly adept at snapping around his body, left foot or right, and at judging the pluck point of a dipping ball. He's a hard footballer to place and a hard footballer to pinpoint exactly what role he plays, where he fits in the Lions system, and who he can be compared to. But he's very good at what he does.
Six weeks ago, when the Pies were several games clear of top of the ladder, Saints coach Ross Lyon hinted that they could be got at. He said it in that coded, careworn, tilted-headed, smart-ass way of his. It was his way of saying, 'I have the plan, but lack the cattle'. It was his way of saying, 'they're not as good as everyone says they are'.
Collingwood certainly haven't been at their best this past month, and they looked particularly vulnerable against Brisbane. They briefly caught fire in the second term, but they were handball happy, sent too many balls sailing out on the full, and lacked the depth and grunt to go with the Lions' midfield.
Most of all, the Pies looked a player or two short in defence. They're currently courting Carlton's Jack Silvagni, which warrants a column in itself. But they're desperately missing Jeremy Howe. Dan Houston has been subdued, not properly utilised and surprisingly tardy by foot so far at his new club.
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Fremantle firebrand Patrick Voss and now Morris have put half a dozen goals on them, which is a major concern with Jeremy Cameron, Riley Thilthorpe and Sam Darcy all warming up for September. Indeed, in a fortnight's time, they have a date with Adelaide – another blockbuster than won't be on free to air television – whose swaggering forwards would be licking their lips at the holes in Collingwood's backline right now.
Round 21 threw up some absolute dross, the sort of games where all involved would be better off clocking off and looking ahead to 2026. But the Adelaide and Hawthorn clash was of the highest quality. There was so much at stake, with the musical chairs nature of the remaining nine contenders fully at play. The Crows have had so many jolly romps in recent months, but the game against the Hawks was a proper test.
The punditariat and the locals are climbing out of trees to get onboard the Crows after they sealed a first return to the finals since the 2017 grand final. The Adelaide night was still on Friday night, but with three rounds to go, the wind is at the Crows' back.