Bruce Reville misses a running shot at goal from distance. Dangerfield looking to burst down the wing kicks one out on the full. Still a scrappy game. Cats go forward but the kick inside 50 lands in front of Stanley, and the Lions steal it. The ball rebounds up and back a couple of times. Then it’s a wild chase and tackle from Cameron, chasing Fletcher down the wing. Reaches out, grabs the back of Fletcher’s jumper, and dumps him to the ground. Turnover, ball ends up with Miers passing to Max Holmes, who kicks the goal from outside 50! Cats in front.
But Cameron is going down into the rooms. I’m betting he has a fractured arm. He knocked it on the ground during that tackle and was immediately in a lot of pain.
Starting to feel like the Lions’ day! Bailey finally gets on the board after four misses in the first term. Wasn’t hard to soccer that from the goalsquare. Max Holmes has barely been sighted today. Tries a long kick into the centre square from the wing, it gets turned over, and Brisbane belt back the other way, the kick clearing the pack and letting Bailey run back onto it.
That’s a crazy non free kick in the goalsquare. Brad Close is grabbed and slung to the ground without having touched the football, after a long ball in, but the umpires let it ride. Stanley was contesting for a mark with Close nearby. Harris Andrews rushes a behind.
Geelong with the start to the third quarter in terms of possession: Dempsey on the wing, short pass to Miers, to Mannagh, to Stengle, who eventually finds Cameron deep in the pocket, but Cameron’s kick around the body goes across the face for a point. Cats into the lead by one.
Second half is beginning.
Jeremy Cameron is playing on with a heavily strapped arm. I wonder if he has a small fracture. He was struggling to use the arm late in the last quarter.
Quite a combo at half time, with Bruce McAvaney and Gout Gout combining for the half-time sprint race. Neither of them ran, to be clear. Gout was the starter and Bruce called it.
Jed Walter from the Suns wins it with a late burst. For some reason, boxer Harry Garside was in there amongst the footy players. Didn’t feature near the finish.
Last time that scores were level at half-time in a grand final was 1909. This is just the third time in VFL/AFL history as well.
That’s what you expect. It hasn’t been pretty, and it hasn’t been dynamic. It has had a few moments of notable skill, but mostly it has been about players throwing themselves at the contest.
Notable points for Brisbane: McCluggage is in the game. Lachie Neale isn’t. He’s on the bench wearing the substitute vest, with that calf injury from the first week of finals. Brisbane said he was fit to play, but keep holding him back. Brisbane dominated that quarter with pressure, bringing the margin back level from a 10-point deficit.
The bright side for the Cats is that they’ve been outplayed that quarter but aren’t behind on the scoreboard. Less bright, their playmakers haven’t had much influence. Blicavs we haven’t seen much, Smith has been muted in effectiveness, Dangerfield hasn’t been much sighted, and Cameron (Jeremy) has this injury problem after smashing his wrist and getting a clip to the jaw.
Another arm wrestle inside Geelong’s forward 50 as the half time siren approaches, and Brisbane are able to keep things close enough to the boundary line to shut down any free use of the ball.
Scores are level, but the Cats are in trouble. Lawson Humphries attacks the ball at half forward, runs on, and finds Brad Close on a lead across the face of goal. Close kicks it from 40 metres out. He’s had the yips in recent weeks but kicks that one truly.
But the big problem is that Jeremy Cameron has injured his arm. He and Dangerfield both attacked a ball full tilt and collided. Just as they did last week in the prelim. They got away with it that time, but this time Cameron hit his jaw on Danger’s shoulder, and crushed his forearm against Danger’s body. Should probably be off for a concussion assessment but that hasn’t happened. And he’s holding his arm, in obvious pain, while insisting he’ll stay on the ground.
Cats getting the free kicks here, which will incite the crowd, but that one to Stengle was clear as day, the defender’s arms wrapped around his waist during a bounce inside 50. Stengle pleases Brisbane supporters by missing from 45 out. A goal the difference.
Favour returned by Levi Ashcroft! He’s a lot smaller than Shannon Neale, but called to play on from outside 50, he jinks, gets around the player on the mark, unloads from about 51 metres, and nails the goal.
Brisbane with the game on their terms for the moment, shutting down a Geelong surge as Stanley fumbles a handball receive and the Lions pick it off. But Bailey Smith contests at half back. He’s had a few looks at the footy but not a lot of composure in his disposals. Makes up for it with a contested get and a handball out to Humphries on the wing, to Mannagh up the ground, who kicks to Shannon Neale.
Arms chopped, free kick paid outside 50. But Neale wants to take a shot. This will take a huge kick. From 60 out… it swerves left, then comes back inside the goalpost!
McCluggage! Got erased from the game against Geelong earlier in this finals series, and his tagger kicked a goal in the first quarter here, but McCluggage has still been just about the most influential Brisbane player on the ground today. A tiny bit of space inside 50, Ashcroft kicks with utter precision, and it’s McCluggage running into the pocket to mark, then threads the goal.
Brisbane really lifting, lots of pressure, not giving Geelong a route out of defence. A couple of good intercept marks from the Cats in the back 50, but the question is where to go next. And each time Geelong go forward, there’s not much precision in the entries. But eventually a high ball draws another free from Reville, who was shoving Dempsey out of a contest in the pocket. But Dempsey’s kick running around the mark is tugged to the near side from the left pocket.
Fierce from the Lions! Ashcroft’s handball in the centre square, Rayner’s long all forward, Morris can’t hold the mark, but Charlie Cameron runs onto the loose ball in the pocket, turns towards goal, and snaps it true. What a kick. Brisbane in front.
Goal for goal there, Logan Morris with the mark, after once again it’s McCluggage who gets involved from a stoppage at centre half forward, winning a contested ball and belting it on.
Start of the second quarter, and an indiscretion costs Brisbane. Bailey Smith driving the ball into Geelong’s 50, Andrews and Neale contesting in the pocket, Stengle’s snap goes across the face of goal. Bowes is lurking under the drop on the far side of the goal face, and Bruce Reville grabs his arm and jumper trying to contest. Free kick paid, had to be, and from a tricky angle in the pocket, Bowes gets the drop punt on line. Goal.
It was what you would expect from a grand final’s first quarter: congested, intense, lots of tackling and attack on the football, and a lack of polish when the time came to show off skills. Geelong had plenty of time forward early without generating shots at goal, then Brisbane had a string of shots but missed them all bar one from Lohmann. It was frantic forward-line pressure plus Ollie Dempsey’s tendency to drift forward, then Mullin with a rare moment of poise, that got Geelong’s lead. But it’s not by much.
Another miss in this quarter, this time for Geelong, as Stengle tries a banana kick from the boundary line under pressure. Cats get the ball moving forward against but Harris Andrews is able to spoil Neale’s attempted mark. Zac Guthrie has the ball at the front of the centre square, about to send it inside 50, when the siren sounds.
Brisbane can’t get the radar working. Out of the centre bounce, holding the ball decision is paid advantage, they find Bailey on the lead, but his set shot misses. Four behinds for Bailey in the first quarter! Then trying again, Ashcroft’s snap from the pocket goes out on the full. So 12 points for Brisbane, but they’ve earned their second goal the hard way, via six behinds.
Oisin Mullin on the counter! He was on the bench when McCluggage set up that previous goal, but was brought straight back on. Guthrie from the kick-in goes up the wing, Clark up to Stengle. Lester fumbles. Dempsey over the top at half forward, finds the runner, it’s the Irishman streaming forward, he runs inside 50 and nails the running shot for his second career goal!
Huge chance for Bailey! Three Geelong defenders crash into each other, trying to spoil a ball into full forward, and Bailey emerges from the chaos with the ball. But misses his snap from 20 out. One goal five? Oof.
First goal for Brisbane! Lohmann wasn’t likely to miss his set shot, after McCluggage loses Tom Atkins and gets the ball forward. Lions on the counter find the mark inside 50 and it’s finished well.
A chance for Brisbane to answer quickly, but Ah Chee’s set shot goes to the right. Rayner gives away a free on the wing for high contact. Into the Geelong 50, Bailey Smith snaps towards goal but the ball tumbles along the ground and the Lions repel.
Free kick for Blicavs, wrestled to the ground by McInerney in the ruck, then Stengle wins one on the wing for being held. Finds Cameron at half forward, to Miers 55 out, who squares up a kick to de Koning who has drifted forward to take a contested mark 35 metres out. But he misses his set shot. Still waiting for a goal here… but not any more!
The Lions get cut off on their way out of defence. Holmes spoils on the wing, Bowes links up at half forward, into the pocket, Cameron contests. Mannagh grabs the loose ball, finds Bowes, raking handball finds Dempsey near the goal post, and he runs around a defender to snap the goal.
A set shot from Bailey for the Lions after high contact in a tackle, but he misses from the forward pocket. Geelong’s exit ends badly with a kick out of bounds on the full at half back, but the ball ends up locked under several stoppages. Eventually Jhye Clark coughs up possession with a desperate kick, but Wilmot’s snap for Brisbane misses.
Kai Lohamnn has his scalp split open by a teammate’s knee and is on the bench getting some blood cleaned up. Brisbane now getting some time forward, Rayner circling each pack with a few stoppages in a row.
Q1: 14 minutes remaining: Geelong 0.1.1 – 0.1.1 Brisbane The ball has been locked in Geelong’s forward half for the first few minutes, but nothing to show for it. They’ve shut down every Brisbane foray down the wing, but haven’t had a clean possession themselves within the arcs. Finally Brisbane break free and reach their forward line, though Humphries repels them after a nervous moment under pressure by the boundary line. The ball comes back, Rayner attempts a mark but drops it. Finally Bailey has a snap after a stoppage but misses, first point for Brisbane.
First score of the afternoon as Dempsey for the Lions punches through a long ball forward from Dangerfield, who marked strongly about 60 out from goal on the lead.
First burst forward is for the Lions, but Jack Henry marks strongly on the last line. Up the wing to Bailey Smith who finds Stengle lace out at half forward, but his kick is too far wide of Jeremy Cameron in the pocket.
Oisin Mullin starting on the bench, after having tagged Hugh McCluggage out of the game in the previous meeting between these teams a couple of weeks back.
Mark Blicavs at the opening bounce as the Cats ruck rather than Rhys Stanley. Darcy Fort is in the middle for the Lions.
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