Round 20 – Brisbane v Carlton: Wooden Spoon, No Tanks!

 

 

A lot of the build-up before this game was around the number 1 draft pick and which club would get that no.1 pick, with both teams fighting for the last spot on the AFL ladder. But it seemed both teams really wanted the win, perhaps looking ahead and realizing this could be both teams last chance at a win, especially Brisbane who have Adelaide, Hawthorn and the in-form Western Bulldogs coming up.

 

Brisbane wanted to put on a good show for those diehard fans who turn up to the Gabba every week. It started well for Brisbane as Sam Mayes in his 50th game kicked a wobbly sort of ball towards the goal square but no one was back there and the ball skidded on the dewy ground and went through for a goal. Mayes kicked another and Brisbane were out by 14 points, and looking quite impressive.

 

But for the rest of the quarter it was all Carlton with Carlton winning it out of the centre easily and getting it over the back to Andrew Walker, who kicked two goals in the opening quarter and the on-ball brigade of Cripps, Murphy and Matthew Kreuzer were beating the Brisbane mid-field of Martin, Hanley, Robinson and Tom Rockliff. Carlton took a well-deserved 19 point lead into the quarter time break.

 

It all turned around in that second quarter for Brisbane, thanks to Daniel Rich who ran amuck in that second quarter. Brisbane started a lot of their attacking forays from the back line with the run from Zorko, the long and precise kicking of Daniel Rich, the toughness and aggression shown by Mitch Robinson and, the thing that’s been lacking all season for Brisbane, a tall forward by the name of Johnno Freeman. Much to the dislike of Eddie, Freeman was taken from the Brisbane Lions Academy. Brisbane dominated the quarter, much like Carlton did in the first quarter and took a 12 point lead into the long break.

 

Carlton pressed early in the 3rd quarter  but the Brisbane defence were holding up well and you just thought that if Carlton didn’t score Brisbane were going to take it the length of the ground and score. Sure enough Brisbane, after defending gallantly, took it to the other end of the ground and Christensen scored and it looked like the resistance might be broken with Brisbane piling on the next 6 goals to make it 12 goals in a row since Carlton’s Andrew Walker kicked his 2nd at the end of the first quarter! A lot of Brisbane’s goals came from the run of Hanley and Zorko but it was the toughness of Robbo that’s been a big part of Brisbane’s season so far; he continues to put his head over the ball and loves a tackle, laying 15 tonight, which enables the likes of Hanley and Zorko to break the lines.

 

Carlton got 3 quick goals at the end of the 3rd quarter to give them a mathematical chance but really they’ve kicked 6 goals in 3 quarters and they need 6 to win! When Hanley kicked his second goal from 50 the task for Carlton looked almost over and when Brisbane scored again it was definitely over.

 

After suffering a few confidence damning losses over the past few weeks, and with a few tough games coming up, Brisbane’s young players should enjoy this win. A few of the more experienced players enjoyed it as well, with Rockliff strolling out of an inside 50 stoppage and slotting it to make the margin more than 9 goals in what has been a powerful and enjoyable second half by Brisbane. To top it off Adcock kicked a goal on the siren to put Carlton on the bottom of the ladder and confirm that John Barkers coaching career may be ending for Carlton anyway.

 

The game ended on a sour note with Michael Jamison giving Mitch Robinson the cold shoulder after the game, which is not what you like to see but Robbo had the last laugh and the Lions condemned Carlton to what might be their 4th wooden spoon. I don’t know what they expected when they sacked Malthouse but maybe not this, a 10 goal loss to the Brisbane Lions.

 

Tanks, no thanks.

 

 

 

About Donal Wilson

I'm a mad Brisbane supporter who also plays footy and cricket for my local team in Melbourne.

Comments

  1. Peter Schumacher says

    It was a good win, no doubt about that. May win a couple more before the end of the season, certainly hope so.

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