LIVE AFL: Brisbane’s flag dreams on the line in arguably most important QLD derby ever

It was carnage for the Brisbane Lions, struck down by injuries to Lincoln McCarthy, Darcy Gardiner and Noah Answerth but they still managed to easily overcome the travelling Gold Coast Suns in Q Clash 26.

Once a home fortress, Chris Fagan’s men had not one a game at the Gabba this season but righted that wrong in a 34-point win.

A first half domination set the tone for the Queensland derby, Lions taking a whopping extra 60 marks and 67 disposals before the major break.

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A four-goal margin would have pleased coach Chris Fagan but injury carnage left the home fans with a bittersweet taste.

Brandon Starcevich was a late out, withdrawn from the side in the warmup which propelled debutant Logan Morris into the sub role.

He didn’t have to wait long as forward McCarthy went down with a serious right knee injury two minutes into the contest.

The casualty ward grew when Answerth was dealt a concussion blow from an errant Suns’ Jed Walter knee in the opening term.

Gardiner then suffered a concerning right knee knock in a marking contest in the second quarter and all three Lions players took no further part in the game.

Gun midfielder Lachie Neale bounced back from a quiet match last week against the Giants, leading from the front early, to finish with 33 disposals, 12 of them contested.

The move to half back for Dayne Zorko continued to bear fruits as the gun racked up an astonishing 35 kicks from 39 disposals, a career high for the Lions legend.

Champion mid Josh Dunkley grabbed 27 disposals, booted a goal and Daniher was a strong target up forward, booting two goals.

The ever reliable, intercepting skipper Harris Andrews was also solid in defence.

The Lions were shockingly inaccurate in front of goal (10.18) and should have put their cross town rivals away by ten goals but still walked away with the four points.

THE 3-2-1, via Will Faulkner

3 – LIONS ROAR DESPITE HORROR BLOWS

The Lions took out the 26th rendition of the Q-Clash, but at what cost?

Their 34-point win brought about four separate injuries, one of which happened before the match even started.

Despite the carnage, the Lions gave Damien Hardwick’s Suns a bath in every statistical measurement – with Brisbane’s whopping 86 marks more than Gold Coast the most damning difference of them all.

Had it not been for their inaccurate kicking and 19 behinds, the story would have – somehow – been even worse for the Suns, who couldn’t compete despite having two more rotations on their bench.

Former three-time Brisbane premiership players Jonathan Brown and Alastair Lynch were glowing of their former team on Fox Footy’s half-time, and with good reason.

“They got off to a flying start after conceding the first goal, but they just dominated through the middle of the ground – Lachie Neale was at his very best,” – Lynch said.

“It was hallmark Brisbane Lions and their run to the Grand Final last year… it’s been on show tonight, they’ve got that 2023 form back – no question about it,” Brown then added.

“Their ability to keep the ball moving forward, either by kick or by handball – mainly uncontested marks – obviously Gold Coast are on the back foot.”

The trajectory in difference for marks between the two teams at the main break was even worse at half time, and gave Brisbane complete control of the Q-Clash.

“Plus 60 in marks, which is just an extraordinary number – it’s something they haven’t been able to control lately,” Lynch highlighted.

Not much changed for the Suns as the match went on, with the red, yellow and blue unable to capitalise on any inaccurate kicking by the Lions.

“This is extremely disappointing from a Suns point of view,” said Lynch in the fourth quarter.

Finals was supposed to be a benchmark for this season up on the Gold Coast, but tonight’s efforts will question the beliefs of everyone who instilled faith in them before the season’s start.

2 – KEY SUNS PERSONNEL FAIL TO FIRE IN DISSAPPOINTING OUTING

While the Lions may have shown shades of their 2023 best, the Suns were beyond disappointing, with a performance that considerably hurts their profile of being a potential finals team later this year.

Forward Ben King was the only Sun to kick more than one goal, with four total goal kickers on a night to forget for Damien Hardwick and co.

King, Jarrod Witts, Mac Andrew, Jed Walter and Ethan Reid are all part of Gold Coast’s spine, particularly in the forward half.

With the exception of King, the rest were poor on a tough night for the club.

While it may sound harsh given the youth shared between Andrew, Walter and Read, the injuries to Brisbane in their defensive half should have the latter two players a particular advantage.

The Suns had 17 less inside 50’s than the Lions, and had 15 scoring shots for the match – a far inferior number to Brisbane’s 29.

In the midfield, Noah Anderson, Touk Miller and Matt Rowell were well beaten by Brisbane, with Rowell unusually quiet given the big stage.

Anderson’s eight clearances was three more than any other Sun, and double the number of any other fellow midfielder.

The 14 kicks between Rowell and Miller were nowhere near enough to give the Suns forward line the repeated entries in the attacking half they needed.

AFL legend Gerard Healy said the Suns were “nowhere near their best” and the one-sided contest reflected as such.

Suns travel to Darwin next Sunday to battle North Melbourne before hosting the in-form Cats.

1 – HAVE WE EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT?

In one of the worst injury patches in modern AFL history, the Lions suffered four injuries in less than an hour – with their first setback coming before the match even started.

Defender Brandon Starcevich went down with a calf injury in the warm-up just after running through the banner, forcing an ultra-late change in the starting 22.

Harry Sharp, who was initially named the substitute, was promoted into the side, with Logan Morris remarkably called upon as the replacement sub in his debut – despite playing a full VFL game beforehand.

Less than five minutes into the match, Lincoln McCarthy exited the match with a suspected knee injury; innocuously coming from a marking contest by his side’s goal square.

McCarthy’s injury looked severe, and he was almost instantly subbed out – giving Morris little to no time to compose himself after his game earlier.

In a somewhat ironic moment straight after Morris kicked his first goal at AFL level, teammate Noah Answerth was kneed at the back of the head by opponent Jed Walter, and failed his HIA assessment to leave the Lions one rotation down on the bench before quarter time.

The footy Gods continued to cruel Chris Fagan’s side in such a small amount of time, with utility Darcy Gardiner the fourth Lion in less than 60 minutes to go down hurt.

Gardiner’s fall, like McCarthy, is suspected to be a serious knee injury.

Speaking on the massacre on Fox Footy at half-time, Jonathan Brown was concerned Alastair Lynch might have to suit up for his old side.

“The way they were going at one stage, thought you were going to have to lace some boots up Lynchy,” Brown joked.

“The Lions have certainly got their troubles in the medical rooms, no doubt about that for the second half, but they’ve been putting on an absolute clinic in the first half here at the Gabba,” Lynch said of their impressive effort all things considered.

All four players are expected to miss next week’s clash, with Answerth’s concussion certainly placing him in protocols for 12 days.

BRISBANE vs. GOLD COAST — AS IT HAPPENED

Harry Sharp (BL) and Ben Long (GC) are the substitutes for tonight’s clash, with no late changes for either side.

There was a very late out, with Brandon Starcevich (calf) excluded and key forward Logan Morris coming in for his first game.

To add to Brisbane’s injury woes, important forward Lincoln McCarthy went down early in the first quarter with a suspected knee injury.

Morris, who became the sub, was inserted into the game very early as McCarthy was ruled out almost immediately. He’s already played a VFL game today.

In terms of the game itself, the Lions started the faster of the two sides, kicking four of the game’s first five goals to take a 20-point lead with six minutes left in the first term.

Morris missed a chance to slot his first AFL goal from a set shot late in the quarter.

Ben King slotted his second goal of the night to bring the margin for Gold Coast back to 15 points with not long left in the first term, before Kai Lohmann slotted a response from long range right before the quarter time siren.

In even more bad injury news for the Lions, Noah Answerth has been ruled out for the remainder of the match after failing his HIA assessment.

Harry Sharp started the second quarter fast and furious with an incredible snap from the pocket, giving the Lions a head start just 29 seconds after the first break.

Joe Daniher snapped and grossly missed a set shot from in range, but made up for it with a mark in the goal square not long after to give his side a 34-point lead.

Incredibly, the Lions have suffered ANOTHER injury, with Darcy Gardiner going down with a suspected serious knee injury.

The utility landed awkwardly and twisted his knee in an innocuous one-on-one contest at the outer wing.

Gardiner becomes the fourth Lion to succumb to injury in the space of an hour, meaning the Lions have just two fit players to rotate off the bench - not including the bizarre circumstance of Logan Morris already playing a full VFL game today.

The Suns, despite all their opponent’s injuries, have struggled greatly to maximise on a tiring Brisbane outfit.

Morris kicked his first league goal in the second half of the second quarter, pushing his side’s lead out to 41 points.

The margin didn’t move much beyond his maiden goal at the top level, with the Lions leading a hapless Suns by 40 points at the main break.

Lachie Neale has been the standout performer across both teams so far, alongside veteran Dayne Zorko in gigantic efforts.

Neale has 24 disposals, eight marks and seven tackles, while Zorko has 24 touches and nine marks.

“They got off to a flying start after conceding the first goal, but they just dominated through the middle of the ground – Lachie Neale was at his very best,” three-time Brisbane premiership player Alastair Lynch said at the half-time break.

Damien Hardwick made the move to inject sub Ben Long into the game at half time, with young key forward Ethan Read tactically taken out of the game.

It didn’t take long for Long to make his impact on the game, opening the half with the first major for either side with a nice set shot just inside the 50 metre arc.

Ben King converted his third goal for the match, backing up Long’s goal and bringing the margin back down to 28 points.

Morris had multiple opportunities to add to his goal tally, but missed twice in three minutes to now have 1.3 next to his game.

Remarkably, the Lions kicked nine behind in the third quarter, compared to the Suns’ two goals and one behind.

Brisbane lead by six goals at the final break, and look very unlikely to give up their commendable lead.

Suns prodigy Jed Walter kicked his first of the night for the game’s first goal in the last quarter with a booming set shot from well outside 50.

His goal brings the Suns to within 30 points of a depleted Lions.

Dayne Zorko kicked from just inside 50 on the run a couple of minutes later, but missed across the left-hand side of the goals - and in the process, registering the Lions’ 10th behind in a row without a major.

Jack Lukosius missed multiple chances in front of goal for the Suns, with no ‘killer blow’ in the words of Alastair Lynch.

“This is extremely disappointing from a Suns point of view,” he added.

After some pain-staking football, Ben Ainsworth finally broke the Suns’ temporary goal deadlock to minimise Brisbane’s lead to 23 points.

However, it was false hope for Suns fans as Charlie Cameron ran onto a ball out the back of a contested pack, sealing the game for Brisbane with his first of the night from seven disposals.

Josh Dunkley put the icing on the cake only a minute later, with a set shot on a slight angle from 40 metres out pushing the margin back to 35 points.