Lions claim Barossa thriller over gutsy Roos as star sweats MRO after ‘crude’ act — 3-2-1

Brisbane has survived a spirited North Melbourne outfit at Barossa Park on Saturday afternoon, prevailing 13.14 (92) to 9.12 (66).

The Lions truly gained ascendancy in a five-goal third quarter, but had to defend stoutly to hold off the Kangaroos, who made Chris Fagan’s side sweat in the final term.

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In a crucial fourth-quarter swing, Harry Sheezel missed a crucial set shot from almost directly in front — which would have made it a four-point game — before Sam Draper kicked truly two minutes later to make it a 15-point margin.

Brisbane’s third consecutive win came at a cost, though, with Jarrod Berry facing a potential suspension and Dayne Zorko under an injury cloud.

Lions star midfielder Lachie Neale had an equal game-high 30 disposals as Lions key forward Oscar Allen stood tall for the back-to-back reigning premiers with three goals.

— with NewsWire

THE 3-2-1 (what we learned) …

3. ‘BUSTED IT OPEN’: LIONS EXPLOSION PROVES DECISIVE

Premiership teams have an innate ability to bury the opposition in short spurts. And the Lions are the best in the competition at it.

They did it against St Kilda and Collingwood in their other two wins this year, and while the Roos weren’t finished off until the final minutes of the game, Brisbane’s dominant third quarter paved the way to victory.

The Lions kicked five goals to North Melbourne’s two to turn a four-point half-time deficit into a 16-point three-quarter-time advantage.

And they built it off of turnover punish and contest wins, brutalising the Kangaroos in transition on multiple occasions to create free-flowing scoring opportunities.

“The Lions have busted it open,” premiership champ Shaun Burgoyne aptly put it in commentary.

For the third quarter in totality, Brisbane registered 20 inside-50s to North Melbourne’s 11, 10 forward-half intercepts to three, and three goals to none from the defensive half source.

“Certainly it was a flex by the Brisbane Lions, there’s no doubt about that,” Jordan Lewis said at the final break.

“It was a quarter dominated by the Lions … the ball lived in one half of the ground, they gave themselves repeat opportunities.

“The way that they set up their defensive structure to allow them to do that was impressive.”

Burgoyne added: “They get really good defensive stability behind the ball, but also when there’s a stoppage inside their own defensive half, they win that contested ball and they read the cues to get on their bikes and pushing forward … that starts at the contest, getting dirty and winning that contested footy first.”

And after a tense start to the fourth quarter, conceding two of the term’s first three goals, the Lions got over the top to hold on for their third victory.

Fagan’s men finished with 27 front-half turnovers for 5.6 (36).

“It was the turnover game; the ability for Brisbane to create turnovers and off the back of that, score,” Lewis said at full-time.

Zac Bailey was at the forefront of Brisbane’s cause in the third term specifically, kicking a goal while three of his five touches were score involvements.

2. ‘BEEN AN ISSUE’: FLAW CRUELS ROOS DESPITE EARLY FLEX

Despite at times looking unstoppable at stoppage, the Kangaroos had a few too many all-at-sea moments in defensive transition on Saturday.

North Melbourne started the hungrier side at stoppage, finishing +13 for contested possessions in the first quarter and winning at clearance.

It was +18 for scores from clearances in the first half, flexing their contest muscles against a top-class Lions midfield group.

“This is an absolute strength; they’re the best team in the competition in this area,” Jordan Lewis said on Fox Footy at half-time.

“They’ve gone to work; they’ve come in with an aggressive type of attitude in and around that particular part of the ground.

“They’ve targeted certain players, which means that they’ve played on edge … that would be really pleasing.”

However, in the third quarter in particular, there were too many times where the Kangaroos lost their defensive shape when the Lions looked to punish on turnover or after winning at stoppage.

“This has been an issue; there’s been so much time and space in the middle of the ground for Brisbane to be able to transition,” Lewis said late in the third quarter.

“That has forced them to make a few errors in defence, when to come up and when to hang back — their cascading defence hasn’t been in sync, which has allowed the Lions to transition the ball with a level of ease.”

Leigh Montagna added: “Three of those goals from defensive 50. North Melbourne really with nobody to blame but themselves.”

The Roos wouldn’t go down easily in what was a valiant effort overall, kicking two of the first three goals in the final term. But a decisive swing saw a Harry Sheezel missed set shot — which would have got the Roos to within four points — become a Sam Draper goal to instead make it an unrecoverable 15-point buffer.

1. LION’S ‘CRUDE’ ACT TO COME UNDER MRO SCRUTINY

Integral Brisbane midfielder Jarrod Berry is set to come under Match Review scrutiny after what was described as a “crude hit” on North Melbourne’s Dylan Stephens.

In the second quarter, Berry arrived late to a marking contest on the wing involving Stephens, who marked before getting clobbered by Berry’s swinging arm.

Fortunately, the Kangaroos wingman was able to bounce back up and take his kick, with the umpire paying a free kick but not a 50-metre penalty.

At face value, it appeared as though it was a late spoiling attempt by the Lion. But after multiple replays, questions will be asked over whether there was intent behind Berry’s act.

“That was a crude hit from Berry — thankfully Stephens gets to his feet,” Fox Footy caller Leigh Montagna said in reaction.

“That will be certainly looked at, you’d think, from the MRO.”

At half-time, the panel revisited the incident, with Jordan Lewis saying: “I think any time a player gets hit in the head, whether it be from a bump or in this case a swinging arm … it will certainly get looked at.

“I think he might be lucky that Stephens was able to get up and continued to play, which certainly comes into calculations.”

A theoretical grading of careless conduct, medium impact and high contact would result in a one-match suspension. Alternatively, an intentional, low and high grading would still see a one-game ban dealt Berry’s way.

Brisbane clashes with Melbourne next week at the MCG.

Meanwhile, Dayne Zorko is under an injury cloud after hurting his calf in the first half of the game.

Zorko was ruled out before half-time as the Lions took utmost caution with the 37-year-old, with doubts now over his availability next weekend.

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