Ash McGrath’s 55m goal after the siren in his 200th AFL match sealed one of the great comebacks for Brisbane over Geelong at the Gabba on Sunday.
Trailing by 52 points late in the third quarter, the Lions stormed home with 10 goals to one to claim a remarkable 15.13 (103) to 14.14 (98) win over the Cats.
Brent Moloney, Daniel Rich and Dayne Zorko – after an assist from the umpire’s foot – had all booted huge goals as the Lions managed to level the scores with under two minutes to go.
But a behind from Geelong forward Tom Hawkins put the visitors ahead with less than 30 seconds to go.
Controlled chaos followed as the Lions drove the ball forward via a flurry of handballs, kicks and desperate runs, eventually finding McGrath on the mark outside the 50m as the siren sounded.
McGrath then showed he was the coolest man in the Gabba as he went back and steered his kick home to the delight of the 24,164 attendees and the “restrained fury” of Cats coach Chris Scott.
The Lions’ fourth victory of the season will ease some of the pressure on coach Michael Voss, who was hoping the belief gained will drive his team forward.
“As a coach you have moments where you obviously completely lose your stuff,” he said.
“It’s just a credit to the guys who worked really hard. They’ve shown the capability that the group has … hopefully it can be a bit of a catalyst for us.”
Moloney, who kicked three goals, was one of the best for the home team while veteran midfielder Simon Black turned back the years with a superlative midfield display.
The Cats, who now have a 10-2 win-loss record, looked like they were heading to a comfortable victory and their inability to halt Brisbane’s charge simply came out of nowhere.
Prior to their collapse Hawkins had booted three goals as he threatened to repeat his six-goal display at the Gabba last year, while defenders Corey Enright and Joel Corey were stifling any Lions attacks.
You might like
The Cats had three players pick up 31 disposals in captain Joel Selwood, forward Steve Johnson and Mathew Stokes but coach Scott said the loss was a reflection of his team’s patchy form in recent weeks.
“I’m not going to jump to conclusions now, clearly I’m emotional,” Scott said.
“I’ve been really clear that we haven’t been playing well. That’s been happening for quite a while, even through the season. We’ve beaten some good teams but we’ve only played in fits and spurts.
“Fortunately for us it’s been good enough but tonight it wasn’t.”
Scott also refused to speculate on whether he was worried by a seemingly high bump from Johnson in the first quarter which left Pearce Hanley groggy and is sure to be looked at by the match review panel.
Round 13 details
TRIBUNAL WATCH: Plenty for Monday’s match review panel to consider. Geelong’s Steve Johnson for his high bump on Pearce Hanley; Melbourne ruckman Jake Spencer for front-on contact with St Kilda’s Ben McEvoy; St Kilda’s Tom Simpkin for striking Chris Dawes (could Dawes also be in trouble for staging from the same incident?) and West Coast veteran Andrew Embley for his knee-drop on Hawthorn defender Ben Stratton.
KEY INJURIES: A Goodes (Syd) knee, T Chaplin (Rich) knee, S Hurn (WC) ankle, L Shuey (WC) shoulder, G Birchall (Haw) knee, J Gibson (Haw) ankle, L Thomas (NM) hamstring, M Barlow (Fre) face.
Round 13 results
HAWTHORN 6.0 12.2 16.4 19.9 (123) WEST COAST 6.2 7.6 12.7 16.7 (103) Goals: Hawthorn: J Gunston 5 J Roughead 5 L Breust 3 L Franklin 2 S Savage 2 J Lewis J Simpkin. West Coast: J Kennedy 5 L Shuey 2 M LeCras 2 B Dalziell C Masten D Cox J Darling M Priddis N Naitanui S Selwood. Best: Hawthorn: J Roughead L Hodge J Gunston J Lewis L Breust B Lake. West Coast: N Naitanui L Shuey J Kennedy A Gaff M Priddis E MacKenzie. Injuries: Hawthorn: J Gibson (ankle) G Birchall (knee) P Puopolo (quad – replaced in side by X Ellis) L Breust (ankle). West Coast: S Hurn (ankle) S Selwood (hand). Reports: Nil. Umpires: Simon Meredith, Robert Findlay, Mathew Nicholls. Official Crowd: 32,567 at Etihad Stadium.
PORT ADELAIDE 1.2 3.5 5.6 10.12 (72) SYDNEY 4.1 5.2 6.4 8.6 (54) Goals: Port Adelaide: C Wingard 3 A Monfries 2 J Neade J Schulz J Westhoff M Broadbent R Gray. Sydney: A Goodes 2 K Jack 2 K Tippett 2 M Morton T Mitchell. Best: Port Adelaide: C Wingard Brad Ebert M Broadbent T Logan R Gray H Hartlett D Cassisi. Sydney: J Kennedy N Malceski J McVeigh K Jack R O’Keefe C Bird. Injuries: Port Adelaide: Paul Stewart (back) replaced in selected side by C Heath, J Butcher (tonsilitis) replaced in selected side by A Moore. Sydney: A Goodes (knee). Reports: Nil. Umpires: Troy Pannell, Stephen McBurney, Luke Farmer. Official Crowd: 16,096 at AAMI Stadium.
ST KILDA 7.2 10.3 15.6 16.8 (104) MELBOURNE 3.0 5.4 7.5 10.9 (69) Goals: St Kilda: N Riewoldt 3 F Ray 2 J Koschitzke 2 C Jones D Armitage J Geary L Montagna R Stanley S Dempster S Ross T Dennis-Lane T Milera. Melbourne: J Howe 2 J Watts 2 C Dawes D Kent J Fitzpatrick N Jones S Blease S Byrnes. Best: St Kilda: L Montagna F Ray J Steven D Armitage S Dempster T Milera N Dal Santo. Melbourne: C Garland C Sylvia D Terlich N Jones M Clisby. Injuries: St Kilda: B McEvoy (head) S Fisher (ankle) replaced in selected side by B Murdoch. Melbourne: Nil. Reports: St Kilda: Nil. Melbourne: J Spencer reported for high front on contact on B McEvoy in second quater. Umpires: Jeff Dalgleish, Shane McInerney, Heath Ryan. Official Crowd: 28,751 at MCG.
RICHMOND 4.8 8.13 13.16 17.19 (121) WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 5.9 5.11 8.13 (61) Goals: Richmond: J Riewoldt 3 R Conca 2 S Grigg 2 T Vickery 2 A Edwards B Houli D Jackson D Martin M White N Foley N Vlastuin T Cotchin. Western Bulldogs: J Stringer 2 A Cooney D Giansiracusa L Hunter L Jones M Boyd R Murphy. Best: Richmond: B Houli D Martin B Deledio S Morris T Chaplin S Grigg. Western Bulldogs: M Boyd R Griffen R Murphy J Macrae J Stringer C Smith. Injuries: Richmond: D Astbury (hamstring) T Chaplin (knee). Western Bulldogs: Nil. Reports: Nil. Umpires: Shane Stewart, Chris Kamolins, Dean Margetts. Official Crowd: 29,788 at Etihad Stadium.
FREMANTLE 1.3 5.6 7.6 10.7 (67) NORTH MELBOURNE KANGAROOS 0.2 1.3 3.5 4.5 (29) Goals: Fremantle: N Suban 2 C Mayne H Crozier J Hannath M Barlow M De Boer M Johnson M Walters N Fyfe. North Melbourne Kangaroos: A Black A Mullett B Harvey J MacMillan. Best: Fremantle: N Fyfe M Barlow R Crowley M De Boer G Ibbotson M Johnson. North Melbourne Kangaroos: A Swallow R Bastinac J MacMillan S Atley A Mullett. Injuries: Fremantle: M Barlow (face) D Mundy (calf) replaced in selected side by H Crozier. North Melbourne Kangaroos: L Thomas (hamstring) B Cunnington (family reasons) replaced in selected side by B McKenzie. Reports: Nil. Umpires: Matt Stevic, Jacob Mollison, Brett Rosebury. Official Crowd: 31,637 at Subiaco.
BRISBANE 3.2 5.4 7.8 15.13 (103) GEELONG 5.3 9.7 13.10 14.14 (98) Goals: Brisbane: A McGrath 3 B Moloney 3 D Rich 2 D Zorko J Adcock J Brown J Lisle J Patfull M Golby P Hanley. Geelong: T Hawkins 3 A Christensen 2 S Johnson 2 S Motlop 2 A Mackie C Guthrie J Murdoch J Podsiadly M Blicavs. Best: Brisbane: S Black A McGrath B Moloney D Rich D Merrett M Leuenberger. Geelong: J Selwood S Johnson M Stokes T Hawkins J Bartel J Corey. Umpires: Chris Donlon, Stuart Wenn, Jordan Bannister. Venue: Gabba.
Bye – Collingwood, Adelaide, Carlton, Essendon, Greater Western Sydney Giants, Gold Coast Suns
LADDER AFTER ROUND 13
Stay informed, daily
P W L D For Agst PC Pts
Hawthorn 12 11 1 – 1430 1000 143.0 44
Geelong 12 10 2 – 1389 1100 126.3 40
Fremantle 12 9 2 1 1057 799 132.3 38
Essendon 12 9 3 – 1267 963 131.6 36
Sydney 12 8 3 1 1198 920 130.2 34
Richmond 12 8 4 – 1202 1007 119.4 32
Collingwood 12 8 4 – 1152 1062 108.5 32
Port Adelaide 12 7 5 – 1143 989 115.6 28
Carlton 12 6 6 – 1211 1036 116.9 24
West Coast 12 6 6 – 1238 1110 111.5 24
Adelaide 12 5 7 – 1108 1070 103.6 20
Gold Coast Suns 12 5 7 – 1031 1114 92.6 20
North Melbourne 12 4 8 – 1177 1100 107.0 16
Brisbane 12 4 8 – 932 1225 76.1 16
St Kilda 12 3 9 – 1004 1118 89.8 12
Western Bulldogs 12 3 9 – 915 1247 73.4 12
Melbourne 12 1 11 – 793 1559 50.9 4
GWS Giants 12 – 12 – 876 1704 51.4 –
LEADING GOALKICKERS 39: J Kennedy (West Coast) 5 37: J Riewoldt (Richmond) 3 36: J Roughead (Hawthorn) 5 35: L Thomas (Kangaroos) 0 34: T Cloke (C’wood) 0 33: N Riewoldt (St Kilda) 3, J Cameron (GWS Giants ) 0, L Franklin (Hawthorn) 2 32: T Hawkins (Geelong) 3 27: J Darling (West Coast) 1, J Garlett (Carlton) 0, S Crameri (Essendon) 0
