Brisbane – 16.15 (111)
Carlton – 15.14 (104)
Brisbane have come back from the dead to record an unbelievable win against the Blues who looked like sure things at the start of the 4th quarter when they were up by 28 points at one stage.
Daniel Bradshaw was excellent all night for Brisbane with a 5 goal haul, including 2 in the last quarter.
An unbelievable effort by the Lions considering the amount of players on the ground carrying injuries.
Big moment
With 5 minutes to go and Brisbane threatening, but not doing much with it; Daniel Rich kicked a 50 metre bomb on the run after swooping on the ball after a stoppage on the half-forward flank.
That goal put the Lions, only 4pt’s behind and sent the crowd crazy.
Key players for Brisbane
Simon Black – On one leg, he was immense all night long. Finished with 29 possessions, 13 of them contested. What would that midfield be like without him?
Justin Sherman – He only had 14 possessions, but he was just o damaging when he had the ball. More often than not, he gained 50 metres with his touches.
Daniel Bradshaw – Dominated Bower in every way, whether it was by leading or one-on-one. His 5 goals were an obvious match-winning effort.
An excellent performance considering his injury issues.
Key players for Carlton
Kade Simpson – Played an excellent game in his first final. He was one player that never gave up until the end. Finished with 23 possessions and 4 scoring assists.
Nick Stevens – It looked like his move to the forward-line in the 3rd quarter would be the difference, when he kicked 2.1 in the one quarter.
Chris Judd – Was excellent for the first 3 quarters and after he was taken off for a breather, mid-way through the last quarter. After that, he couldn’t really get back into the game. His 30 possession performance was still excellent.
Musings from the match
• What a final! It will be hard to top this game.
• Cameron Cloke will be ruing his chance to tie the game for the Blues with a 50 meter set-shot with only a few minutes left. Disappointing for Cloke considering the two ripper goals he kicked earlier in the game. One was a 50 meter set-shot, the other was a Fev’ like volley over his head in the goal-square.
• Two times, Carlton looked like good things for a victory. In the first quarter where they dominated the first 10 minutes, and then at the end of the 3rd quarter when they were well on top.
• What a player Daniel Rich is. He was well held by Andrew Walker for 3 and a half quarters, but like good players do, he stepped up when the game needed to be won.
• As far as 12 possession games go, it was amazing.
• Black and Bradshaw looked very proppy throughout the match. They rolled the dice and it payed off in a big way.
• It looked like Carlton had lost Aaron Joseph for the game with an ankle injury, but he managed to come back on, which coincided with Carlton getting on top of the Lions in the 3rd quarter.
• Judd may be in some trouble with his hands finding his way on Michael Rischitelli’s face and awfully close to his eyes. Rischitelli didn’t seem too bothered by it though.
• The move of Nick Stevens to the forward-line at the start of the 3rd quarter paid itself with a 2.2 return, including a brilliant goal on the run, along the boundary.
• Jeff Gartlett was excellent in the first half, causing a heap of problems for Ashley McGrath who in the end, beat him with a dominant 2nd half.
• Brisbane are still unbeaten at the GABBA in finals in 9 games.
• Daniel Merrett did a pretty good job on Brendan Fevola restricting him to 3 goals despite the Blues forward being the main forward target.
• Jonathan Brown copped a pretty bad cut above the eye in a marking contest which led to a swollen right-eye. It largely explains his inaccurate total of 4.3.
Where to now for both clubs?
Brisbane now have to take their bruised and battered bodies to take on the Bulldogs.
They’ll be up against it, if only due to their injuries.
Carlton will rue this game for a long time. Fans will now be hoping that this hurt of this loss will spur them onto better things next year.
Tags: Cameron Cloke, Chris Judd, Daniel Bradshaw, Daniel Rich, Justin Sherman, Kade Simpson, Nick Stevens, Simon Black
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