Lions Rip Through Crows to Keep Three-Peat Dream Alive
Honestly, I don’t know why any of us doubted it for a second. The Lions took the Crows apart at the Gabba, 53 points in the end, and the premiership three-peat bid is very much alive and kicking. No notes.
From the opening bounce this had a different feel to it. You could sense the Gabba crowd knew exactly what was coming, and Adelaide, to their credit, tried to match it early, but this Brisbane side just doesn’t let you settle. Not for a second.
That Zorko Moment Set The Tone
Sam Berry got the Crows first clearance of the game, found Jordan Dawson, and for about four seconds Adelaide fans probably thought they were in business. Then Dayne Zorko cut off the release kick like he’d read the play before Dawson even had it, and the Lions were off to the races. Kai Lohmann snapped the opening goal from the ensuing scramble and honestly that passage of play summed up the whole afternoon. Brisbane turning defence into attack in the blink of an eye, over and over.
Zorko doesn’t get talked about enough these days when people list the Lions’ most important players, but moments like that are exactly why he’s still out there in September footy. Reads the ball flight, backs himself, punishes you instantly. Thats the Brisbane way under Fagan, and it’s been the Brisbane way for a few years running now.
The Crows Never Really Got A Foothold
I want to give Adelaide their due because they’ve had a genuinely strong season and Matthew Nicks has that group playing tough, contested footy. But from quarter one onwards you could see the gap. Brisbane’s midfield brigade of Neale, Cameron and co just had another gear when it mattered, and every time the Crows threatened to build some rhythm forward, the Lions defensive setup snuffed it out.
By half time the margin already told the story and it never really looked like Adelaide had an answer. That’s not a knock on their effort, this Brisbane team at full tilt at the Gabba in September is just an incredibly difficult puzzle to solve. Ask literally anyone who’s tried the last two years.
Why This Team Just Keeps Delivering
What I love covering about this Lions group, and I’ve said it before on the pod, is that there’s no panic in them anymore. A few years back if the opposition got the jump you’d see Brisbane get a bit rattled, force it forward, cough up turnovers. Not this side. They just absorb the pressure and wait for their moment, and against Adelaide that moment came almost immediately with the Zorko intercept and never really let up.
It’s premiership experience, plain and simple. When you’ve been through two granny wins together you don’t blink at a finals crowd or a tight first quarter. You trust the system, you trust your teammates, and eventually the scoreboard reflects it. That’s exactly what happened here.
Kai Lohmann Deserves His Flowers
Can we talk about Lohmann for a second because I feel like he flies under the radar nationally but Lions fans know exactly what he brings. That first goal was pure footy smarts, finding the space, taking the chance calmly under pressure in a semi-final. He’s turned into such a reliable small forward option for Fagan and on days like this he’s the kind of player that turns a comfortable lead into a blowout.
Give this bloke another two or three seasons in that forward line alongside the household names and he won’t be a hidden gem anymore, everyone will know his name. Legit one of the most underrated Lions going around right now.
What This Means For The Road Ahead
A 53 point win in a semi-final is about as emphatic a statement as you can make heading into a prelim. It tells the rest of the competition that Brisbane aren’t just surviving finals footy, they’re dominating it, and that’s a scary proposition for whoever they line up against next.
There’ll be plenty of debate this week about whether the Crows’ season simply caught up with them at the wrong time, or whether the Lions are just operating on another level entirely heading into the back end of the year. I know which side of that argument I’m on, but I get why neutral fans might want to wait and see how Brisbane back it up next week before crowning anyone.
The Bigger Picture For Queensland Footy
Away from the result itself, I reckon days like this matter enormously for growing the game up here. A packed, rocking Gabba in September, a home final delivering exactly the kind of statement performance that gets new fans talking about footy around the water cooler on a Monday. That stuff compounds over time, and it’s part of why this Lions era feels bigger than just wins and losses to a lot of us up in Queensland.
The AFLW side has been building serious momentum too and I reckon the more this footy club wins across both programs, the more kids up here grow up thinking of the Lions as their team, not just the Vics clubs their parents might’ve followed. That cultural shift matters just as much as the flags in my opinion.
Onwards To The Prelim
So here we are, another week, another must-win final, and this Brisbane group looking every bit as scary as they did in the last two premiership runs. Adelaide will be shattered with how this one played out, and fair enough, they had a season worth being proud of. But the Lions machine rolls on, and right now nobody in the competition looks like they’ve got a genuine answer for it.
Three-peat talk feels less like hype and more like a legitimate conversation every week this team keeps performing like it did at the Gabba. Bring on the prelim.
