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Any hopes the Brisbane Lions had of emulating their famous triple-premiership side of the early 2000s are in tatters as the high-flying Fremantle compound their woes in a 15.13 (103) to 10.18 (78) Gabba demolition.
Revelations champion halfback Dayne Zorko would miss the next six weeks with a quad strain only worsened the two-time defending premiers’ predicament, as the Lions’ transition out of trouble gifted the Dockers an early ascendancy they never gave up.
Across the opening half, Brisbane were seemingly unable to clear from their own end with much penetration, and the ladder leaders only kept them in the contest by squandering a host of chances.
Come the third quarter, and Fremantle went on an absolute tear – kicking three goals in less than two minutes early in the term, as Jye Annis and Patrick Voss (four goals each for the match) made their presence felt in the forward line.
Consolation goals from Cody Curtin and Levi Ashcroft did little to bring the Gabba ground to their feet, with the initial Fremantle burst quick to trigger fears of a repeat of the 14-goal onslaught they were on the receiving end of against the Giants last week.
It was a far cry from that capitulation – ultimately conceding 6.4 to 3.3 – but it was worrying how early in the term the fade out took place, particularly with their season teetering on the brink of dropping out of the top 10.
“That’s happened a lot in third quarters this year, I can’t work out the reason why – we changed our warm-up and everything at half-time to try to get them to come out a little bit different,” Lions coach Chris Fagan said, who confirmed it was the angriest he had been at three-quarter time.
“We’ve got a lot who are lacking a bit of confidence and form. I’ve got a lot of faith in this group, I should have, shouldn’t I? They’ve played in finals the last seven years, they’ve gone to the big dance three years in a row, so there’s something there to work with.
“We’ve just got to find it, I don’t know whether they’re a bit tired from all those efforts over the last few years, it’s really hard to work out – there are just so many things that aren’t going quite right.”
Not that there was a lack of signs of fight, as Brisbane picked up the pace in the final quarter to make a game of it – goals to Charlie Cameron, Will Ashcroft (two each for the match), Jaspa Fletcher and Sam Draper suddenly bringing them back to within 18-points inside the final two-and-a-half minutes.
That was before Josh Treacy nailed his third maximum to secure Fremantle’s club record-breaking 11th straight wait in their hunt for a maiden piece of silverware.
It will now take a significant period of soul-searching and a miraculous return to form if Brisbane are to keep their hopes of a third-straight title – and emulating their most successful era as a club of 2001 to 2003 – alive.
Zorko void grows bigger
The Zorko void in the Lions’ backline is only getting bigger, and has left the club in the midst of a desperate search to find a man capable of filling his shoes.
His quad concern, having only recently returned from a calf issue, is a setback which could seriously hamper any hopes the 36-year-old may have of extending his career into a 16th season.
In his absence, Brisbane have been badly exposed in defence, while their ball movement up the field has paled in comparison to their premiership-winning exploits.
Zorko has so often been that conductor from the back, but without him, the Lions were devoid of answers as the Dockers applied significant forward pressure.
Without Zorko navigating his side out of trouble, Brisbane have been unable to get the best out of their all-star midfield, with Lachie Neale (23 touches), Ashcroft (22), Hugh McCluggage (13) and Josh Dunkley (16) all brilliantly contained.
Zac Bailey attempted to spark his side, leading the disposal count with 30 while kicking a goal and producing six clearances, but it would all be in vain.
When Brisbane did probe inside 50, they lacked execution – only just nudging their efficiency beyond 50 per cent courtesy of their fourth quarter charge.
“We just didn’t have the quality of entry there to really finish off, whereas at the other end they had 12 less than us but scored at 60 per cent from their entries. We did get supply in there, we did have a really healthy number of forward half turnovers … but we weren’t able to use the ball off those turnovers to create a score,” Fagan said.
Longmuir’s emotional tribute
Dockers coach Justin Longmuir paid tribute to the late Neale Daniher, who lost his battle with motor neurone disease this week.
The former Melbourne coach served as an assistant at Fremantle before launching a 223-game tenure at the Demons’ helm, with Longmuir alluding to their shared time at the West Coast Eagles as a major influence on his career.
Daniher’s fundraising endeavours with FightMND raised more than $115 million towards research for a cure, with the AFL’s Big Freeze becoming a staple of the season calendar.
“I think it’s been well documented the impact he’s had on our footy club, especially in the early days when we probably did it at its toughest, and to have people around like that to get us off the ground allows us to be where we are now,” Longmuir said.
“I’ve always had such great respect for everything that Neale has taught me. He was so succinct with the messages sometimes that you just couldn’t not take them on board.
“He had a loveble way about him – his laugh and storytelling, but also had great wisdom when it came to coaching. We’ve lost a good one.”
