The jungle kings are shaken but still standing. The Pies will find them hard to bring down

4 hours ago 3

Omar Little, the notorious stick-up man from HBO classic The Wire, once warned his rivals “If you come for the king, you best not miss.”

Gold Coast came for Brisbane and paid the ultimate price for not finishing off the kings of the jungle.

The injury-hit Lions may not be in full health, but their game remains formidable enough to worry Collingwood coach Craig McRae heading into another blockbuster MCG final between two of the competition’s powerhouses.

Lions and Suns players grapple, with Zac Bailey in the middle of the action.

McRae and his coaching staff saw the Lions at their best in their 53-point drubbing of the Suns. Chris Fagan’s men have given McRae and his team plenty of material to work with when they conduct their opposition analysis this week.

There’s not much that isn’t already known about the Lions, who are into a fourth straight preliminary final (and fifth in six years), but it’s one thing to know how to bring them down, another to do it.

Minutes before the game, Fagan stressed the importance for his team to start well, saying “we need to show them who we are” after an 11-goal drubbing in late July.

Fagan did not get the start he wanted, his team giving up two goals inside the first four minutes, but his players spent the rest of the match making good their coach’s words.

This was a trademark performance by the Lions, who demolished the Suns at contest and clearance, denied their opposition the ball with their kicking game and punished them with their run from defence.

Even without dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale, the Lions were brutal at stoppage. The Suns, through Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, are one of the best teams in this area but lost this stat by 17. They scored just eight points from stoppage all night.

The Magpies don’t tend to tag but Hugh McCluggage relished not having Oisin Mullin shadowing him, amassing 33 disposals and 10 clearances.

Young star Will Ashcroft, in Neale’s absence, revelled in the extra responsibility. His 28 disposals included two goals during the second quarter when the Lions made their initial break away from the Suns.

Josh Dunkley, arguably the best two-way midfielder in the league, held Matt Rowell to 23 touches while getting the ball 20 times himself.

His 18 tackles, a new finals record, was a major reason why the Suns could not move the ball with speed – even when they won a clearance.

Rowell was among the Suns’ better players but seldom was he able to explode from inside to outside. One of Nick Daicos or Jordan De Goey can expect Dunkley to follow them to all parts of the MCG on Saturday night.

Not only were the Lions brave in the traditional sense of having their heads over the ball, but also in their ball use.

McRae should have Dayne Zorko’s magnet circled on his whiteboard. Zorko’s boldness to bring the ball through the corridor opened up the field for their forwards.

Eight of their 14 goals came from small- and medium-sized forwards Kai Lohmann, Zac Bailey, Cam Rayner and Callum Ah Chee though none from Charlie Cameron, who had his moments but could not get Country Roads blaring on the loudspeakers.

Ruckman Oscar McInerney is well down Fagan’s list of key forward options but with Joe Daniher retired, Eric Hipwood injured and veteran Sam Day tried and failed he has few other choices.

McInerney did not let his coach down against Sam Collins, one of the best intercept marks in the competition but who had minimal impact in this game. Any element of surprise the Lions had by throwing McInerney forward is now gone. Darcy Moore awaits.

Damien Hardwick’s side was thoroughly outplayed.

Can the Lions again play with this dynamism against a seasoned finals campaigner like the Magpies, whose defence returned to its Scrooge-like ways against Adelaide?

After the dizzying highs of last week, the Suns were foggy, weary from travel and unable to muster another supreme effort. From the four-minute mark of the first term, they kicked just four goals.

Ben King was dangerous early against Darcy Gardiner but when the supply dried up, and Harris Andrews was shifted to him after half-time, he was unsighted. Ethan Read was subbed out and Ben Long could easily have suffered the same fate after also having close to zero influence. Nights like these raise the temptation to give Charlie Curnow a call for an instant fix.

The vaunted midfield of Noah Anderson, Rowell and Touk Miller were well beaten and with Daniel Rioli and John Noble not providing their usual run off half-back there was little else in their game.

As far as semi-finals go, this was the perfect outing for the Lions, who did not pick up a fresh injury.

The Pies will be fresh, unlike the travel-weary Suns, but, as four-time premiership coach and Lions director Leigh Matthews pointed out, the advantage of a week off in September since the introduction of the pre-finals bye in 2016 is no longer as pronounced.

Somehow, with five of their premiership team injured or retired and another two who would be in their best team if fit, the Lions are still standing. They are proving very difficult to bring down.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.