The Lions seemed in control from the early stages of the Round 17 NEAFL match, but inaccurate kicking in front of goal kept the Bombers in the contest at half-time.
A dominant third quarter effectively put the result beyond doubt, with the margin extending to 78 points by the final siren.
“Our third quarter was very good. We controlled the pace of the game, controlled the ball by foot, and went inside 50 on our terms,” Reserves Coach Leigh Harding told lions.com.au.
“We did miss an opportunity in the first half, however, to kick more goals.”
Jordan Lisle was the dominant player on the ground, producing an individual performance that Harding labelled as ‘one of the best he’d seen’.
“He had 30-odd touches, kicked seven goals and had high-teens in terms of marks – so it was a good solid effort by Jordy,” Harding said.
“He obviously spent time up forward, but because we’ve got quite a few tall forwards, we gave him some time on the wing for a while in the third quarter.”
Lisle has moved into outright third place on the NEAFL goal-kicking leaderboard with 41 goals – but is still 25 goals shy of NT’s Darren Ewing. Teammate Aaron Cornelius is ranked fifth with 35 goals for the season.
At the other end of the ground, the Lions’ defence held up well and conceded just 15 scoring shots opposed to Redlands’ potent forward-line.
Niall McKeever and Jordon Bourke were particularly strong in limiting key Bombers duo Josh Pullman and Steve Gaertner.
“Niall had Pullman and basically put him to sleep by keeping to just two goals. He had a huge influence on the game, along with Bourkey, who held Gaertner goalless,” Harding said.
“Sam Docherty played across half-back and then on-ball. He defended quite well, and also offered us some run. It was a good return from him after missing last week through injury.”
Elliot Yeo, meanwhile, played his first full NEAFL game since his Round 15 omission, and was afforded more time in the midfield.
“Elliot’s only been back (in the NEAFL) for two games, and he only played half a game last week as the senior emergency,” Harding said.
“He played a bit across half-back, but we also gave him some time on the ball so that he could get used to being around bigger bodies.
“He probably had mid-20 possessions, and really took his opponents on when he had the chance, which is a real strength of his.
“He could be (a future senior midfielder). He played a lot of early juniors in the midfield, and it was a good opportunity to see something different from him. He certainly has the attributes to play in midfield region.”
The Lions also took no risks with Callum Bartlett, who was a late withdrawal after pulling up sore from the previous week’s game.
SCOREBOARD
Brisbane Lions 4.6 8.11 15.12 19.19 (133)
Redland 1.3 5.4 5.5 8.7 (55)
GOALS – Lions: Lisle 7, Cornelius 3, Crisp, Polec, Tickner, O’Brien, Close, Paparone, Docherty, Newell, Karnezis. Bombers: Vearing 3, Pullman 2, Salter, Thomson, Dzufer.
BEST – Lions: Lisle, Crisp, O’Brien, Yeo, Docherty, McKeever. Bombers: Jones, Rogerson, Vearing, Wright, Dzufer, Salter.
