Moving the ball forward at all costs was the name of the game on Saturday, with the Brisbane Lions bringing home a narrow seven-point victory over the Fremantle Dockers at a saturated South Pine Sports Complex.

By the numbers, Round 4 looked to be anyone’s game with both teams sharing relatively even results in clearances, contested possessions and opportunities inside 50.

Fremantle started the stronger of the two sides, tallying nine inside 50s to one in the first quarter. The Lions bounced back however and ended the match on top with 24 inside 50s to 22. 

The Lions controlled the centre circle with 44 hit outs to Fremantle’s 14.

The spring in Tahlia Randall’s step was threatening inside the circle, making 33 hit outs compared to Fremantle’s Alicia Janz, who made 11.

Despite the wet weather dulling the opportunity to showcase clean footy skills, Jess Wuetschner adjusted well to the conditions with two goals, 18 disposals and three marks.

A clever toe-poke from the goal-line early in the last quarter helped Wuetschner secure her seventh goal for the season, an outstanding first half to her 2018 campaign.

Strong defence from the likes of Kate Lutkins was colossal to keeping the Dockers goal-less until the second half.

The Lions were unquestionably the more dominant team moving forward, producing 22 more disposals than Fremantle.

With Shannon Campbell a late change due to illness, debutant Emma Pittman performed well on the day to help bring home the Lions’ third victory for the season.

Disposals:

Jess Wuetschner (18)
Ally Anderson (18)
Kate Lutkins (18)
Jamie Stanton (16)
Nat Exon (14)
Britt Gibson (14)

Marks:

Jess Wuetschner (3)
Kate Lutkins (3)
Bre Koenen (3)
Nat Exon (2)
Jordan Zanchetta (2)
Kaitlyn Ashmore (2)
Nicole Hildebrand (2)
Jamie Stanton (2)

Tackles:

Kaitlyn Ashmore (9)
Emily Bates (9)
Nat Exon (9)
Emma Zielke (7)
Sabrina Frederick-Traub (6)
Leah Kaslar (6)