The Dees Turn Lion Tamers

April 7, 2018 by sally
Filed under: NSW Demons

It’s round 2, Brisbane v Melbourne and an important game for Max Gawn on many levels not least coming up against his former teammate at Melbourne, Stefan Martin. The clash of the ruckmen would be a game within a game and after Max’s last second heartbreaking miss in the clash with the Cats, he had plenty to prove.

Christensen opened the scoring for the Lions before Nathan Jones kicked a behind. Then Jessie Hogan kicked the first goal for the Dees. Jeff Garlett took a nice mark to score Melbourne’s second. Neal Bullen added to the Dees tally before Hogan scored again with a minute of the quarter to go. Right at the end of the quarter, Bailey Fritsch showed why he is the young player to watch this year as he took another brilliant mark to score after the siren. The Demons ended the quarter 34-3 ahead.

Brisbane got their first goal after Josh Wagner was deemed to be holding the ball and Christensen scored from the free. Jessie got his hat trick after marking just outside the uprights and walking in the goal. Tremendous pressure on Jake Lever caused him to turn the ball over and Bewick who scored for the Lions. It was smooth sailing for the Dees however as Garlett long kicked to Jones who then scored his first goal of 2018. Not to be outdone, Jeff spun some Garlett magic to score his first of the game. It seemed the Dees could do no wrong. The Demons didn’t crack the champagne just yet though as Jessie missed in front of goal and Melbourne seems to be tiring a little under the humid conditions at the Gabba. They went in at half time with the scores 55-18, a 37-point lead.

The 3rd quarter started positively with Nathan Jones slotting his second goal to put Melbourne 42 points ahead. Perhaps we’d just imagined that the Dees were feeling effects of the Brisbane weather but then the dream run took a darker turn for Melbourne. First Christensen scored his second before Cedric Cox added to Brisbane’s tally and Melbourne’s woes. Then the talented Charlie Cameron kicked his first and the scores at the end of the 3rd quarter was 63-41.

The 4th Quarter began and it looked like Neville Jetta had steadied the ship with a lovely kick from the crowded area in front of goal; unfortunately it was deemed a behind and Brisbane seemed to sense that they had a chance to stage a comeback. This was compounded when Hogan missed another chance at goal. Then at the other end Cameron got his second and within a minute had his third. A great kick from Zorko got the Lions within 1 goal of drawing level with the Dees, which happened when Jordan Lewis gave away a free in front of goal. Christensen scored to make it all even.

The Demons needed to dig deep and Jeff Garlett provided the answer, scoring beautifully on the run. Jeff scored again after Zorko had missed at the other end and the outlook appeared brighter for Melbourne. No time for celebrations yet as Hipwood kicked for Brisbane to bring it back to a 1 goal margin. Then that man Garlett again. He kicked superbly to Hogan who used the gift to score his 4th. Not to be outdone Petracca lobbed a 50-metre kick to Jessie who marked and scored his 5th. In the final seconds it was appropriate that the new boy Fritsch again kicked after the siren to make the score 100-74 and secure Melbourne’s first win at the Gabba since 2010.