Round 10 – Brisbane V Narrm

Where There Is Unity, There Is Always Victory

Liam Chambers

Dees start well, but Brisbane seize momentum just before quarter time

When the expectations are so low and the pressure is off, the Demons show how competitive they can be. If they can bottle that formula, we may even make the finals.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start. Narrm won the hitout, then Kozzie Pickett got the ball to Kade Chandler who kicked straight to goal square and into the eager hands of Jake Melksham. The key forward had no problem with the point blank set shot.

A minute later, Jaspa Fletcher was the recipient of a turnover on the 50m arc and somehow fumbled his way inside 50, where he snapped from 30m to give Brisbane the lead. Hugh McCluggage found some space 20m in front to take an uncontested mark and his set shot gave the Lions a six point advantage. Callum Ah Chee made it a two goal game when he snapped from a similar position. Two majors in one minute. All going according to plan at the Gabba.

Kozzie Pickett is a master at marking in tight situations, and his effort while fending off Noah Answerth was clinical. The clean conversion kept the Demons in touch.

50m penalties are contentious and we had two in just over a minute. First Harris Andrews had a 45m set shot but couldn’t make it pay. Then another key defender Tom McDonald made the most of his chance with a 20m round the corner kick from the pocket.

With five minutes left in the term, Logan Morris put Brisbane back in front with his uncontested mark and successful set shot from 45m. After the bounce, Morris had back to back goals when he kicked from the 50m line. A minute shy of the siren and Eric Hipwood gave the hosts a seventeen point lead going in at quarter time, with his snap from 52m.

Demons win the quarter after initially falling behind

It was all Brisbane when Darcy Gardiner marked the sherrin just centimetres from the goal line. No missing from there. It was certainly looking ominous for Narrm, with the Lions playing well and the home crowd cheering them on.

The Dees were trailing by four goals when Jake Melksham took another important mark in the pocket, less than 20m from the square. He nailed the difficult shot and closed the gap to eighteen points. Kade Chandler continues to improve this season, and his snap off the left boot from 35m was even more impressive considering he had to break away from a strong Ryan Lester tackle.

Darcy Gardiner got his second and steadied the ship for Brisbane, when he was on the end of a Lions’ transition down the ground. His running snap from 35m returned the lead to seventeen points.

Trailing by nineteen points with just over a minute to half time, Narrm needed a goal to stay in touch with Brisbane. Trent rivers answered the call after Christian Petracca snared the ball from a stoppage in front of goal. He quickly passed to Rivers, who ran tight to the boundary line before kicking from just inside the square.

Not much to separate the sides but Lions retain the advantage

Brisbane had the perfect start to the second half when Logan Morris marked in the pocket and converted the set shot. The lead was back out to nineteen points.

Jake Melksham was having an almost perfect game, and his centering kick to Tom Sparrow 30m in front was remarkable. Sparrow was tackled after the mark and was awarded a 50m penalty ensuring a certain goal. The next Demons’ goal was all team effort, willing the ball inside 50, where Kozzie was the last link in the chain; then it was just a matter of snapping the ball from 10m to give Pickett his second and Narrm their eight.

A down field free kick gave Darcy Gardiner his hat trick with a 30m set shot. When Zac Bailey kicked a difficult 25m set shot from deep in the pocket, a pessimistic Demon would say that the writing was on the wall for Narrm.

However, Narrm supporters are by and large a more optimistic bunch, and their belief was rewarded when Clayton Oliver took a hand pass 40m out, then turned and snapped the goal. Jake Melksham returned the margin to single figures with his mark in the pocket and cleanly taken 30m set shot. A well deserved hat trick.

Darcy Gardiner had only scored nine AFL goals in his career prior to today, but made it four in a single game when he caught the ball in the square and snapped it through the posts.

Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat

No need to mention Narrm’s record in the fourth quarter, except to say that we don’t usually make much of an impression. Dees’ fans at the Gabba and elsewhere would have been resigning themselves to being overrun and just hoping that the margin didn’t blow out too much. A couple of early missed opportunities had Narrm sticking to Brisbane’s script.

Jake Melksham decided to deviate from the plan however when he marked in the pocket and converted from 45m to kick his fourth of the afternoon. Bailey Fritsch got on the scoreboard when he controlled the bouncing sherrin on the edge of the square, then slammed it into the stands.

Suddenly it was a one point game. A couple of minor scores gave Narrm a one point lead, before Aiden Johnson soccered the ball off the ground at the top of the square. With just under ten minutes to go, Narrm had a seven point advantage.

Could we actually win this???

Jake Melksham alone was worth the price of admission, and he proved his worth again with his beautifully weighted kick into the path of Ed Langdon. The wingman marked the ball 10m from the square. His round the corner set shot when high, just scrapping inside the left hand upright.

Brisbane needed three goals in six minutes and Conor McKenna gave them a fighting chance when he snapped one from the edge of the square.

As the clock ticked down, Narrm played the smart game, limiting Brisbane chances by closing down the corridor and keeping it in their territory. Kozzie had a free kick 35m out but opted to take some time off the clock, before kicking to Petracca, who then took some more seconds off. Tracca hooked the shot, but there was only one minute to play and Narrm had a ten point lead.

When Harvey Langford took a mark inside Narrm’s defensive 50, there was only thirty eight seconds left. Then it was back up the ground where Kozzie took a mark inside 50 and went back to kick after the siren. His kick bounced the wrong way but it didn’t matter, as the Dees had won by eleven.

We play Sydney in Round 11. The Swans are on a resurgence of their own, so a win is not a foregone conclusion. However if Narrm play with the same conviction and determination, we can continue our slow march up the ladder.

Go the mighty Dees!!!