This Saturday will be Brisbane’s 11th preliminary final and ranks third across the competition behind only Geelong and Collingwood since the berth of the national competition.
Remembering that from 1987-1993 there was only one preliminary final, it’s Geelong (20) from Collingwood (12), Brisbane (11), Sydney and North Melbourne (10), Hawthorn (9), Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs and West Coast (8), Essendon and Melbourne (7), Richmond and St.Kilda (6), Carlton (5), GWS (4) and Fremantle (3).
It’s a phenomenal journey bolstered by Brisbane’s commanding semi-final win over the Gold Coast at the Gabba on Saturday night, when the ‘big brother’ Lions answered in emphatic fashion a brave challenge from the ‘new kids on the block’ SUNS.
The Lions’ 14-16 (100) to 6-11 (47) victory after it had been tight until midway through the second quarter was the perfect response from the defending premiers after a bad qualifying loss to Geelong, and has them one win away from a seventh grand final.
And as much as the SUNS would have been disappointed by the final scoreline they shouldn’t be. They’ve had an outstanding year, qualifying for the finals for the first time and winning their first final in Perth.
More than half a million people have attended 21 AFL games in South East Queensland throughout the season, culminating in a sellout QClash at the Gabba in which the colors of both clubs were prominent and the combined voice of their supporters loud.
It’s been an outstanding year for the code in Queensland, and with 14 Queenslanders playing in the semi-final the local presence was enormous.
Fittingly, the crowd of 36,628 smashed the previous best for a QClash of 33,612, set in May this year.
And if the Marcus Ashcroft Medal was awarded, as it is to the player judged best afield in home-and-away matches between the two Queensland clubs, there would have been two Queenslanders right in contention.
Will Ashcroft, who won the medal named in honor of his father in Round 8 this year, was outstanding. So clean with his hands, he had 28 possessions, including a game-high 17 contested possessions, eight clearances, and a game-high 11 score involvements and seven inside 50s.
It was a performance as dominant as his Norm Smith Medal effort in the 2024 Grand Final.
And Harris Andrews was equally superb in defence. Having been swung onto Suns dangerman Ben King after he had kicked two early goals, he obliterated the Suns’ No.1 forward.
Leading the side solo in the absence of injured co-captain Lachie Neale, he had 20 possessions, 14 marks, 10 intercept possessions and four score involvements from the heart of the backline. All while looking like he hadn’t raised a sweat.
After the massive debate over the choice of Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron as All-Australian captain over Adelaide’s Jordan Dawson it’s not unreasonable to suggest Andrews would have been a more than justified choice, too.
Ashcroft and Andrews shared best afield honors with teammates Hugh McCluggage, who bounced back from a poor qualifying final with 33 possessions, and Josh Dunkley, who had an astonishing 18 tackles – a record in an AFL final all-time.
Dayne Zorko was a driving force off half back with 26 possessions, Jaspa Fletcher the perfect foil for the ‘run and gun’ of his ex-captain with a calm and composed 21 possessions, and Levi Ashcroft, after a nervous first final against Geelong, was calm, composed and efficient with 15 possessions and five clearances – fewer only than McCluggage (10), brother Will (8) and Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell (6).
Ty Gallop (12 possessions, seven marks) had the best game of his brief career, highlighted by a beautiful long snap for his first goal from near the boundary in the final quarter, and importantly, Charlie Cameron looked more like his normal self with 14 possessions and nine score involvements.
Sam Marshall did his job on the wing with 11 possessions before giving Bruce Reville his first taste of finals football in the final quarter.
In the SUNS side, Bodhi Uwland (19 possessions, four score involvements) was the best of the Queenslanders, strong in a defence under extraordinary pressure, while Lachie Weller (13 possessions) worked into the game.
Alex Davies had 12 possessions, Conor Budarick 11 possessions and Ethan Read four possessions before he was subbed out in the third quarter.
In the other semi-final in Adelaide last Friday night, two Queenslanders sampled the contrasting emotions of ‘no-tomorrow’ finals football.
Mabior Chol, in his fifth final, had 12 possessions and five score involvements in Hawthorn’s 34-point win over Adelaide. He will play in his first preliminary against Geelong on Friday night.
