Levi Ashcroft has done something few other Queenslander have done. And something which will seem unthinkable to his 300-game triple premiership father.
After the Lions’ brilliant win over Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night Levi has three wins from three games at headquarters, equalling the record of Brisbane’s Robert Copeland and Collingwood’s Josh Thomas among Queenslanders.
But if the 18-year-old first-year standout was thinking about chatting with father Marcus about it he might need to get ready for a cold shoulder. Because after a 94-point loss on debut at the MCG, Marcus went 0-18 and 1-24 at headquarters.
It’s all part of a story which demonstrates how far football in Queensland has come, with Brisbane and Gold Coast having gone unbeaten through their albeit minimal home-and-away commitments at the MCG this year.
Having beaten Richmond and Hawthorn earlier in the year, Brisbane completed the schedule with a brilliant win over Collingwood on Saturday night, while Gold Coast’s only visit to headquarters in 2025 delivered a win over Melbourne.
And while there is still a long way to go before either side earns the right to even play at ‘headquarters’ again this year in the finals, it’s a nice comfort for Lions coach Chris Fagan and his SUNS counterpart Damien Hardwick that the home of football holds no big fears.
It’s a statistic that historically was unthinkable.
After all, Brisbane were 5-35 at the MCG through the early years of Ashcroft Snr after they won two of their first three games there, and in 10 years from 1989-99 they went 1-26. At the end of 2023 they were 19-1-66 at the home of football. And nine of those 19 wins were in a 10-game block from 2001-04. And at the end of 2023 the Gold Coast were 4-13.
Yet in 2024 Brisbane went 3-1 at the ‘G’, losing by a point to Collingwood in Round 24 after an early season win over Melbourne and before back-to-back finals wins over Geelong and Sydney to claim the flag, while Gold Coast beat Richmond in their only visit.
Nine Queenslanders were members of a Lions side which accounted in brilliant fashion for the Pies, and all played their part in one of the club’s best wins under coach Fagan.
Will Ashcroft had 30 possessions and six score involvements through the midfield, while Harris Andrews, with a game-high nine intercept possessions and three score involvements, marshalled superbly a defensive unit in which a super-cool Jaspa Fletcher had 22 possessions, three clearances and eight intercept possessions.
Bruce Reville, too, found himself in the back half following the early loss of Ryan Lester to concussion, and acquitted himself like he’d been born to play there with 11 possessions.
Sam Marshall played his first game at the MCG in front of 82,326 people - the biggest home-and-away crowd in Brisbane history – and picked up 12 possessions in what was his first ‘start’ in the game 22.
Eric Hipwood had 13 possessions including a purple patch in the third quarter which was critical to the outcome, while Charlie Cameron had 13 possessions and Dayne Zorko 19 possessions, seven score involvements and two goal assists from the back half.
While the Lions win over the Pies grabbed all the headlines, the SUNS did all that was expected of them against Richmond at Carrara as they fell just short of the club’s biggest win of all-time.
The 84-point margin could easily have bettered their 87-point win over West Coast in Perth earlier this year and their 86-point win over Hawthorn at Carrara in 2017, but coach Hardwick would have been happy just to bank the ‘W’.
And, having lost by 11 points to his former club in Round 6 at the MCG, he delivered a stinging rebuke as the SUNS held Richmond goalless in the first half. It was the 12th time in club history the Tigers have gone to the long break without a goal, and the first time since 1996.
Five Queenslanders enjoyed the SUNS’ record-breaking 12th win of the season, with Alex Davies picking up 14 possessions and seven tackles in his second game of the year, and Ethan Read had a career-high 13 possessions to go with two goals, enough to earn a Rising Star nomination.
Connor Budarick (14 possessions), Bodhi Uwland (15) and Lachie Weller (13) also did their part in a win which could not have been more impressive – albeit against a young and undermanned side.
In the other games, Jack Bowes, coming off the first 100-point win of his career, posted a season-high 24 possessions in Geelong’s 88-point home romp against Port Adelaide to push his selection claims for the finals. Aliir Aliir had 13 possessions and played 100% game for the 14th time this year in a badly undermanned Port side.
Oscar Baker did his finals selection prospects no harm at the Bulldogs – if they make it – when he had 14 possessions and two clearances in their 88-point win over GWS at Docklands. It was his sixth game of the year and his best.
Ben Keays helped himself to 17 possessions and five score involvements as Adelaide beat Hawthorn by 14 points at Adelaide Oval to move to the top of the AFL ladder and claim premiership favouritism.
But in the Hawks side Mabior Chol could manage only nine possessions, one goal and four hit-outs in his return from injury as coach Sam Mitchell contemplates whether there is room for Chol, Mitch Lewis, Jack Gunston and Calsher Dear in the same forward line.
Corey Wagner did not play for Fremantle for the second week in a row due to injury.
