3 minute read
Brisbane have weathered a slow-starting Sydney's resurgence at the Gabba to record their first AFL win over the struggling Swans since 2009.
Brisbane ended a decade-long drought against Sydney on wet Saturday night, beating the Swans by 22-points at the Gabba.
Sydney overcame a 28-point quarter time deficit to jump ahead of the Lions close to half-time, but Brisbane kept their cool and dominated the second half to run out 14.19 (103) to 112.9 (81) winners.
The Lions, who had not beaten the Swans since round 22 in 2009, have now won five games from the first seven rounds of the season, equalling their tally of wins for the entire 2018 campaign.
Their first victory over Sydney after 11 straight losses came on the back of their ability to lock the ball in their half, with 77 inside 50's to 40.
Brisbane also dominated contested possession 184 to 142, beating the Swans in a stat they ruled in their prime.
Dayne Zorko was best on ground, recording 29 disposals and a game-high 11 inside 50's, 11 clearances, 11 tackles and a team-high 17 contested possessions.
Zorko was well supported by Lachie Neale (29 disposals), Mitch Robinson and Hugh McCluggage, who picked up 24 possessions and kicked two important goals.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan praised his team's ability to edge the Swans in clearances, contested possession and tackles.
"There are a lot of things that you need to do to beat Sydney, and we did all of them," Fagan said.
"I'm proud of the group, we only had a small number of uncontested marks tonight, 49, so we won through playing a bit of a surge game in conditions that probably, well since I've been here, we probably haven't been all that good at.
"(It's) probably just a little sign of our development that we were able to adapt and play the sort of game required to win in those conditions."
Sydney, largely through a four goal performance from Tom Papley and a brace from Will Hayward, kept in touch with the Lions throughout the match.
George Hewett had his best game as a Swan, recording career-highs with 34 disposals, 24 contested possessions and seven tackles to be the Swans best player.
Swans coach John Longmire lamented that his team were efficient in their forward 50m, but couldn't transition the ball forward often enough.
"The first and third quarters were pretty poor, the second quarter was a lot better but it takes a bit more than that - it's sort of on repeat at the moment,"
"We got beaten around the ball again."
Longmire praised the Papley's ability to bounce back and score an important final quarter goal after earlier having his ribs crunched in a marking contest with Brisbane's Oscar McInerney.
