The Brisbane Lions have come from the clouds to stun the GWS Giants and keep their AFL premiership hopes alive.
The Brisbane Lions have stormed back from a 44-point deficit to stun the Giants by just five points and keep their season alive.
The Giants led for almost the entire match, before Joe Daniher and the Lions roared home to seal the stunning 15.15 (105) to 15.10 (100) triumph and shock the home side.
Jesse Hogan starred all night for the Giants, kicking five goals to move to 77 for the season, the most in GWS history.
But he was pipped by Daniher, who slotted two clutch goals in the dying minutes and four for the match to silence some of his critics and guide Brisbane to a preliminary final against Geelong.
It’s more heartbreak for the Giants, who have still reached just the one grand final and failed to win a flag in their history to date.
They have also thrown away big leads against the Swans and Lions in consecutive finals.
“They won’t recover from this for a long, long time,” David King said on Fox Footy.
“Full credit to the Lions.”
Daniher is often maligned for his poor set shots and habit of going missing in big games, but the big money key forward stepped up in outstanding style on Saturday night.
“Joe Daniher just takes you on this ride,” King added.
“He can disappoint you one minute and win you back the next. His last term, when you had to have them, you have to take your hat off.”
The pre-match entertainment included an unconventional Welcome to Country that fiercely divided opinion.
Once the game got underway, the home side slowly got on top over the opening half.
A 10-point lead at quarter-time was stretched to 21 by the main break.
The Giants broke open a 44-point advantage during a run of seven straight goals across the second and third quarters and the match appeared to have slipped from Brisbane’s grasp.
But just as the Swans did last week, the Lions caught fire with their backs against the wall, kicking five straight goals of their own to roar back into contention.
Trailing by 25 points going into the final quarter, the visitors kicked five goals to one to pull to within a point following a long bomb from Daniher on a tight angle with less than four minutes remaining.
He then stepped up again to put the Lions in front and they stayed there.
“This will be one of the most extraordinary comebacks if Brisbane hang on,” Alister Nicholson said in commentary shortly before the siren.
“They have done the unthinkable.”
Daniher was struggling for answers when he spoke after the match.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “We hung in there, we looked gone a couple of times, and we got there.”
Prior to the 2024 AFL season, the Lions had enjoyed a five-game winning streak over GWS dating way back to round seven, 2020.
Three of those games were away at either Manuka Oval (twice) or Engie Stadium.
The Giants emphatically overturned that poor run this season, however, giving them plenty of confidence heading into Saturday night.
GWS thrashed the Lions by 54 points in Canberra back in April and then overturned a 30-point quarter-time deficit to record an 18-point victory at the Gabba in round 23.
After a slow, cagey opening to the game, GWS skipper Toby Greene created a contest in the forward 50m and followed up to snap a goal in traffic to put the Giants in front after Daniher’s opener for Brisbane.
James Peatling then followed up with his second goal in a matter of minutes to break open a 15-point edge for the hosts.
GWS then copped a significant blow with veteran midfielder Stephen Coniglio (cheekbone) ruled out for the rest of the match after a blow to the head after a collision with Brisbane’s Harris Andrew.
Hogan’s third just before halftime helped the Giants to a strong 8.7 (55) to 4.10 (34) lead.
Right after Daniher received some Bronx cheers from the crowd after his poor miss on goal, Hogan made them pay with his fourth to stretch the lead to 34 points.
After Luke Darcy described the goal as a “dagger to the heart” of the Lions, Dale Thomas added: “This game is getting out of hand, this margin is starting to balloon.”
It was looking bleak for the visitors, but a second goal to Kai Lohmann and Oscar McInerney’s first major gave them a small avenue back into the game.
Daniher’s late heroics then put the Lions in front in an extraordinary comeback.
Source: https://www.news.com.au/
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