Hugh McCluggage

A cool Thursday night greeted the visiting Lions, and they were a little slow out of the box. Melbourne's Alex Neal-Bullen got the scoring underway when he snapped on the outside of his boot from 40 meters out early in the first quarter. The Demons playing their fourth match in 20 days. The Lions quickly remembered their Fitzroy roots though, adjusted to the conditions and Hipwood evened the ledger at the Punt Rd end. Big Joe Daniher missed his first set shot, but with the aid of a 50-meter penalty a few minutes later he kicked the Lion's second. Bailey Fritsch marked strongly just inside the 50-meter arc for the Demons and kicked his first for the night. And already halfway through the quarter it looked like this could be a shootout.

Hipwood managed to lose May for a second time on the lead and from 25 meters straight in front kept up his end of the bargain and likewise Daniher was again able to beat Lever on the lead and kick his goal from 40 meters out giving the Lions a 14 point lead at quarter time.   Brisbane winning the bulk of the center clearances and delivering the ball well to their big men up forward.

A pleasant Friday evening welcomed the 62,162 crowd to the MCG for tonight's Second Semi Final.  Before the first bounce the official business for the night got underway. With all players, official and match day staff lined up on the ground, the Welcome To Country, a minute's silence was observed for Queen Elizabeth II following her death this morning and the lowering of the stadium lights, God Save the King was played. Delta Goodrem sung Advance Australia Fair accompanied by guitar in the minutes leading up to the start of the match. Just to top it off a little bit of ACDC's Thunderstruck rolled up to the bounce.

Big forward Joe Daniher was a late out today, for family reasons. His loss up forward would mean all the focus was on Hipwood and less options up forward for the Lions who had three goals kicked by the big man in the previous game. The Demons dominated early and led the Brisbane to the ball and in all the statistical categories. Ed Langdon, unguarded in the pocket, kicked the first goal of match after five and half minutes, from 35 meters out with the set shot. Melbourne had more early chances as they had the ball in their forward half for most of the first quarter. The usual suspects in the middle for Melbourne led the way with Oliver and Petracca up and about early.

Round 22 was full of stories. There was heartbreak in Adelaide as the Crows and Power likely blew their chance at playing finals, but there were also two of the season’s greatest games played between four of the league’s best teams. Both of those incredible games were physical, skillful contests that came down to one kick for goal that separated the winners from the losers. Brisbane’s last gasp win over Geelong in front of a rampant Lions home crowd came courtesy of a potential “Mark of the Year” by Lincoln McCarthy who goaled for a one point win, while it was Richmond’s favorite rascal in Jack Riewoldt who snapped truly to give his Richmond team a meritorious win against a gallant West Coast Eagles on Sunday at the MCG. All four teams will no doubt play a big part in September.

Other big winners in a stunning round of footy were the Western Bulldogs who followed up 21 consecutive goals the previous week against Essendon with a dozen in a row against a disappointing Greater Western Sydney who let their home fans down.

The Fremantle Dockers wore down the Brisbane Lions to post a season-reviving home win, with a dramatic kick after the final siren. In a match where the lead changed nine times, it was the desperate Dockers who did enough in the final quarter, to draw level with the Lions and then score the winning point when Michael Walters’ set shot hit the post. That single point, for hitting the post, made for a walk-off win.

The big three in Collingwood, Geelong and Greater Western Sydney all had wins over the weekend to strengthen their positions on the AFANA AFL Power Poll and put themselves in great shape as the season moves into round eight. The Magpies dominated Port Adelaide early in the Friday night game to cruise to victory, while Geelong was never threatened by a disappointing Essendon at the MCG on Sunday.

The Brisbane Lions earned a morale boosting victory when they jumped a lethargic Fremantle Dockers team to end the Dockers’ slim hopes of making the finals. The Lions never looked back, as they outran and outplayed the home team which appeared half-hearted and disorganized. The Dockers lost their ruckman, Aaron Sandilands, with pulled a calf muscle in the pre-match warm-up.

By Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

Hawthorn and Geelong gave us yet another Easter Monday classic with the Hawks scraping home by a solitary point in the match of the round. With just two weeks of the season in the books, the AFL brains trust must be delighted that there are just four teams sitting on two wins. Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn and Gold Coast have set the pace with the Suns being the big surprise packet after outclassing an error-riddled Carlton on Saturday.