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Now Hugh McCluggage has joined the party and goaled from the right boundary line.
“The Crows are at sixes and sevens – they don’t know what they are doing,” Jason Dunstall said on Kayo.
Rayner took the ball from the middle and kicked the fifth goal on the trott.
This is amazing and yet not completely surprising.
Lions 31, Crows 0 with 16 mins to go in Q1.
Zac Bailey has re-signed, now he is showing the Crows what they missed out on.
Draper sent a two-handed thump into space, Bailey ended up with it and ran around to snap the goal.
According to Kayo Sports, that’s the fastest three goals in a finals match this century.
Lions 18, Crows 0 and Hawthorn can start the opposition research now.
The Lions have taken the ball from the middle and tapped, punched and then kicked it forward before Kai Lohmann snapped a goal from 35m out.
It’s only 31 seconds in, but could it be game over already?
Charlie Cameron goaled moments later for two majors.
Lions 12, Crows 0 with 19 mins to go in Q1.
Isaac Heeney thought he had space. He turned to goal and took a step. Braeden Campbell had dinked a loopy handball to him over a Crows player just as he was about to be tackled and Heeney was clear.
He was inside 50, tight to the boundary on his left and caught Izak Rankine in his peripheral vision closing fast from the right. You could almost hear Heeney thinking, “I can get through him. I can shrug him.”
It was late in the last quarter, with about seven minutes to go, on a wet SCG in round 19 and the home team was surging.
Rankine slammed into Heeney and wrapped his arms around him. Heeney, comfortably 15 kilograms heavier and stronger than Rankine, stood in the tackle. It looked like David Attenborough footage from a savannah. Heeney wriggled an arm free to try to handball. Rankine lunged and surprisingly managed to spin Heeney as they cuddled, and the pair tumbled to the ground. The ball spilt free. The Crows cleared it, and they hung on to win the game.
The significance of the tackle in that moment in the game, and in the context of Rankine’s season and career, cannot be underestimated.
From Adelaide media: Young Adelaide duo Sam Berry and Riley Thilthorpe will both play their 100th AFL game on tonight against the Lions.
Thilthorpe already sits in the top 20 for most goals as a Crow (18th, with 154 total) while Sam Berry holds the club record for averaging the most tackles per game in a single season – 9.5 in 2022.
Dan Curtin will also play game 50.
The Gabba is alive ahead of the first bounce, with only a smattering of empty seats visible that will be sure to fill up.
This crowd will be praying for their Lions to cast aside an absolute humbling against Sydney last week – a performance that called their attitude and willingness to lean into their defensive pressure into question.
But we’ve been here before. This time last year, the Lions were dealt a reality check by Geelong, only to bounce back and storm to a second-straight premiership.
Lions coach Chris Fagan has told his side to bounce back tonight and take nothing for granted as they try to beat the Crows and keep their dreams of a three-peat alive.
“It’s been a long week and there have been a few honest conversations,” Fagan told Kayo Sports.
“It was a substandard performance last week and not a true representation of us.
“I did point out to them that they’ve been good at that [bouncing back], but don’t take that for granted as that can changes press quickly. They’ll have to be on their toes tonight.”
Crows coach Matthew Nicks has praised the impact of ruckman Lachlan McAndrew ahead of tonight’s semi-final.
“He’s been huge for us this year,” Nicks told Kayo Sports.
“The way the rules have changed around the ruck and the length that he has … also he’s just a ruthless competitor and he hates to be beaten.
“He’s had moments this year when a high quality ruckman has got on top of him for a time, but he’s found a way to lift his game and get back in the contest.
“It’s important to have a better look at where the football is going, especially when you come up here. It’s not that far to go from a centre clearance deep into your forward line.”
Lions great Jonathan Brown believes the announcement of Zac Bailey’s re-signing with the club could buoy the team ahead of tonight’s semi-final.
Bailey reportedly had a bumper offer on the table from the Crows and other clubs, but he has opted to remain with the Lions.
“It would have buoyed the group,” Brown told Kayo Sports.
“We know that Lachie Neale is likely leaving the club and going to a Melbourne club, but I think that Bailey talk was just hanging about.
“I think it was, maybe, creating some negativity and that could have seeped into the walls of the club.
“He would be relaxed about his own career and future. Now he can play his best.”
