The Brisbane Lions have led from start to finish, stunning Geelong at GHMBA Stadium with the first eight goals of the match to storm back into the top four and loom once again as a premiership threat.
With Patrick Dangerfield playing a lone hand up forward, the Cats launched a gallant fightback in the second quarter to draw within seven points at half-time.
They kicked the first goal of the third quarter to draw within a point, but from that point on, the Lions dominated to win by 22 points as former Cat Darcy Fort kicked a goal after the siren.
Kai Lohmann, starred kicking five goals, and Conor McKenna was excellent against superstar Cats defender Tom Stewart. Dangerfield also kicked five goals (for the first time since 2017) but he had no support inside 50 with Darcy Gardiner thrashing Coleman medallist Jeremy Cameron.
Cameron had his first kick – a kick off the ground – in the final quarter and was completely ineffective. He managed a second kick when Gardiner left the ground.
The Lions were as brilliant in the first quarter as Geelong were bad. They had two goals on the board through Charlie Cameron within the first three minutes, and then pounced on several Cats turnovers to open up a 43-point lead before the first quarter had ended.
Geelong did not adapt to the wet conditions and were loose defensively. Somehow Geelong rose off the canvas to land their own punches in the second quarter as they kicked six goals to storm back in the match.
But the Lions were once again ultra-efficient in the third quarter with Lachie Neale – who was absent in the second quarter due to a head injury assessment – picking up 11 touches and Cam Rayner excellent, too.
They managed to record a second eight-goal quarter for the game to become the first team to kick 17 goals at GMHBA Stadium since 2015 in an efficient attacking masterclass as they recorded 52 inside-50s compared to the Cats’ 69.