Brisbane has advanced to its sixth straight Preliminary Final, claiming a 13-point victory over Melbourne. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s third time lucky for the Lions who have been unable to claim victory over Melbourne in their past two finals meetings, extending their win streak to a Club-highest eight games.<\/p>\n
Melbourne\u2019s path has become all the more challenging too, with star forward Eden Zanker controversially ruled out of the contest on the eve of half time despite passing a SCAT6 test. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing for the Lions, with alarm bells ringing early as three of Melbourne\u2019s first four scoring chances stemming from their lackadaisical defence. <\/p>\n
Conversely, Melbourne\u2019s own defence was impassable with 12 forward half intercepts to three in the first term alone. <\/p>\n
Tayla Harris was the first to capitalise, with a late handball from Shelley Heath exposing Brisbane to seal her side\u2019s first goal of the afternoon. <\/p>\n
Megan Fitzsimon and Kate Hore were shortly afforded chances in a similar fashion, and it was Hore who converted, marking her 100th AFLW goal.<\/p>\n
Craig Starcevich urged his side not to \u201coveruse the ball\u201d and move it forward at all costs. <\/p>\n
A scoreless first quarter for Brisbane loomed large but it was no bad omen as they heeded his advice, claiming an +31 uncontested possession advantage which served as the catalyst for a second quarter domination. <\/p>\n
Dakota Davidson \u2013 who had kicked 1.6 across the past two weeks \u2013 took her moment when it mattered to open the floodgates. <\/p>\n
She has kicked more goals against Melbourne than any other player. <\/p>\n
A Cathy Svarc tag on Hore flipped the contest, allowing Ally Anderson and Belle Dawes to begin to assert their dominance. <\/p>\n
Ultimately, the eventual 18-31 clearance differential proved too much for the Demons to overcome.<\/p>\n
Whilst they recorded three more inside 50s, Brisbane was clinical with its entries and dictated the contest to lead the disposal count by 36.<\/p>\n
Brisbane was the side which came into today sweating its accuracy, but after rueing missed opportunities in their last meeting, it was Melbourne who left goals on the table.<\/p>\n
The Demons fought back late, but a quick reply through Anderson all but sealed victory for the Lions.<\/p>\n
Anderson starred with two goals and 28 disposals while Jade Ellenger\u2019s 16 disposals and five tackles were influential after she was well held in their last meeting.<\/p>\n
Hore (one goal, 31 disposals) remained far and away the best afield despite Melbourne\u2019s loss. <\/p>\n
They will now have to take the difficult route if they want to add more silverware to their collection, with a loss meaning they sit on North Melbourne\u2019s side of the fixture. <\/p>\n
DOWN AND OUT<\/p>\n
Star Melbourne forward Eden Zanker was controversially ruled out on the eve of half time, despite passing a SCAT6 test. <\/p>\n
Widely predicted to be the difference-maker after last week\u2019s four goal haul, she returned to the contest momentarily following a first-quarter head knock, but was later ruled out. <\/p>\n
Melbourne have confirmed that there is no certainty as to whether she will be available to play next week. <\/p>\n
Brisbane\u2019s All-Australian squad member Jennifer Dunne was also restricted by an early knee injury. <\/p>\n
HARRIS\u2019 HARDSHIP<\/p>\n
When Zanker left the contest, all eyes turned to Harris.<\/p>\n
The star forward was unable to impact, adding only two disposals to her tally after quarter time.<\/p>\n
There was no shortage of opportunity, with Melbourne finishing +3 for inside 50s. <\/p>\n
If it\u2019s to keep its season alive next week, Harris will need to lift. <\/p>\n
ON THE SIREN<\/p>\n
Mere moments before the three-quarter-time siren, Hampson afforded Brisbane a 14-point lead.<\/p>\n
Her classy left foot strike sailed straight through the middle, prompting a roar from the Brisbane cheer squad residing in the nearest pocket. <\/p>\n
It proved to be game-shaping as they claimed the 13-point win. <\/p>\n
TAKE A CHANCE <\/p>\n
A scoreless first quarter left Brisbane looking vulnerable, but the script flipped in a matter of minutes. <\/p>\n
Dakota Davidson, Neasa Dooley and Ellie Hampson all struck truly within a matter of minutes, the Lions stealing the lead on the eve of half time. <\/p>\n
Ally Anderson and Belle Dawes recorded nine disposals each, generating increased scoring chances. <\/p>\n
All three goals came from free kicks \u2013 with Melbourne\u2019s panic resulting in undisciplined moments. <\/p>\n
A TON OF FUN<\/p>\n
Melbourne came to play early, but captain Hore converting her 100th AFLW goal galvanised her already steely side. <\/p>\n
She becomes the second AFLW player to achieve this feat, after Gemma Houghton broke the ton for the first time last week. <\/p>\n
On the brink of her fourth All-Australian blazer, it\u2019s yet another welcome reward for Melbourne\u2019s leader. <\/p>\n
BREAKING THE CURSE?<\/p>\n
This weekend, every away side at IKON Park have both lost, and suffered from banner woes.<\/p>\n
The Lions\u2019 banner split in the wind \u2013 but the curse didn\u2019t worry them as they find themselves in another Preliminary Final. <\/p>\n
HORE OR NOTHING FOR DEES?<\/p>\n
Cathy Svarc went to Hore after a 10 disposal first term, and it paved the way for Brisbane\u2019s territory domination. <\/p>\n
With Svarc benched midway through the third term, Hore took her moment to set up Maggie Mahony\u2019s first AFLW goal, breaking a run of four major scores for Brisbane. <\/p>\n
If it wasn\u2019t already documented enough, it proved just how pivotal she is to the Demons\u2019 success.<\/p>\n
Melbourne will need to find other ways to impact if it wants to keep its chances alive next week, with Hore (8 clearances) responsible for almost half of its clearances. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brisbane has advanced to its sixth straight Preliminary Final, claiming a 13-point victory over Melbourne. It\u2019s third time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-272587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}