Of Daniher’s hanger,closely followed by a clanger,Lions coach Chris Fagan said:“I’m just glad we won that game and didn’t lose it by a small margin,because we never would have heard the end of it.
“I would have liked him to go back and have the shot,but maybe the communication didn’t get out to him that there wasn’t much time left.”
Fagan agreed it was “a mighty tough,high-pressure game”,and praised his team for weathering adversity. “It wasn’t until the last quarter that we were able to win ground ball and contested possession,and that made all the difference.”
The Lions also lost captain Dayne Zorko,who has battled an achilles problem. “He felt something pop in the back of his calf area,” Fagan said. “His achilles is fine. “We’ll wait and see,because sometimes these things can turn into something bigger the next day.
“One of our focus areas this pre-season was how can we handle a little bit of adversity. It feels like maybe we’ve matured a little bit as a group over the summer. It was a big game too – really good footy clubs,both top-four teams the last couple of years.
“As scratchy a game as it was,and there was lots of errors,it would have been brilliant to watch.”
It was in the third quarter that Port pressed their advantage. Sam Powell-Pepper out-bodied Brandon Starcevich to open up a 10-point break. Riley Bonner weighted a beautiful ball for Mitch Georgiades,then Steven Motlop was allowed out the back as the Lions lost shape in defence.
Bailey and Daniher kept the Lions engaged at the last break,but Zorko was subbed out with a lingering ankle problem,and they had big problems elsewhere,caught second to the ball too often with too many players – Hugh McCluggage,Cameron,Cockatoo,Dan McStay – near non-factors.
But all of them lifted when it counted for the Lions in a huge last quarter. McCarthy was vital,tapping the ball to Daniher for the key forward’s fourth goal to pull the home side back within a point,then kicking one himself and dishing off another.
Darcy Gardiner and Noah Answerth were heroic for the Lions,stiffening their resolve in the desperate final moments as the Power mounted one last surge. It wasn’t entirely convincing,but Lions coach Chris Fagan will be happy just for his team to get the job done.
Brisbane Lions2.2 4.6 6.10 11.14 (80)
Port Adelaide 1.1 5.4 9.7 10.9 (69)
Goals – Brisbane Lions: Daniher 4 McCarthy 2 Fort 2 Bailey McInerney.Port Adelaide: Houston 2 Boak Amon Marshall Rozee Powell-Pepper Georgiades Motlop Drew.
Best – Brisbane Lions: Adams Neale Daniher Bailey Gardiner McCarthy.Port Adelaide: Houston Boak Byrne-Jones Wines Burton Butters.
Injuries – Brisbane Lions: Zorko (ankle);Berry (shoulder).Port Adelaide: Duursma (collarbone);McKenzie (knee).
Umpires: Foot Stephens Whetton.
Crowd: 25,100at The Gabba.
VOTES
D Houston (Port) 9
M Adams (Lions) 8
D Byrne-Jones (Port) 7
L Neale (Lions) 7
J Daniher (Lions) 6