Lachie Neale Drives Brisbane Past Carlton in 11-Point Voss Afl Win
Brisbane left Carlton with an 11-point loss on Friday night at the Gabba, but the voss afl storyline was the collapse and response inside the third quarter. The Lions led by 49 points early in the term before Carlton kicked six unanswered goals and dragged the game back into reach.
Lachie Neale finished with 33 disposals and the match-sealing goal, then said Carlton tried to unsettle Brisbane by telling them they were doing “a Carlton.” Brisbane banked the four points, but the margin forced a review of the period that almost turned the game.
Neale at the Gabba
Neale’s numbers carried Brisbane through the final stages. He was central to the finish with 33 disposals and the goal that shut the door after Carlton’s surge had sliced a 49-point lead down to a one-possession feel.
He said the visitors used the comeback itself as a talking point. “We got told by a couple of the boys we were doing ‘a Carlton’, so they were trying to get in our heads a little bit,” he said after the game.
Carlton’s third-quarter burst
Carlton’s six unanswered goals came after Brisbane had looked in command early in the third term. That sequence is what made the game feel different from a routine win, because the Blues had already coughed up six first-half leads in eight games this season and had shown the same habit again in front of a hostile crowd.
Neale did not soften the warning signs. “We’ll review that third quarter and bits of the last pretty heavily, I think. It wasn’t good enough, but to Carlton’s credit, they just keep having a crack and we knew it was going to be a tough game,” he said.
Brisbane resets for Geelong
Brisbane still walked away with four points, and Neale framed the result as a win that needs to be parked quickly. “Early enough in the year that you just tick that one off and move on,” he said, adding that the group has to prepare for next Thursday’s clash with Geelong at the Gabba.
He also pointed to Logan Morris, Kai Lohmann and Levi Ashcroft as part of the reason the Lions keep looking dangerous even when the game tightens. “It’s exciting. We’ve got a great group that’s going to compete for years to come,” Neale said, while praising the support Brisbane gets and the younger players driving it.
