Page 27 - AFL QUEENSLAND 2012 YEAR IN REVIEW

BRISBANE LIONS REPORT
The ultimate aim of playing finals might have once again eluded the Brisbane Lions, but there was no doubting the Club made some significant inroads throughout season 2012.
The Lions finished the season in 13th position with 10 wins – up from four the previous year – and rounded out the year on a high with three consecutive victories.
The genuine improvement was evidenced by the fact the club was able to secure upset victories over high quality opponents such as West Coast and Adelaide – both of whom went on to participate deep into September.
Lions Senior Coach Michael Voss believes there was enough encouragement throughout the season to suggest that his team were headed in the right direction.
“Ten wins was certainly a measure of improvement, but it was our ability to match it against some really good sides who were in red- hot form that was arguably most impressive,” Voss said.
“I refer, in particular, to the West Coast and Adelaide games at the Gabba, which went a long way to proving that with a sustained effort, our team can compete with the best.”
“We were also able to defeat teams that we were probably expected to win against, which might sound trivial, but is a sign of maturity and something that we have struggled with in the past.”
“However, if we’re going to get back up the ladder, we have to beat teams that are around us too – and we’ve still got some closing to do there.”
The Eagles’ match in Round 10 produced arguably the most memorable moment of the Lions’ campaign, with last quarter heroics from Josh Green, Niall McKeever, and James Polkinghorne helping them to an unlikely victory.
Polkinghorne, in particular, is sure to go down in Club folklore after spiralling a magnificent 60m torpedo through the big sticks in the dying stages to gives his side the lead – and ultimately, the win.
If the West Coast triumph was the Lions’ best, then the comeback win against Adelaide in Round 21 at the Gabba was a very close second.
On that occasion, the Lions trailed by as many as six goals early in the second term against the Finals-bound Crows, before a remarkable turnaround saw them reach a winning position late in the game.
Tom Rockliff ultimately sealed the 10-point victory in the final minute with a clutch goal on the run.
Among the other notable wins was an emotionally charged 58-point demolition of the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne on the eve of the Club’s inaugural Hall of Fame celebrations.
The team was spurred on by a vocal Victorian crowd and a Fitzroy- inspired guernsey, which was worn for this special occasion as a tribute to the Club’s proud history.
The Lions also reaffirmed their authority as the dominant AFL team in Queensland with wins over cross-town rivals the Gold Coast in Rounds 4 and 17 – making it three times in a row that the QClash Cup has returned to where it belongs at the Gabba.
In addition to some fine team performances, there were some standout individual efforts and milestones.
The most significant milestone of 2012 came in Round 5 against Geelong, when the Club’s most decorated player, Simon Black, ran out for his 300th AFL match.
In the process, Black became the first, and only, player in VFL/AFL history to have achieved the ‘Big Four’, that is – play 300 games,
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