Live: Lions rein Swans back in after hot start at the Gabba

That was a bad miss!

The Swans needed to stop the momentum, and they went downfield and Hayden McLean had the set shot – but he kicked it well wide right.

The lead is 21, with four minutes left before three quarter time.

Is this the turnaround?

The Gabba fans hope so.

The Lions get two in a minute, with Henry Smith kicking their ninth – the sounds of Twist and Shout ring out in the stadium.

Ok, that was really vital for Brisbane!

They poured the ball down the corridor, with Cam Rayner kicking to a two-on-one, but the Swans spoiled it.

The ball bounced backwards towards goal, and Levi Ashcroft managed to snap the goal.

It’s back to 26.

Where has this been for Sydney this season?

They have won four of their last five, but this sort of display has been missing.

They add another goal through James Rowbottom, and that is four goals to none in the third term.

The Swans are putting things together here.

It was a lovely move that ended with a mark to Ollie Florent.

And Florent – who has been quiet today – kicked truly!

The Swans lead by 26 points halfway through the quarter.

Alarm bells are ringing for Brisbane here.

The old line about lies, damn lies and footy stats is there today.

The Lions are lading clearances 23-16, centre clearances 13-6 and inside 50s 39-31.

But when the ball is in contest, the Swans are winning by 23.

The Gabba crowd is NOT happy.

The Swans went forward again, and kicked long to a contest – and the free goes to Isaac Heeney.

The home fans aren’t happy, but Darcy Wilmot was holding the Swans star.

He kicks his fifth, and Sydney leads by 20!

That was nearly a perfect start, with Brisbane going straight down and hitting Cam Rayner inside 50.

He missed the kick, however, and the Swans burst downfield with a quick transition – the ball landed with Chad Warner, and the Swans’ number one kicked their 10th major of the game.

The lead is 14. 

There is a LONG way to go in this one, but just a reminder.

There have been close to 40 matches between top-nine and bottom-nine teams since round 14.

Only one game has seen a bottom-nine team beat a top-nine team. The winning team? Sydney, beating Fremantle at the SCG.

This is a decidedly tougher ask, beating the champions on their home deck – they know they can get it done, but will they?

Last year, the Brisbane Lions’ run to the flag came from well back – Chris Fagan famously told his players after a tough start to the season that they had to be more attacking, or as he put it, “dancing on ice”.

In the grand final, they went for everything and it all came off as they steamrolled the Swans.

It’s not exactly the same thing, but Sydney today is taking a similar sort of aggressive style, moving the ball at speed with handball, waiting for nothing.

On the other hand the Lions at their best are a two-speed outfit, moving the ball fast to get out of trouble, before holding up and taking considered action to set up their attacks.

Both approaches have had success so far, but if the Swans don’t run out of legs in the second half, it will be fascinating to see if Brisbane find a way of stifling the visitors’ ball movement.

• Josh Dunkley (BRIS) – 20

• Will Ashcroft (BRIS) – 18

• Dayne Zorko (BRIS) – 16

• Errol Gulden (SYD) – 16

• Callum Mills (SYD) – 15

• Levi Ashcroft (BRIS) – 15

• Chad Warner (SYD) – 14

In the dying seconds of the half, Brisbane turns it over, and the Swans make it count.

An errant handball is cleared by Chad Warner, and his kick goes off hands in the square and falls to the far post, soccer-style, where Isaac Heeney is there to boot home his fourth.

The siren sounds as the Lions are attacking again – but that is one hell of a quarter. In fact, you could say this has been a half of four quarters.

Swan break, Lions answer, Lions take over, Swans respond.

Not bad for two quarters of footy.

Can’t wait to see what’s coming on the other side of the long break. 

The Swans missed a trick there, they surged the ball inside 50 and Brodie Grundy took a clean mark as Brisbane defenders looked to have been held / shunted aside.

Grundy should have got the kick, but his snap went wide from close in.

Swans lead by two.

Whenever Nick Blakey and Isaac Heeney combine, it’s usually good for the Sydney Swans.

Blakey had the ball on the wing, and he dummied this way and that and then burned off a Brisbane player before hitting up Heeney in the right forward pocket.

Heeney kicked his third, and the Swans lead again by a point.

This is a topsy-turvy old game at the Gabba.

Well there’s the answer from Sydney!

The Swans went down the right and kicked to the pocket, where Isaac Heeney marked on (or maybe a little over) the boundary for a mark.

It was a tough angle, and Heeney turned to kick it round the corner – and his snap, while not perfect, curled through!

Much needed for Sydney. The lead is back to five points with eight minutes left in the half.

There are still no beg pardons out there between these two grand finallists from 2024 – the Swans want to win this, or make the Lions pay if they don’t.

Dayne Zorko just got crunched in an aerial contest, taking a mark but hit by two Swans.

He was given the 50, but he missed the shot from 35 out.

Ok, the margin is still only 11 points, but the warning bells are going off in the Sydney box.

The Swans can’t control it, they are being forced into errors, and the Lions are taking advantage – a beautiful fast handball from Will Ashcroft sets Darcy Wilmot clear, and he kicks on the run for Brisbane’s fourth of the quarter.

Sydney has to respond, and quickly.

The ponchos are up in the outer, and the rain is coming down in a quick fierce burst.

That’s going to make things interesting.

Ball control could be a little bit harder. We’ll see who handles it better.

This is the reverse of the first quarter, and the Lions are ON.

No Cam Rayner spears a kick inbound from the right wing and hits Will McLachlan.

McLachlan has the set shot and he nails it.

The Lions have three in a row, and they now lead by five.