Lions secure finals football with Dockers demolition in Perth

[ad_1] (Getty Pictures) Nat Fyfe's hopes of ending his profession with a premiership are hanging by a thread after Fremantle slumped to a 57-point loss to Brisbane in entrance of 54,302 followers at Perth Stadium.

The Lions kicked the primary 5 objectives of Friday night time's match and staved off a second-quarter Fremantle fightback to put up the 15.11 (101) to five.14 (44) win.

Fyfe will retire on the finish of the season, however Fremantle (15-7) might miss the finals until they beat the Western Bulldogs at Docklands subsequent week.

Defending premiers Brisbane (15-6-1) is now assured to make finals, and so they might safe a prized top-four berth if it defeats Hawthorn on the Gabba subsequent week.

The Lions had been at their ruthless finest in opposition to wayward Fremantle, however the win got here at a price, with midfielder Jarrod Berry dislocating his left shoulder within the closing quarter after being greatly surprised by Andrew Brayshaw.

Zac Bailey was big for Brisbane with 28 disposals and two objectives, whereas Hugh McCluggage (28 disposals, eight clearances, one objective) and Jaspa Fletcher (32 disposals) racked up massive numbers.

Lions ahead Logan Morris completed with 4 objectives, together with two in a dominant closing quarter, whereas Charlie Cameron kicked three majors.

For Fremantle, Caleb Serong (26 disposals, eight clearances) battled laborious, whereas Josh Treacy kicked two objectives however dedicated a bunch of uncharacteristic errors.

Supersub Fyfe, who got here on within the closing quarter, completed with eight disposals and a clearance, and was given a guard of honour by each groups after the match.

(Getty Pictures) Brisbane racked up a whopping 47 uncontested marks within the opening quarter to throw Fremantle off its sport, with the Dockers solely registering 0.5 for the time period.

The Lions had been in a position to kick three objectives to take a 15-point lead into the primary break, with Dayne Zorko racking up 11 disposals and 225m gained.

Fremantle got here out firing within the second quarter — however its early reward was a mere three behinds as their kicking yips continued.

Bailey silenced the gang when he kicked the ball over his personal head to separate the sticks from 15m out.

And when Dockers defender Brennan Cox put down Morris 100m off the ball handy the Lions one other objective, alarm bells had been ringing.

The margin was 25 factors at that stage, however Treacy performed like a person possessed for the following jiffy.

Treacy kicked two fast objectives to lastly finish Fremantle's drought, and when Andrew Brayshaw chipped in with considered one of his personal, the margin was again to only eight factors by half-time.

Fremantle undid its good work with a poor begin to the third, with the Lions piling on 4 unanswered objectives to increase their result in 32 factors.

Cam Rayner's two objectives for the quarter gave Brisbane a 31-point lead on the closing change, and even Fyfe's introduction for the beginning of the fourth quarter wasn't sufficient to reel within the deficit.