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The Brisbane Lions have claimed their second AFLW flag in a high-pressure thriller and denied North Melbourne their maiden premiership in front of a sold-out crowd at Ikon Park.<\/p>\n
The Kangaroos led at every change and took a seven-point lead into the final change, despite suffering a blow early with the loss of star midfielder Jenna Bruton, who went down with a right foot\/ankle injury in the opening five minutes of the game.<\/p>\n
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Dakota Davidson celebrates a goal in the last quarter.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AFL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n The absence of Bruton, who was hugely influential in the Roos\u2019 win against Adelaide in the preliminary final, limited North\u2019s midfield rotations against the fittest team in the competition.<\/p>\n The Lions broke the game open in the final term, as star forward Dakota Davidson shrugged off injury concerns from the preliminary final to kick back-to-back goals and put her team back in the lead late.<\/p>\n Ellie Hampson and skipper Breanna Koenen then sealed the game as the Lions\u2019 kicked four goals to none in the final quarter.<\/p>\n Star defender and sometimes midfielder Koenen took out the medal as the best player on the ground. She finished with 19 disposals and 10 tackles.<\/p>\n Breanna Koenen was named best on ground.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AFL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n All-Australian Davidson was in doubt to play after suffering a knee injury in last weekend\u2019s preliminary final but the Lions would have been glad to have her.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the Lions\u2019 second flag in five grand final appearances after they claimed their first in 2021 by defeating Adelaide, while the Roos were delivered heartbreak in their maiden appearance in a decider.<\/p>\n Each Lions grand final team has boasted a different looking outfit due to the club losing a significant number of players in the expansion years. Ally Anderson, Koenen and Shannon Campbell played in each grand final, while Sophie Conway made four appearances.<\/p>\n After losing season six league best-and-fairest winner Emily Bates and forward star Greta Bodey to Hawthorn last off-season, not many expected the Lions to make another premiership decider this year, including Koenen.<\/p>\n However, taking the underdog status in their stride, they first defeated minor premiers Adelaide in the qualifying final then up-and-comers Geelong in the preliminary final to book their spot.<\/p>\n The Kangaroos entered the competition in 2019 alongside Geelong and would have been the first expansion team to claim a flag. The Lions are the only team they have not been able to beat.<\/p>\n It was a game with not a lot of scoring but a huge amount of pressure and intensity with a combined 186 tackles in the opening half alone. The heat of the contest was felt by both sides in the second half with mistakes made, including missed targets.<\/p>\n In the on-the-ball contest, Brisbane\u2019s Isabel Dawes had 20 disposals and six clearances while Anderson had 20 touches and 12 tackles and Nat Grider stood tall in defence. Courtney Hodder, this season\u2019s player-voted most courageous player, had a whopping 18 tackles.<\/p>\n North may have lost Bruton, but they still had competition star Jasmine Garner, who scored her side\u2019s opening two goals and was involved in every score. Despite having Cathy Svarc and then Brisbane skipper Koenen put on her, Garner, with exceptional positional awareness, finished with 24 touches, seven tackles and six clearances.<\/p>\n Garner first broke the game\u2019s opening deadlock 16 minutes into the first quarter when Irish recruit Erika O\u2019Shea found her open on the lead inside 50. Forty-five metres out, Garner slotted it through classy and composed as ever. It was the only goal of the opening term.<\/p>\n Brisbane then opened their account with the first goal in the second quarter with a desperate major from Charlotte Mullins. Each put one more major in the opening half, another from Garner and one from Lion Ellie Hampson.<\/p>\n The Kangaroos took the slimmest one-point lead into the main break but began to fade away in the second half.<\/p>\n In the first half Brisbane played an extra down back, making it hard for the North Melbourne to find options inside their 50 but shifted this player forward in the second to help with attack.<\/p>\n All-Australian winger Conway was taken from the ground in the final term by the Lions doctors for a head assessment but came on for the final few minutes.<\/p>\n Brisbane defender Campbell also finished the day on the bench, hunched over and looking unwell.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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