Brown leads Lions romp
What a game! What a win!! Way to go fellas, prove all the doubters wrong, take it one week at a time.
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HAVING all but hammered the final nail in the coffin of Carlton coach Denis Pagan, 10-goal Brisbane Lions hero Jonathan Brown last night declared he wanted another prized scalp - Collingwood at the MCG.
Brown believes his side is good enough to challenge for a top-eight spot and on yesterday's scintillating display at the Gabba, it's hard to argue.
The Lions went on a rampage against the hapless Blues, with Brown's 10 majors the highlight in Brisbane's 25.13 (163) to 6.10 (46) victory in front of 27,163 delighted fans.
But with three successive wins under their belt, the Lions now face their real test, their final six matches against teams placed above them.
Saturday night's encounter against the Magpies at the home of football will give Brisbane - now only two points away from eighth spot - a real indication of whether the Lions are up to the task of qualifying for the finals for the first time since 2004.
"We're ready for this test against Collingwood at the G," a bold Brown said.
"There's no better atmosphere to play in. It'll let us know where we're at. We think we're good enough to challenge the top eight sides.
"If we could get a win, that would really boost our confidence and continue our momentum. You never know what'll happen after that."
Brown, who yesterday became the first Brisbane player to kick 10 goals in a match and in the process reached 50 majors for the season, was described as a "triple A-grade player" by a beleaguered Pagan, who said his team had been to "hell and back".
Pagan is no certainty to last the week at Carlton, but insisted he would not follow the path of Neale Daniher and Chris Connolly, who resigned ahead of their impending sackings at Melbourne and Fremantle respectively.
"I'm not a quitter," said Pagan, the two-time premiership coach contracted to the Blues until the end of the 2008 season.
"It's out of my hands. What will be, will be.
"I just do the best I can with what we've got. I can't do any more than that."
The Blues have won only four of their 16 matches this season and have finished with the wooden spoon twice in Pagan's tenure, which began in 2003.
In contrast to Pagan's state of despair, Lions coach Leigh Matthews admitted he was "chuffed" with his side's five-star performance, also highlighted by four goals from Rhan Hooper, Nigel Lappin's 31 disposals and Jed Adcock's admirable midfield display in the injury-enforced absence of gun on-baller Simon Black.
"We feel the last few weeks we've played we've got a better contribution from our whole 22," Matthews said. "Jonathan's 14 marks and 10 goals - you can't get much better than that. It lifts everybody.
"We reorganised what we were doing in the forward line. Jonathan's probably the only one that's remained there from five weeks ago."
Brown praised the service his team mates provided.
"Obviously the delivery was fantastic," the triple-premiership winner said. "Carlton's pressure dropped away in the second half through the middle of the ground so the mids had a lot of time and space to hit up the forwards."
(source: www.couriermail.com.au)
July 23, 2007
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HAVING all but hammered the final nail in the coffin of Carlton coach Denis Pagan, 10-goal Brisbane Lions hero Jonathan Brown last night declared he wanted another prized scalp - Collingwood at the MCG.
Brown believes his side is good enough to challenge for a top-eight spot and on yesterday's scintillating display at the Gabba, it's hard to argue.
The Lions went on a rampage against the hapless Blues, with Brown's 10 majors the highlight in Brisbane's 25.13 (163) to 6.10 (46) victory in front of 27,163 delighted fans.
But with three successive wins under their belt, the Lions now face their real test, their final six matches against teams placed above them.
Saturday night's encounter against the Magpies at the home of football will give Brisbane - now only two points away from eighth spot - a real indication of whether the Lions are up to the task of qualifying for the finals for the first time since 2004.
"We're ready for this test against Collingwood at the G," a bold Brown said.
"There's no better atmosphere to play in. It'll let us know where we're at. We think we're good enough to challenge the top eight sides.
"If we could get a win, that would really boost our confidence and continue our momentum. You never know what'll happen after that."
Brown, who yesterday became the first Brisbane player to kick 10 goals in a match and in the process reached 50 majors for the season, was described as a "triple A-grade player" by a beleaguered Pagan, who said his team had been to "hell and back".
Pagan is no certainty to last the week at Carlton, but insisted he would not follow the path of Neale Daniher and Chris Connolly, who resigned ahead of their impending sackings at Melbourne and Fremantle respectively.
"I'm not a quitter," said Pagan, the two-time premiership coach contracted to the Blues until the end of the 2008 season.
"It's out of my hands. What will be, will be.
"I just do the best I can with what we've got. I can't do any more than that."
The Blues have won only four of their 16 matches this season and have finished with the wooden spoon twice in Pagan's tenure, which began in 2003.
In contrast to Pagan's state of despair, Lions coach Leigh Matthews admitted he was "chuffed" with his side's five-star performance, also highlighted by four goals from Rhan Hooper, Nigel Lappin's 31 disposals and Jed Adcock's admirable midfield display in the injury-enforced absence of gun on-baller Simon Black.
"We feel the last few weeks we've played we've got a better contribution from our whole 22," Matthews said. "Jonathan's 14 marks and 10 goals - you can't get much better than that. It lifts everybody.
"We reorganised what we were doing in the forward line. Jonathan's probably the only one that's remained there from five weeks ago."
Brown praised the service his team mates provided.
"Obviously the delivery was fantastic," the triple-premiership winner said. "Carlton's pressure dropped away in the second half through the middle of the ground so the mids had a lot of time and space to hit up the forwards."
(source: www.couriermail.com.au)
July 23, 2007