In a surprising turn of events at the Gabba on Friday night, the Carlton Blues defied their season-long narrative of second-half fade-outs by mounting a fierce comeback against the Brisbane Lions. Despite trailing by 49 points early in the third quarter, Carlton stormed back to narrow the final margin to just 11 points, leaving fans and players alike in shock.
Psychological warfare on display
Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale, who earned the Robert Walls Medal for his best-on-ground performance with 33 disposals and the sealing goal, revealed after the match that Carlton players attempted to use their own notorious second-half struggles as a psychological tactic. Neale told Channel 7's Abbey Holmes, "We got told by a couple of the boys we were doing 'a Carlton', so they were trying to get in our heads a little bit. But that's part of the game."
Carlton has lost six games this season after holding first-half leads, making their third-quarter resurgence all the more remarkable. The Blues booted six unanswered goals in the third term, turning a seemingly hopeless contest into a nail-biter.
Neale reflects on the scare
Neale acknowledged that the third quarter would be heavily reviewed, but emphasized the need to move forward. "Early enough in the year that you just tick that one off and move on," he said. "We'll review that third quarter and bits of the last pretty heavily, I think. It wasn't good enough, but to Carlton's credit, they just keep having a crack and we knew it was going to be a tough game."
He added, "Coming into it, it was probably the opposite for them. We started well and then their second half was really good. So I think they're going to trouble a few teams this year, but yeah, we bank the four points and move on."
Praise for emerging Lions talent
The former Lions captain also lauded Brisbane's young guns, including Logan Morris, Kai Lohmann, and Levi Ashcroft, who impressed during the match. "It's exciting. We've got a great group that's going to compete for years to come," Neale said. "It's exciting to be a player here at the Lions and (it's exciting) for our fans ... We probably gave them a bit of a heart attack tonight, but they always rock up. We sell this place out every week, and we love having their support, and why wouldn't they come when we've got guys like that (Morris and Lohmann) that come out here and put on a show? So, yeah, it's exciting to be a part of that youthful group, and they keep me pretty young as well."
The Lions now shift focus to their next clash against Geelong, also at the Gabba, next Thursday.
