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“A lot of people wrote us off”: Brisbane bite back after dismantling of Demons

Brisbane have booked themselves a preliminary final spot after snapping an 11-game losing streak at the MCG.

Published by
Mitch Keating

Friday night's semi-final win over Melbourne has strengthened Brisbane's momentum heading into the penultimate week of the season.

The Lions not only caused an upset over the reigning premiers, but snapped an 11-game losing streak at the MCG

A surging second-half of pressure and poise saw Chris Fagan's side dismantle the Demons on their home deck and land successive finals wins for the first time since 2004.

"It was a pretty good time to do it wasn't it?" Fagan said of breaking his side's MCG drought. "You just pick the right day to do these things.

"[It's] not that easy to win here and we don't play here all that often. Probably lucky we've had three goes in the last nine or 10 weeks, probably helped us a little bit."

The Brisbane senior coach wasn't alone in helping lift the monkey off the club's back, with the likes of Lachie Neale, Jarrod Berry and Eric Hipwood also steering the ship in front of 62,162 fans at the home of football.

For teammate Zac Bailey, who booted 2 goals from 16 disposals in the victory, the win has only amplified their momentum as they head deeper into September, adding to a thrilling win over Richmond last week.

Speaking to Zero Hanger after the match, Bailey expressed his delight in finally putting an end to the club's ongoing winless run at the MCG, now harnessing the performance for the coming weeks.

"It's incredible. A lot of people wrote us off," Bailey said.

"Melbourne have had it over us the last couple times and we were able to come out tonight and put in a really good performance and get the win.

"We knew that if we were with them at about half-time, we could really pound the rock right to the end and hopefully get them, and we were able to do that.

"Last week, we were able to put in a really good performance against Richmond and build a bit of momentum. This game we put in a really good performance and can hopefully take it into next week, and then hopefully a grand final.

"We're pretty stoked that we could win that. Because I think there's a bit going around that we can't win at the MCG and I think it was good together with tonight."

The aforementioned Berry and Neale combined for 21 touches in the third term, a pivotal quarter of the game as the Lions booted six goals to slash a 22-point deficit held by the Demons heading into the quarter.

Neale's performance saw him continue his dazzling September record, with Bailey crediting the Brownlow Medal winner's outing as a "big reason" the Lions are still in the flag hunt, while expressing his own relief to be a key piece in the club's late charge.

"He's an unbelievable player," Baile said of Neale.

"He just does so much inside work for us and again tonight, to have the impact he did, (as well as) last week.

"He was magnificent and a big reason why we're moving on to next week.

"I probably didn't have the best (first) three quarters, but to have the impact I did the last quarter was good."

The Lions will now turn their attention to next Friday night against Geelong, another September showdown at the MCG.

Brisbane's ability to mount pressure on their opposition has been critical to their success in recent weeks, with their pestering of possession

"Just need to bring our pressure, that's what we base most of our game off," Bailey said.

"We know when our pressure is high we're going well, so I think that's going to be important."

The Lions and Cats will clash on Friday, September 16 at the MCG, with the match to commence at 7:50pm (AEST).

Published by
Mitch Keating