+[ＬＩＶＥ*ＳＴＲＥＡＭ#afl!] GWS Giants Vs Brisbane Lions ＬＩＶＥ ＳＴＲＥＡＭＳ ＣＯＶＥＲＡＧＥ ＯＮ 14 September 2024

It’s a repeat of one of the great modern semi-finals as GWS hosts Brisbane with a spot in a preliminary final up for grabs.

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The Giants (4th in home & away season, lost qualifying final to Sydney by 6 points) looked the better side all day last week before fading late, and now face the prospect of a straight sets exit. But they’re hoping to repeat the feats of five years ago when they beat Brisbane by a kick in a semi-final, then winning an MCG preliminary final to earn a Grand Final spot.

The Lions (5th in home & away season, won elimination final over Carlton by 28 points) are playing in their 14th final under Chris Fagan, but this is just the fifth away from the friendly confines of the Gabba. They’ve won just one interstate final in that time (2022 semi-final vs Melbourne).

These sides met twice during the home and away season with GWS winning on both occasions - by 54 points on ANZAC Day in Canberra, and by 18 points just a month ago at the Gabba.

Tonight’s winner will face Geelong in the Second Preliminary Final next Saturday evening at the MCG, while the loser will be eliminated.

This match gets underway at 7:30pm AEST from ENGIE Stadium.

Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or via Hubbl from 6:30pm AEST.

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There are no late changes at ENGIE Stadium, with Xavier O’Halloran (Giants) and Conor McKenna (Lions) the starting substitutes.

Shortly after the Giants ended Brisbane’s hopes of securing the double-chance with a dominant comeback win at the Gabba last month, the Lions’ midfielders offered a mea culpa to their coach Chris Fagan.

The Lions were absolutely dominant in the early stages against their rival from tonight’s sudden-death semi-final in Sydney and led by 30 points at quarter-time on home turf.

An advantage that should have been even greater bar for their wastefulness in attack stemmed from winning 25 more contested possessions and nine more clearances in the opening term.

The Lions still led by 15 points early in the last term but, having failed to put the Giants away, were steamrolled around the stoppages and ultimately beaten by 18 points.

By the final siren the Giants, which secured a double-chance only to be edged by the Swans in a thrilling qualifying final, were on top in both the stoppage and clearance counts.

As Fagan, who later lamented that “to a degree, we let them off the hook”, was preparing to head to a post-match press conference, he said the Lions midfielders offered him an apology.

“It is unusual for us, because I can’t fault our blokes for a long time in that regard, but… their hunger to win the ball and to put pressure on us was way better than ours,” he said.

Three-time Brisbane premiership forward Alastair Lynch, who was working as an analyst for Fox Footy at the match, remembers a chat he had with the Lions coach at half-time.

“They got belted in the clearances,” Lynch told foxsports.com.au

“I reckon we spoke to Chris at half-time and there was a clear difference between the first and the second quarter and he made the comment about the clearances, that it was a clearance game and it was flowing on who won the clearances.

“Maybe it was five goals through clearances in the last quarter which finished Brisbane off. At quarter-time, Brisbane was 30 points up, but it should have been 40-plus, and that has been one of the issues (troubling them) and it is something they need to address.”

Fagan, for his part, said after the Rd 22 clash that the Giants were clearly premiership contenders.

“I thought after we played them in Rd 7 that they were an outstanding unit and I haven’t changed my mind today,” he said.

“They are a very good chance. They are a decent team. They toughed it out when we were right on top in that first quarter. They hung in there and worked their way back into the game.”