A fading North Melbourne has hung on to defeat Brisbane by three points in a dramatic thriller at the 'Gabba.
The Roos led for virtually the entire match, but a terrific fightback in the final quarter from a spirited Lions' outfit very nearly put a dagger into the heart of their finals ambitions, with Cameron Rayner missing a crucial snap in the game's dying stages.
Jack Ziebell led the way for North Melbourne with three goals, while Majak Daw was sensational down back, finishing with 15 disposals.
For Brisbane, young gun Hugh McCluggage played arguably the best game of his career, booting three terrific goals to go with 26 disposals.
Supporters of anti-congestion rule changes were left scratching their heads early, as both sides preferred fast and direct ball movement to defensive systems, resulting in an 11-goal first quarter.
The Lions looked shell-shocked as North Melbourne burst out of the blocks early with two goals through Kayne Turner and Ben Cunnington, before Brisbane’s midfield came to life, and not a moment too soon, as North Melbourne had far too much time and space to begin with.
Eric Hipwood kicked a goal off the back of a 50m penalty and then forward livewire Lewis Taylor hit the scoreboard and slice the early deficit.
Jarrad Waite, in his first game since round 10, kicked the next, but Brisbane’s willingness to compete on the inside, and how clean their hands were, was ultra-impressive, as they finished the quarter with three of the final four goals.
This included terrific goals to Oscar McInerney and Dayne Zorko as well as one to Rhys Mathieson, while Jack Ziebell impersonated a diving goalkeeper to cling on to a mark at full forward to duly convert.
Heading into the second quarter five points in arrears, North Melbourne took complete control, which began with a terrific effort in the contest.
Missing Shaun Higgins, who has been floated as a potential Brownlow contender, North Melbourne needed someone to step up, and youngster Trent Dumont was outstanding and kickstarted a magnificent run of scoring.
Ziebell won a tenuous free kick and Waite found space out the back of the contest to give the Roos another fast start to a quarter.
But although Mitch Robinson hit the scoreboard, more or less out of the blue, North Melbourne were only just getting started.
Shaun Atley capped a superb end-to-end passage, before Will Walker, Nathan Hrovat and Atley again piled on goals to catapult themselves in front.
Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown was goalless, as the fast nature of the game dictated that the midfielders were the ones getting most of the shots at goal.
Brisbane had a late quarter revival, thanks to a clever goal from Hugh McCluggage, and another to Zorko, before Mason Wood responded in the shadows of half-time to bring North Melbourne’s lead to 22.
Brisbane couldn’t afford another slow start to a quarter, and they didn’t get one.
The Lions addressed their second-quarter midfield shellacking, and completely controlled the territory battle.
Although Chris Fagan's men missed chances all throughout the quarter, McCluggage would be the first to kick true – a marvellous snap from the pocket – before Oscar McInerney took a terrific mark at full stretch, and kicked another.
Rhys Mathieson made it three in a row, and five of the last six, and brought the margin back to within a kick after it had been out to five goals earlier.
Suddenly with their season on the line, North Melbourne found a response.
Jy Simpkin ran down Josh Walker and kicked North Melbourne’s first for the quarter with just a few minutes left in it, before Ziebell kicked his third.
Will Walker kicked his second right at the beginning of the final quarter, as North Melbourne won a few key clearances, to help them clinch what ought to have been a game-winning lead.
Ben Brown had been brilliantly held all match by Harris Andrews, but now he was held illegally, and he made things very difficult for Brisbane, taking the margin out to 23.
Allen Christensen kicked the next, as Brisbane still had plenty of time to get back into it.
They had the ball forward for a while, but couldn’t find the next goal.
At last Mitch Robinson, nearly 10 minutes after the previous goal, marked inside 50 and closed the gap to 10, with seven minutes to go.
While Brisbane are a famously young team, North Melbourne were sporting a sizeable batch of youngsters themselves, and they looked to be the team running out of legs.
Desperately pushing the ball forward, the Lions found a way to get the ball from the boundary line in to the corridor where Cam Rayner took the mark, and kicked the goal; suddenly North Melbourne were playing for a spot in the eight.
A chaotic final few minutes ensued, culminating in a free kick to Cameron Rayner, who surprisingly played on, ran around to snap the ball, but missed.
Brisbane took the ball forward once more, but North held on for a thrilling three-point win.
The defeat marked Brisbane’s fifth loss by under 10 points for the year, and while they are looking to convert their obvious improvement into wins, their supporters should nevertheless be heartened by what they saw today.
Meanwhile, North Melbourne’s victory leaves them firmly in finals contention, with a few big chances to notch wins still remaining at Etihad Stadium.
BRISBANE 6.0 9.2 13.4 16.8 (104)
NORTH MELBOURNE 5.1 12.6 14.9 16.11 (107)
GOALS
Brisbane: McCluggage 3, Robinson 2, McInerney 2, Rayner 2, Mathieson 2, Zorko 2, Christensen, Hipwood, Taylor
North Melbourne: Ziebell 3, Walker 2, Turner 2, Waite 2, Atley 2, Wood, Brown, Cunnington, Hrovat, Simpkin
BEST
Brisbane: McLuggage, Zorko, Berry, Andrews, Beams, Robinson
North Melbourne: North Melbourne: Dumont, Daw, Ziebell, Macmillan, Cunnington, Simpkin
INJURIES
Brisbane: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil
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