Ruthless Lions bare teeth to maul Bombers

BRISBANE has banished any questions about its depth with a commanding 63-point win over a disappointing Essendon at Metricon Stadium on Friday night.

Electric forward Charlie Cameron booted four goals and set the Lions up early, as did Lachie Neale, who kicked two first-quarter goals and once again found a mountain of footy through the midfield in the 14.7 (91) to 3.10 (28) victory.

The Bombers gave up five goals in the opening term but still only trailed by 20 points at half-time, but a run of four on the trot after the long break blew the game open for Brisbane.

Recalled Lions Alex Witherden and Noah Answerth were outstanding for the home side in defence.

Onballer Andrew McGrath fought hard against the odds for Essendon, with veteran defender Michael Hurley another solid contributor.

Fresh off signing a fouryear contract extension, Cameron was at his must-watch best in the first quarter. He started with a blown set shot less than 30 seconds in but made up for that shanked miss with a brilliant goal off the ground to give the Lions their second minutes later.

The zippy forward then turned villain when a brainfade handed Devon Smith a 50m penalty and he slotted the Bombers’ first.

Just to make sure he headed to the huddle in the good books, Cameron thrilled the small crowd with a volley from the goal square after he outsmarted Mason Redman, then gave him a fearful spray as the Bomber laid flat on his back.

When Anthony McDonald Tipungwuti is on, more often than not, he not only hits the scoreboard for Essendon, and puts enormous heat on opposition defenders.

Unfortunately for the Bombers, the lively goalkicker did neither against the Lions, not surprising given he didn’t touch the footy at all in the second half.

The only time he trouble the statisticians was when he gave away a free kick.

A tight-checking Answerth relished his return to the senior side with a total blanket-job on the dangerous Bomber.

Sam Skinner’s multiple ACL issues kept him out of senior footy since round 17, 2017, but he got his chance early in the second quarter when fellow tall Eric Hipwood found him alone 30m out dead in front.

Skinner missed a shot from a similar spot in the opening term, but calmly eased it home and was mobbed by his 17 teammates.

The major was his first in 1098 days.