Young Lions go big as new Pie bags a handful

Brisbane Lions forward Will McLachlan sent another message to AFL selectors in the countdown to the finals with a brilliant eight-goal haul as the Lions outlasted North Melbourne by 13 points in a Saturday shootout at Brighton Homes Arena that ended the Kangaroos’ finals hopes.

North kicked the first three goals and led by 10 points at half-time, but the Lions slammed on eight majors to three in the third, with the out-of-contract McLachlan taking his season tally to 27.9 in eight matches as he cashed in on the dominance of star Academy graduates Dan Annable (37 disposals, eight marks, eight inside-50s, one goal) and Sam Marshall (24, six marks, one goal), while Sam Tilley (24, 15 contested, six clearances, seven entries) could be putting himself onto draft boards.

Kangaroos captain and former Sun Darcy Macpherson and ex-Tiger Thomson Dow starred with 35 touches and a goal each, Tom Blamires (32, one goal) won’t be in the VFL for long and ninth-gamer Felix Kneipp (25, two goals) had a career-best performance.

Essendon moved to the edge of the top six after stunning Box Hill Hawks by 25 points at Kennedy Community Centre on Saturday for its fourth victory in a row.

Essendon dominated every stat category in keeping the Hawks to just six goals, led by ball magnet Elijah Tsatas’ 34 disposals, former Blue Jaxon Binns (29) and young AFL trio Archie Perkins (28), Zak Johnson (27) and Vigo Visentini (21, five marks, 27 hitouts) also impressed, while veteran Jade Gresham (23, two goals) led the way in attack and mid-season Coburg recruit Deacon Kalpakis (11 marks) fired in defence, with Darcy Parish working hard for 19 touches and eight tackles.

Finn Maginness (24, eight marks) was Box Hill’s best, with Bodie Ryan, Flynn Perez and Sam Butler also good.

Southport and Footscray just won’t die, with the 2025 Grand Finalists clinging to their finals hopes with contrasting home wins on Saturday.

The Sharks came from behind at the last change to edge out Frankston by seven points at Fankhauser Reserve, while the Bulldogs thrashed an injury-riddled Richmond by 74 at Mission Whitten Oval.

Southport had destroyed Frankston in sudden-death finals at this venue in the past two seasons, but the Dolphins gave them all they could handle despite the early loss of captain and VFL Coaches MVP leader Trent Mynott to injury early, taking the lead three times in the third quarter and turning for home three points to the good.

But Finn Hay and Matt McGuinness – the latter kicking his second in what was a masterstroke move from coach Matthew Primus to send him forward for his first goals in a 60-game Sharks career – put Southport back in front for good and they held on despite Noah Gown keeping Frankston within striking distance.

Key defender Max Spencer took an unbelievable 21 marks for Southport on his way to 28 disposals and seven rebounds with support from Cooper MacDonald (24 touches, 13 marks), while brilliant pair Zac Foot (34, 11 marks, three goals) and Liston medallist Jacob Dawson (31, 20 contested, 13 clearances) were again unstoppable for Southport and Max Pescud kicked three goals.

Tyson Milne (27, 13 rebounds) was outstanding for Frankston, with support coming from Will Hamill down back, Seb Quirk and Darby Hipwell in the middle and Frosty Miller Medal leader Corey Ellison (three goals) up front.

Back in Melbourne, the Bulldogs led a dour struggle by 12 points midway through the second term but kicked 12 goals to two from that point for an easy victory on the back of 28 disposals and two goals each from Jack Billings (15 marks) and Norm Goss medallist Cooper Craig-Peters, 31 touches for Harvey Gallagher and 27 plus 12 marks for Oskar Baker.

Kane McAuliffe (22) and Mutaz El Nour (18, eight marks) were best for the Tigers.

Coburg was forced to fight right to the wire to see off another gutsy challenge from Sandringham, winning by 14 points at Barry Plant Park on Sunday.

But the Zebras had Coburg fans in panic mode when Max Hoult, Lachlan Voss and Kyle Cooper goaled in the space of five last-quarter minutes to make it two points the difference with plenty of time on the clock before impressive pair Dan Johnson (from a powerful mark) and in-form interceptor Ingo Dammersmith (from a 50m penalty) put their minds at rest and lifted their team to seventh.

Liston Medal fancy Jack Bytel (34, seven clearances) starred for Coburg alongside Donovan Toohey, Hugo Bromell and Flynn Gentile, while captain Jesse Corigliano had 14 touches and 10 marks in a terrific return from leg injuries that had kept him out since Round 1 and small forward Kyle Weightman (two goals) was lively in his first game since Round 4.

Ben Hopkins, Nathan Philactides and Will Johnson were terrific for Sandringham, while Daniel Pinter (15 disposals, 29 hitouts, eight clearances, 12 tackles) had a great battle with Cooper Keogh (19, 33, 13, two).

Mitch Podhajski put himself back in the Frosty Miller Medal discussions and Bailey McKenzie again proved his talent by kicking five goals each at opposite ends as Collingwood held off St Kilda by 10 points at La Trobe University on Friday, with the efforts of Jack Macrae (31, 10 marks, nine tackles), Liam Henry (29, seven tackles) and Jack Carroll (29) unable to see off Lachie Sullivan (21, 11 tackles, one goal), Roan Steele (22, one goal) and Josh Browne, 28, seven inside-50s).

Joel Hamling piled on six goals in the first half before being rested in favour of Jedd Longmire (four) and Jesse Dattoli (20, three goals) as Sydney led by 101 points at three quarter-time, eventually easing up to thump GWS by 78 points in a top-six Sydney Derby at Engie Stadium. The Swans secured a finals berth as Corey Warner (one goal), Angus Sheldrick and Mitch Mellis had a field day with 31 touches each, with Mitch Szybkowski having a career-best 35 touches and 10 clearances for the Giants and Harvey Hooper contributing 30. 37-year-old former Swan and Saint Trent Dennis-Lane pulled on the boots for the Giants and kicked four majors.

Carlton’s accuracy proved the difference as it saw off Gold Coast by 18 points at Ikon Park on Saturday, fighting back after trailing for three quarters to win 12.5 (77) to 7.17 (59) in a crucial result for its finals hopes inspired by 28 disposals, 10 marks and 10 tackles from Ollie Hollands and 30, 26 and 10 marks from Adam Saad and 30 from Ben Camporeale, while Sam Clohesy had 35 and 10 marks for the Suns and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan kicked 3.4.

Geelong secured its first minor premiership since 2013, turning a 15-point half-time lead into a 53-point win over Casey Demons at Casey Fields, with Jack Bowes (34, 11 clearances, six tackles) and George Stevens (32, six clearances, eight tackles) against proving a class above despite the best efforts of Max Heath (20 disposals, 32 hitouts).

Geelong key defender Nathan Kreuger and Casey Demons’ backman Luamon Lual will miss their team’s next match after being handed suspensions by the VFL MRP for high bumps from their clash at Casey Fields on Saturday.