Winning may not be a habit for Brisbane – in fact, the AFL club can’t even spell it.
But the plucky Lions still gave Sydney a scare before top-five outfit the Swans held on for a 10.7 (67) to 6.3 (49) victory at a wet Gabba to maintain their nine-year hoodoo.
Dayne Beams (38 touches) was inspirational for Brisbane on Saturday, just days after stepping down from the captaincy due to personal issues, but it wasn’t enough to stop Sydney notching their 11th straight win over the Lions.
Brisbane only notched their first victory of the year last round by thrashing Hawthorn, ending an eight-game losing run and nine-year drought against the Hawks.
Still, it was no excuse for not being able to spell “winning”.
Brisbane were left red-faced after the team ran through a banner that read: “Hear the Gabba crowd roar as the Lions kick the winnig score.”
Brisbane recovered quickly as they surprisingly matched the Swans in the wet but in the end could not crack Sydney’s airtight defence in front of 18,702 fans.
Brisbane haven’t beaten Sydney since round 22, 2009.
The match began with plenty of spice, with a string of melees marring the first term as Sydney held on for a 3.0 (18) to 2.2 (14) buffer.
Isaac Heeney kicked back-to-back goals as the Swans grabbed an 18-point halftime lead after restricting Brisbane to one behind for the second term.
Star Lance Franklin kicked his first goal of the match, and sole major for the game, in the third term as the Swans led 8.6 (54) to 4.7 (31) at the final interval.
Brisbane surged in the last quarter but Kieran Jack iced Sydney’s fourth win in five games with a major from a costly 50m penalty by Jarrod Berry in the final minutes.
Beams (16 contested possessions, five inside 50s, nine clearances, six scoring involvements, one goal), ruckman Stefan Martin (58 hitouts) and Mitch Robinson (35 touches, seven tackles) were inspirational for the hosts.
For Sydney, Josh Kennedy had 34 disposals, 23 contested possessions and six tackles while Heeney, Will Hayward and Ben Ronke kicked two goals each.