Brisbane Lions AFL: How Dunkley, Ashcroft have helped craft best midfield in the competition
The Lions are the number one stoppage team in the AFL and they’re only getting better. But are they the best midfield in the league yet?
On the same night Lachie Neale celebrated his 100th game for the club with a best on ground showing against Richmond, Hugh McCluggage was ready to anoint his Lions successor.
Everything Brisbane touched turned to gold at the Gabba on Thursday night, as the hosts ran roughshod over a woeful Richmond to the tune of 81 points.
Neale and McCluggage shared 68 disposals and 15 clearances between them while the off-season’s top recruit Josh Dunkley raced to 20 touches before being subbed out at three-quarter time.
But it was another Lions midfielder who McCluggage was most eager to talk up after the final siren.
“I think he’s Lachie 2.0,” he mused of Will Ashcroft.
“He’s got this little burst of speed which I noticed tonight getting away from his opponents … he has this little step, he’s super agile.
“He’s still learning, but for him to be in his first year and performing like he is – it’s a credit to him and he’s only going to keep getting better.”
The No.2 selection in last year’s draft once again showed why he was rated as one of the best ready-made prospects in recent history with a 27-disposal effort against the Tigers.
His ability to buy time and space in traffic was on full display in a stunning Lions team goal when he received on the run, lowered his body to avoid a tackle and sent an over the shoulder handball to put Charlie Cameron into space for the finisher.
While the 19-year-old still has a ways to go before he’s on the level of Neale – who statistically just capped the best 100 games of any player in club history – Ashcroft only needs to be the cherry on top of a Lions midfield that must now be considered one of the best in the competition.
The numbers tell an overwhelming tale.
Brisbane is the undisputed best stoppage team in the AFL, boasting a +121 differential after thrashing the Tigers at the coalface on Thursday night.
They average 8.4 clearances per game more than their opponents this season. The long time gold standard, the Bulldogs, are next-best at 3.6.
The Lions have only been bested at centre clearance once in their past seven matches and that came against the Hawks, after McCluggage was ruled out early through concussion.
Around the ground they are even more impressive at stoppage, winning the head-to-head in 11 of their past 12 matches.
Richmond interim coach Andrew McQualter was forced to concede the Lions’ engine room was simply too hot to handle for his side on Thursday night.
“I think you just have to give a lot of credit to Brisbane’s midfield. I thought they were exceptional tonight,” he said.
“In the clinches they were tough, they hunted the ball well, they pressure well and unfortunately we weren’t able to get any momentum in that area of the ground.”
McCluggage is a perennial All-Australian contender and has somehow still flown under the radar this season, with Neale and Dunkley receiving most of the plaudits.
That sits just fine with the 25-year-old, who was glowing in his assessment of Neale’s influence since arriving at the club.
“We spoke about him before the game – he’s just one of those guys who lifts his teammates up and makes everyone else better,” McCluggage said.
“To be honest he’s made me double the player I was before he got here. I owe a lot to him and it’s great to see him get the rewards.”
The Lions ranked 10th in clearance differential last season but with the introduction of Dunkley and Ashcroft they are now, comfortably, the best in the business.
“Dunks has been huge for us. I think he is the best two-way midfielder in the comp,” Neale told Channel 7.
“That used to be a weakness of us but I think we have really bought into the defensive work with Dunks coming.”
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The 2020 Brownlow medallist is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career and his second only to Darcy Parish for clearances per game.
“I thought I wasn’t playing great footy over the first eight to nine weeks but I think I’m building nicely now,” Neale said.
“I’m not getting 40 touches every week and kicking goals and doing all the flashy stuff, but what I do feel that I’m doing is the dirty stuff – getting my teammates into the game – and I’m doing the defensive stuff a lot better.”
Originally published as Brisbane Lions AFL: How Dunkley, Ashcroft have helped craft best midfield in the competition
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