Key takeouts from round 21

Brisbane d Adelaide

The Brisbane Lions are now outright second on the ladder, after hanging on for a narrow win over Adelaide at the Gabba. All eyes now turn to next week’s clash against leaders Collingwood at Marvel Stadium. Win that, and the Lions all but sew up two home finals at the Gabba, where they have been unbeaten (and seemingly unbeatable) all year. Of course, their record away from home is another matter. They’ll almost certainly have to do it without veteran Jack Gunston, who is waiting on scans after injuring a knee. Adelaide now needs a Stephen Bradbury-esque miracle to make the eight (ie: they need to win their last two games and hope everyone else falls over). Unlikely, but they have made major progress in 2023 – the heaviest-scoring team of the year after 22 rounds, with a very healthy percentage, suggests the Crows could and probably should be much higher than 12th on the ladder. – Andrew Stafford