Adelaide have burst Brisbane’s bubble as Hugh Greenwood stepped up for the Crows in an entertaining AFL clash at the Gabba.
A former professional basketballer, Greenwood kicked a career-high four goals and hit the post twice in the 13.15 (93) to 13.10 (88) win.
The victory stopped the upbeat Lions’ three-game streak and kept the Crows in the race for the eight.
Matt Crouch (40 disposals) and Rory Laird (29) were in everything for the Crows on Saturday night while Josh Jenkins (two goals) was a constant forward-line threat.
At the opposite end, Eric Hipwood was well held but Cameron Rayner again showed his class with two majors.
The buzz was back in Brisbane after a trio of triumphs and the Lions delivered early when Josh Walker and Rayner took back-to-back mark-of-the-year contenders.
Rayner capped the sequence with a goal to delight the 20,475 fans.
But that bit of razzle dazzle ironically also marked the beginning of the Crows’ resurgence.
Perhaps guilty of overexcitement, the hosts flagged and Greenwood pounced to improve the Crows to 9-8 this season.
The small forward kicked three goals in as many minutes either side of quarter time to wrestle control of the contest.
Brisbane rallied behind the efficient Alex Witherden (31 touches, 12 marks) and Nick Robertson’s hard running at the back, with Daniel McStay snapping a run of four-straight Crows goals to end the half.
But Greenwood popped up again in the third quarter to keep the Lions at bay before Eddie Betts soared for a special mark of his own.
His goal followed a string of costly Brisbane misses as the Crows built a 22-point buffer at the final break.
Brisbane stayed in it with goals to Jake Barrett and Jarrod Berry and when Oscar McInerney kicked his second the gap was just 10 with three minutes to play.
Daniel Rich then narrowly missed from 60m before the Crows whittled down the clock only for Lewis Taylor to goal after the siren.
Adelaide will sweat on the health of Tom Doedee (concussion) and Lachlan Murphy (nose).
Both left the ground following heavy knocks and didn’t return, leaving Adelaide down on troops for a bulk of the second half.
