The visitors won 15.23 (113) to 15.10 (100), but not before the Lions reduced a 26-point lead to just six points in an exhilarating final quarter surge.
Not only did the Lions lose the match, but they also lost stars Jared Brennan (ankle) and Josh Drummond (knee) to serious injuries.
Drummond is likely to miss the season with an ACL, while Brennan will undergo scans on Monday to assess his damage. Both hobbled off during the third quarter and did not return.
The Lions lost Joel Patfull (hamstring) before the match and were also without Matt Maguire (suspended), Daniel Merrett and Mitch Clark (injured), but Fremantle deserved its win and only poor kicking kept the Lions in the match for as long as they did.
Captain Matthew Pavlich was one of the guilty culprits, finishing with 3.4, but he was a star for his team whether up forward or in the middle.
Steven Hill was all class in the midfield, while Chris Tarrant and Luke McPharlin wore respective opponents Jonathan Brown (one goal) and Brendan Fevola (three) like gloves.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said winning the club’s first match at the Gabba was a great milestone.
“I think it’s significant, it’s a big trip, a six-day break, young side. A lot of things went our way tonight. They got a couple of injuries before the game and during the game so all that helps and you take it while you can,” he said.
“We had a lot of inaccuracy, even four or five out of bounds on the full on top of the points, so I think the pleasing part from our point of view was we hit the scoreboard regularly - it wasn’t accurate enough though.
“That’s the problem when you’re on the road, you need to be accurate, you need to have a high tackle count and you need to win contested ball. We had two out of three, but we just couldn’t capitalise and put in a big enough space.”
Freo lead at every change and their slick ball movement was a feature in the first three terms before the Lions made a trademark final quarter surge.
Simon Black with 36 disposals and two goals was close to best on ground in a losing team, while Michael Rischitelli also tried hard.
Despite the injuries, Lions coach Michael Voss was not using them as an excuse for his team’s third straight defeat.
“I’ve never really been into blaming that,” he said.
“I think when you come in, despite injuries, our set ups are the same, our structures are the same, our roles don’t change, the attitude we carry should not move, I don’t believe in using the injuries as a reason and I won’t.
“That would be an excuse for a performance when you know that if we’re disciplined in our approach and we can execute what we want to be able to in our team strategy, you’ve seen what we can do. Two down on the interchange bench, last quarter, we come home, so it’s got nothing to do with that.
“I’m sure it’s a factor but I don’t really buy into it because there’s enough capability in the group to get past that.”
And the Lions almost did, with successive fourth quarter goals to Cheynee Stiller, Fevola, Todd Banfield and Ash McGrath bringing the 27,739 home fans to their feet.
But Stiller and Banfield both sprayed shots when trailing by just six points and Fremantle hung on to win to improve its record to 6-1.
Harvey said his side would likely make four or five changes ahead of next Friday night’s home match against Collingwood.
Voss said he would assess his casualty ward before making decisions on who would line up against Geelong at the Gabba next Saturday night.
Brisbane Lions 5.2 6.4 10.7 15.10 (100)
Fremantle 5.5 9.9 12.15 15.23 (113)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Fevola 3, Banfield 2, Black 2, Brown, Drummond, McGrath, Rich, Rischitelli, Rockliff, Sherman, Stiller.
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, Johnson 2, Haselby 2, Ballantyne 2, Barlow, Fyfe, Mayne, Morabito, Palmer, Sandilands.
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Black, Rischitelli, McGrath, Staker, Power, Sherman
Fremantle: Hill, Mundy, Tarrant, McPharlin, Barlow, Pavlich, Ballantyne
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Patfull, Drummond (knee), Brennan (ankle)
Fremantle: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, McInerney, Mollison
Official crowd: 27,739 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
