Lions bounce back to winners list in commanding fashion after powerful second half in Centennial Stadium derby

Royals’ quest for a premiership three-peat was significantly boosted with the return of classy WAFL player Steven Edwards, who had an immediate impact as the Lions thrashed Albany by 77 points in the Centennial Stadium derby on Saturday. The Lions bounced back to the winners’ list in commanding fashion on the back of a 13-goal second half against the Sharks, who took it right up to the reigning premiers for a half, finishing 20.8 (128) to 7.9 (51) victors. A clearance was lodged for Edwards on Thursday and it was finalised on Saturday ahead of the looming June 30 transfer deadline. Edwards played six league games for South Fremantle this season, his last on May 29, when he had 13 disposals and eight marks against West Coast. The classy 25-year-old had an immediate impact for his junior club as he kicked four goals and had 28 possessions in the Lions’ seventh win of the season. The Sharks came out of the blocks strongly kicking the first two goals of the game through the returning forward Jesse Barrett and ex-St Kilda and Fremantle player Brett Peake and they led by eight points at the first change. The reigning premiers hit back in the second and two goals from small forward Cooper Childs helped his side take a 10-point advantage into the main break. The Sharks kicked the first goal of the third stanza through Connor McCandless but it was all the Lions from that point on. Edwards booted two goals in a row, one a terrific long-range snap, before Jordan Heil made it a 23-point game midway through the third. Stephen Beal kicked two majors in quick succession, Childs added a third and then Cameron Allison slotted his second as the Lions piled on seven straight goals to open up a 47-point advantage at the last break. Peake kicked his fourth of the game for the Sharks to start the fourth term but the Lions added the next six goals to seal the big win. Playing his first game since the 2019 grand final victory, Edwards was outstanding in Lions colours and played mainly as a high half-forward with his impact growing significantly after half time. Allison had 30 touches and two goals through the midfield and Michael McGlade racked up 38 disposals as the pair dominated around the ball while Childs (four goals) and Beal (three) were strong up forward. “They brought the heat early with their tackling intensity and kicked a couple of quick goals and I thought it was good for our boys to work our way back into the game,” Lions coach Andrew Ruck said. “Having someone like Steven Edwards just helps us a lot, he’s just that class and went to another level in the second half after being pretty well held. “It’s great to get back on the winners list, the scoreboard doesn’t reflect how tough the game was” Peake kicked two goals in the opening term to give Sharks the early ascendancy and he was one of their better players finishing with 4.3 from 18 disposals. Cameron Jones worked hard all day with 24 possessions while returning youngster Fraser Eaton and defender Kyle Ryder were also telling contributors. Despite the final margin blowing out beyond 10 goals the Sharks were very impressive in the first half. “We are getting better, people can’t come and watch that and think it’s a 13 goal game,” Sharks coach Jamie Ramm said. “Obviously they blew us away in the end but our first quarter was outstanding and our second quarter was really good. “I’m proud of them and they are a very close group.” The Sharks lost captain Jake Louthean to a hamstring injury in the third quarter.