Only one goal separated Richmond and Brisbane at half-time. But there was a much greater differential in the free kick count, which Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was happy to point out.

The Tigers jumped the Lions early on Friday night, kicking the first three goals of the game to take a 19-point lead after the first 12 minutes of the game.

But the Lions surged back into the contest off the back of their attack on the ball. That was personified by their contested possession dominance, winning the count by +31 from the eight-minute mark of the first term to half-time.

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Brisbane’s ability to win the ball at the source led to a big differential in free kicks. At half-time, the Lions led the free kick count 21-6.

“Gee the free kick count is lopsided … The Tigers will be blowing up won’t they?” triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown told Fox Footy.

“Holding the ball has been quicker and they’ve been a bit hotter on the whistle tonight.”

Hardwick was well aware of the count when interviewed at half-time.

“Yeah 6-21 free kicks, it’s pretty hard to win the ball when you’re either second to it or the count’s not going our way,” Hardwick told Channel 7.

“We’ve just got to get the ball going our way. We’ve got a young midfield, we understand that, but we need to start getting a little bit of luck I reckon.”

The count evened up somewhat across the second half, with the Lions still leading 28-16 at full-time. But it mattered little as the Lions ran out 28-point winners.

A lot of the free kicks weren’t necessarily due to the Lions’ ability to win the ball first, with a couple of ill-disciplined free kicks from Richmond players. Dylan Grimes gave away two in a row in the second term, leading to a Lions goal to Eric Hipwood.

It was a similar story to last year’s Lions qualifying final win over Richmond, which saw the Tigers give away several ill-disciplined free kicks.

“They play on the edge,” St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt told Fox Footy.

“At times it’s their greatest strength, their desperation and their hunger. (But) it makes them a little bit vulnerable and we’ve seen Brisbane punish them a couple of times.”

However as foxfooty.com.au reporter Max Laughton pointed out, the Tigers have been ranked 18th or 17th for free kick differential in four of the past five seasons.