“It was an intense game. From the first bounce there was to-ing and fro-ing from both sides of the fence. Players across the field stepped up to the line all game, and I acknowledge that I certainly crossed that,” he said.

McCarthy and Petty also had an altercation during the 2022 semi-final between the two sides when the Lions forward was clearly seen mocking Petty for crying.

Both coaches, Lions’ Chris Fagin and Demons’ Simon Goodwin, said they didn’t see the incident on Thursday night, and declined to comment.

It was a sour note in Brisbane’s comprehensive 22-point win over top-four side Melbourne to notch their first back-to-back wins this season, after downing 17th-placed North Melbourne the week prior.

Key defender Jack Payne said it was he was impressed with his side, who “played unbelievably well”.

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“I thought the way we played tonight was pretty much the same as how we played last week. Some of our chase, our pressure was unreal and we forced Melbourne to cough it [the ball] up a lot of the time,” said Payne.

Lions tall forwards Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood both fired early with two opening terms goals, and exciting goalscorer Charlie Cameron finished the night with four majors.

“It was great to watch from our end,” said Payne. “They were coming out of the centre square and each time the boys chased them high and came forward and put the pressure on. And obviously, we were able to rebound the other way and kick a lot of goals from that momentum. So, yeah, unreal”.

Goodwin conceded Brisbane beat them “in all phases of the game”.

“They were stronger, they were cleaner, they transitioned the ball better and they defended better,” said Goodwin.

“So, that makes the game pretty tough. So, for us, we walk away and we’ve got some work to do.”

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