Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has lauded the record-breaking efforts of star midfielder Josh Dunkley in Saturday night's semi-final win over Gold Coast.
Dunkley discussed the plan to go head-to-head with Rowell once more in Fagan's office early into the week, with the former Bulldog keen to exact revenge after the Suns gun got the upper hand in their duel in Round 20.
That contest saw the Suns cruise to an 11-goal victory, with Rowell collecting 37 disposals, 12 tackles and 15 clearances in a likely three-vote performance.
The earlier QClash between the two clubs in Round 8 saw Dunkley land the first punch, limiting Rowell to just one clearance for the game - just the fourth time in his career.
Come the most significant game in Queensland football on Saturday night, Dunkley was looking forward to the chance of quelling Rowell and booking his side a spot in a preliminary final.
The Lions veteran not only limited Rowell to the 23 disposals and six clearances, but had a finals record 18 tackles of his own to go with his 20 touches and four clearances.
"Our pressure and intensity was really up," Fagan said post-game.
"It was really important tonight that we win clearance and not let Rowell dominate us like he did last time. I thought Josh Dunkley did a super job on him.
"That tackle count of 18 is phenomenal. That's Josh for you. He's one of the great blokes to coach.
"He wanted Rowell early in the week, and he got that job done because he felt he didn't get it done last time. So that was important.
"He was disappointed in how he went last time. He kept him to one clearance, then he had 15 when we played them down on the Gold Coast.
"He just wasn't happy about that, and he wanted to fix it. It's just the nature of the beast."
In the absence of dual-Brownlow Medal winner Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage was another onballer looking to bounce back in the semi-final after being kept to a season-low 14 disposals in last week's loss to Geelong.
McCluggage had 21 disposals against the Suns by the main break of the must-win final, ending the evening with a game-high 33 touches.
Gold Coast did manage to limit McCluggage's use by foot however, with the All-Australian having one kick for every two handballs.
Fagan admitted it was an "uncharacteristic" outcome for his gun midfielder, but the Lions coach played down any injury concern raised, given McCluggage had his knee strapped after a recent knock.
"That's just how it panned out. His knee is fine. It looks dramatic with all that strapping on it," Fagan said.
"He got a knock on it about a month ago, but (the strapping) is just for protective purposes.
"The handball stat, that's just uncharacteristic. He just does what he has to do in any given circumstance. Perhaps tonight he was just caught in handball positions."
Another standout from Brisbane's latest September victory came in the form of co-captain Harris Andrews, who was switched onto Suns spearhead Ben King after quarter time due to the Gold Coast forward's dominant opening term.
King had handled Andrews' defensive partner Darcy Gardiner with some ease to open the game, booting two goals from three scoring shots to have the Suns only a point shy of their state rivals at the opening break.
Fagan opted to move Andrews to King for the remainder of the game, with the latter kept to just three touches and no scores from that point on.
The Lions coach admitted he got the initial Gardiner-King matchup wrong" to start the game, and that Andrews would go on to play a "blinder" by the end of the night.
"I thought Harris Andrews played an absolute blinder," Fagan said.
"We probably got that matchup wrong to start the game. We changed it pretty quickly/
"I thought when Harris went to King, King virtually didn't have an influence at all, and Harris had a huge influence."
Brisbane's win sees them set up a return to the MCG next Saturday to take on Collingwood, with a spot in the AFL Grand Final against one of Geelong or Hawthorn up for grabs.
