Brown's Brisbane beat Bombers

Essendon slumped deeper into crisis as Brisbane captain Jonathan Brown celebrated
his 200th game in a 27-point win over the Bombers.
The 14.11 (95) to 10.8 (68) result on Sunday at Etihad Stadium represented another
bad day for coach Matthew Knights as speculation rages about his future.
Brown was best afield with 16 marks and four goals in his return from a corked knee.
Essendon will start a review of their football department after next Saturday's
round 22 game against the Western Bulldogs.
The Bombers aim to finish the review by the first week of October and it is becoming
more likely by the day that Knights will lose his job once the season is over.
This was Essendon's third-straight loss, following woeful performances against
Carlton and Collingwood, and they will finish in the bottom four.
Apart from the last term, when they kicked six goals to two, they were equally poor
against Brisbane.
Club legend James Hird dramatically ramped up the pressure last week when he said he
would like to coach the Bombers one day.
Although Hird said later in the week that he had changed his mind, the extensive
damage was done.
Injuries have not hurt Knights' cause and the Bombers were weakened further when
ruckman Patrick Ryder was a late withdrawal with a virus.
That meant only seven Essendon players had 50-plus games experience.
The Lions quickly took control, with Brown kicking the first goal of the game and
Brisbane posting another two before Essendon were on the board.
Brisbane led by 20 points at the main break in a low-quality contest, where
turnovers were depressingly frequent from the two teams.
At quarter-time, six Essendon players had none or one possession.
Lions midfielder Troy Selwood was taken to hospital after a heavy collision with
Essendon's Kyle Hardingham on the wing during the second term.
Hardingham collected Selwood across the chest, but there was nothing illegal about
the contact.
Brown kicked all his goals in the first half.
Brisbane extended their lead to 45 points early in the third term before the Bombers
made a brief comeback, kicking two goals.
But Essendon conceded a costly double-goal late in the term after some poor
discipline from Kyle Reimers.
Michael Rischitelli had just kicked a goal when Reimers was penalised for contact
with Jack Redden, who was given a set shot from 10m out before the ball returned to
the centre.
Brisbane led by a game-high 58 points at nine minutes into the final term before the
Bombers restored a little respectability with a run of five goals.
Rischitelli also starred with 28 disposals and two goals, while Ben Howlett
impressed for Essendon.