Review Round 15, 2022 - Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions

[FeastOrFamine]

I was on my first date and missed most of the game last night, what the hell happened?

From the snippets I saw, we seemed to just be pissing with the ball and doing dainty little kicks around to other teammates, inviting Melbourne pressure that would lead to turnovers and running goals. I thought we were beyond losses of that calibre but when you're midfield goes to water like that I suppose anything can happen. Pretty disappointing that we failed yet another big test away from home.

 

[jjami15]

Mighty Lions should stay off here for awhile. There are a myriad of reasons for last night and the majority here have outlined them.

Reality check? You bet your life but there should have been already when we have now lost to the other teams around us in Geelong, Freo and Dees. Maybe that’s where we truly are. If so, I hope that the club has an honest look at our list, coaching set up, playing style and do something different for crying out loud. It’s the same playing style year after year. The same players year after year. Every team knows how we play and that it’s Neale or bust. The other top teams don’t fear us.

I’ll highlight one thing from last that speaks volumes in my eyes. In the second quarter when Fritsch kneed Lyons in the gut. That knee was a second motion, he jumped and raised his knee to jump and then raised his leg that he pushed off of and into Lyons. That was not an accident. Tell me, how many of our players ran over and remonstrated with him. None! Not one.

 

[Mighty Lions]

Going to be a lot of talk about us being pretenders after that display, and rightfully so.

Demons were awesome but we just did not go with them when they amped the pressure up. Everytime we play them they bully our midfield and we end up bombing it long to 40m out and getting intercepted with ease.

A lot of work to do between now and September if we want things to go any differently than the last few seasons.

Happy for us to be labelled pretenders by media and opposition supporters for the remainder of the season.

Not happy for any Brisbane Lions supporters doing the same.

First 1/4 was good while Neale was in control. Too many passengers once Neale was shut down.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Mighty Lions should stay off here for awhile. There are a myriad of reasons for last night and the majority here have outlined them.

Reality check? You bet your life but there should have been already when we have now lost to the other teams around us in Geelong, Freo and Dees. Maybe that’s where we truly are. If so, I hope that the club has an honest look at our list, coaching set up, playing style and do something different for crying out loud. It’s the same playing style year after year. The same players year after year. Every team knows how we play and that it’s Neale or bust. The other top teams don’t fear us.

I’ll highlight one thing from last that speaks volumes in my eyes. In the second quarter when Fritsch kneed Lyons in the gut. That knee was a second motion, he jumped and raised his knee to jump and then raised his leg that he pushed off of and into Lyons. That was not an accident. Tell me, how many of our players ran over and remonstrated with him. None! Not one.

I still have belief in this group that they can jag at least one flag, but we aren't going anywhere until we fix our deplorable midfield. I don't like questioning player hunger or commitment but that performance is beyond getting a baking from the coach, we simply wilted away and let Melbourne bully us for most of the night. The coaching group have a lot of work to do to get this group going.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Happy for us to be labelled pretenders by media and opposition supporters for the remainder of the season.

Not happy for any Brisbane Lions supporters doing the same.

First 1/4 was good while Neale was in control. Too many passengers once Neale was shut down.

I don't have a problem with calling out this team for repeatedly shitting the bed against other top teams. We're supposed to be the only other team that can challenge Melbourne, but we folded like wet paper bags.

Look at our numbers, 10-4 but we've lost to every other team in the top 4. We can't keep plodding along expecting our best form to just show up.

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Dylan12 used to often say we did not have a good enough team to go all the way. Unfortunately it is starting to become apparent that he was correct.

Is Hipwood OK? Has his knee ruined him? Does he play Twos next week? McStay had one of his invisible games.


Oscar was OK but he is never going to be elite and Fort is worse. Lyons has seen better days and apart from Neale we lack a 30 a day disposal winner and I don't see one in the Twos.

Tom Berry as a small forward? We have to give Matho a spot as we need to win games. He has been much better then Tom Berry at the same level and I am firmly of the opinion that Tom will never make it.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Dylan12 used to often say we did not have a good enough team to go all the way. Unfortunately it is starting to become apparent that he was correct.

Is Hipwood OK? Has his knee ruined him? Does he play Twos next week? McStay had one of his invisible games.


Oscar was OK but he is never going to be elite and Fort is worse. Lyons has seen better days and apart from Neale we lack a 30 a day disposal winner and I don't see one in the Twos.

Tom Berry as a small forward? We have to give Matho a spot as we need to win games. He has been much better then Tom Berry at the same level and I am firmly of the opinion that Tom will never make it.

Not much Hipwood can do atm with the way the midfield is playing. We were asking similar questions about Cam and look how he's going now. Hippy will take some time, personally, I'd cut him some slack.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Please Fages, don't give a youngster a debut in a primetime top four clash again. Save it for Saturday games against the bottom teams next time.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Not much Hipwood can do atm with the way the midfield is playing.

Well he can not kick it straight to the opposition, that'd be useful.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Well he can not kick it straight to the opposition, that'd be useful.

that was a howler

 

[mpal6]

We are at pretty interesting crossroads now as a club. Coach is being challenged on what he believes as his core side with players out of form or playing poorly - it'll be interesting to see how Fagan responds to this one.

Personally, I'd start investing time into a "future" side which will eventually stand up against bigger midfields. If it means Robertson takes over from Lyons permanently then so be it. Berry/Rayner 60-70% through the middle, then do that too. Even try Starcevich with the midfield crew, he has the size and mongrel to actually do a proper defensive job as well as win the footy. Play Wilmot or Carter if they're ready in a defensive role. I liked Tunstill on the wing, lacks size but gave it a red hot go when it was his turn to do it. I think we found one there, needs one more pre-season in the gym and stack up some kgs.

I'll swap Answerth out and bring in Madden. Answerth may be decent against 5-18 sides but is getting exposed against top 4. He could not keep up to Kozzy yesterday and his loopy over the shoulder kicks were doing my head in. Even last year when we lost that game in Sydney it was Kozzy who initially turned it on and I felt we were missing Madden even then. Madden can do a shutdown job and add more pace to defense.

Fagan may have to challenge himself on his belief on this side and fix the glaring problem in the middle. Who knows, making these moves may uncover something which we haven't stumbled upon yet and find a mix that actually goes well even for this year.

 

[mpal6]

Please Fages, don't give a youngster a debut in a primetime top four clash again. Save it for Saturday games against the bottom teams next time.

First 10 rounds this year could have been better for debuts.
But hey, you could only honor form when they're in form so it is what it is

 

[Scubaveg]

And this dribble from ****. Out of character BS. The world saw this coming. We are flat track bullies, unfortunately going nowhere.

It's time for midfield revamp, Jarrod Lyons is sadly done. He needs to go, as Robo, Tom Berry isn't AFL standard. And very surprisingly neither is Noah.

Lyons out move Rayner in there permanently, bring cockatoo in to play Rayner role up forward.
Bring Harry Sharp in for Robbo on the wing, Ah Chee for Tom Berry and young Wilmont for Answerth


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[Nathan Barley]

We had 5 of the 7 least experience players last night

 

[dlanod]

Is Hipwood OK? Has his knee ruined him? Does he play Twos next week?

He's obviously still very rusty IMO - getting few kicks in less space and substantially fewer shots on goal. Remember he just came back from a year out - most don't get back to full speed until the following season because of missing preseason and a heap of maintenance over the year, even if the recovery is straightforward.

If you drop him, will that help him? Probably not. Will that help the team? Well, Fort comes in so maybe.

 

[KissKiss]

View attachment 1431040

And this dribble from ****. Out of character BS. The world saw this coming. We are flat track bullies, unfortunately going nowhere.

It's time for midfield revamp, Jarrod Lyons is sadly done. He needs to go, as Robo, Tom Berry isn't AFL standard. And very surprisingly neither is Noah.

Lyons out move Rayner in there permanently, bring cockatoo in to play Rayner role up forward.
Bring Harry Sharp in for Robbo on the wing, Ah Chee for Tom Berry and young Wilmont for Answerth


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Out of character? This happens everytime we play at the G. It happens the last few games against Melbourne. This was highly predictable.

The rest of us were hoping we had learned lessons but doesn't seem outwardly that Fagan has

 

[snooplions]

100% the reality check we needed. We are already being passed by Freo because of what reasons? Mental toughness from my view point.

What is the difference between this team and the great team of the early 2000’s who didn’t fall to water every big game at the G, or every big final at the Gabba? You know we never lost a final at the Gabba until 2019? We were 11/11 and now we are 12/17.

This group has been built from the ground up and I love that we are towards the top again but it’s been coddled to death. We have never had that killer instinct programmed into us, we miss shots when we are on top and we rarely stop momentum surges or rise with a team that is stepping up like last night in the second quarter.

I love the phrase by Fagan: you win or you learn. But we’ve had enough learnings, it’s time to step up. Otherwise we will keep watching final series after finals series get pissed down the drain.

 

[Nathan Barley]

View attachment 1431040

And this dribble from ****. Out of character BS. The world saw this coming. We are flat track bullies, unfortunately going nowhere.

It's time for midfield revamp, Jarrod Lyons is sadly done. He needs to go, as Robo, Tom Berry isn't AFL standard. And very surprisingly neither is Noah.

Lyons out move Rayner in there permanently, bring cockatoo in to play Rayner role up forward.
Bring Harry Sharp in for Robbo on the wing, Ah Chee for Tom Berry and young Wilmont for Answerth


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

It’s out of character because we’ve played weaker teams.

I don’t think we played worse last night then we did against Hawthorn, GWS, Essendon, Collingwood, Adelaide and the Port games but most of those games were “bank the 4 points and move on” type games

 

[Nathan Barley]

100% the reality check we needed. We are already being passed by Freo because of what reasons? Mental toughness from my view point.

What is the difference between this team and the great team of the early 2000’s who didn’t fall to water every big game at the G, or every big final at the Gabba? You know we never lost a final at the Gabba until 2019? We were 11/11 and now we are 12/17.

This group has been built from the ground up and I love that we are towards the top again but it’s been coddled to death. We have never had that killer instinct programmed into us, we miss shots when we are on top and we rarely stop momentum surges or rise with a team that is stepping up like last night in the second quarter.

I love the phrase by Fagan: you win or you learn. But we’ve had enough learnings, it’s time to step up. Otherwise we will keep watching final series after finals series get pissed down the drain.

Freo have better midfield depth. They have Brodie, Aish, Acres and others while we have Robbo, Tunstill, Dev, TBerry and guys that aren’t AFL standard.

Plus their backline is way better setup and work together. Apart from forwards theyre clearly the superior side to us

 

[Gadzorks]

We played dumb football when we had the ball. So many times Robbo ran his guts out and was open on the half forward line in front of us and we just ignored him and kicked it to a contest 40 out where we got smashed. The 2 times they actually looked for him he kicked goals. The same thing happened to Berry at times. The Melbourne defence closed us down because they knew exactly where we were going to put the ball every time. McCluggage was the worst offender unfortunately. He got a lot of the ball but absolutely butchered it so many times,so disappointing.
Andrews and Payne were good and Coleman and Starc tried hard.
The Melbourne midfield was way too good, apply unbelievable pressure and they really run hard both ways. Oliver is like a machine,pretty well unstoppable.

We see the same thing up here re Robbo. Works his a off to be open then gets overlooked.

 

[Squizz89]

What is the difference between this team and the great team of the early 2000’s who didn’t fall to water every big game at the G, or every big final at the Gabba? You know we never lost a final at the Gabba until 2019? We were 11/11 and now we are 12/17.

Hmmm I reckon the difference to that 2000’s team is a midfield of Voss, Black, Aker, Lappin, Power etc to our 2022 midfield - Lachie Neale, certainly makes a difference mate.

Our best midfielder we have now would start on the bench in that team.

 

[Gadzorks]

We had 5 of the 7 least experience players last night

It showed. But we get to watch the experienced players run around in twos this weekend. Lucky us.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Would've been great to see Matho vs Viney last night. Spread doesn't matter if the opponents win an extra 50% contested possessions in a half. Just get it forward and let the forwards get to work

 

[Bucking Beads]

View attachment 1431040

And this dribble from ****. Out of character BS. The world saw this coming. We are flat track bullies, unfortunately going nowhere.

It's time for midfield revamp, Jarrod Lyons is sadly done. He needs to go, as Robo, Tom Berry isn't AFL standard. And very surprisingly neither is Noah.

Lyons out move Rayner in there permanently, bring cockatoo in to play Rayner role up forward.
Bring Harry Sharp in for Robbo on the wing, Ah Chee for Tom Berry and young Wilmont for Answerth


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

With Fagan saying this it has me thinking he is part of the problem and not the solution for us moving forward.

He’s done an amazing job for us but has he reached the point where he’s not the guy for the job


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[RU_]

Just realised it was Fages birthday last night too. That’s a rough one!