I think the Lions' lack of forward line structure is going to be found out a bit this game, and exposes a weakness on our list. No Hipwood and McStay would be like the Dogs losing Bruce and Naughton in terms of structure. Add Rayner out and that's three best 22 starting forwards missing.
McStay is also leads our forwards in terms of inside 50 tackles, so he'll be a loss on that side too. The defensive efforts of Daniher and Cameron especially, was quite disappointing last week.
Looking at our side, I suspect we'll throw one of our key defenders up forward. Adams probably makes the most sense, but he's also our most in form key defender and was one of the few that had a decent game against Melbourne. Andrews and Gardiner both are struggling with injury it seems. Will be interesting to see what the coaching staff do.
McInerney in the ruck will be a potential advantage for the Lions. He had his colours well and truly lowered by Naitanui who was incredible, but before and after that he's done well against Darcy, Grundy and Gawn. English and Young should be an easier match-up for him, and we need him to have a very good game because the Dogs midfield is deeper than ours. I like the inclusion of Robertson, because he's shown he can do a decent job lining up on inside mids like Selwood, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to Libba.
Do not feel good about this game at all, especially with our forward line structure the way it is. Scoring well has been our biggest strength, and our capacity to score well has taken a significant hit.
McStay is also leads our forwards in terms of inside 50 tackles, so he'll be a loss on that side too. The defensive efforts of Daniher and Cameron especially, was quite disappointing last week.
Looking at our side, I suspect we'll throw one of our key defenders up forward. Adams probably makes the most sense, but he's also our most in form key defender and was one of the few that had a decent game against Melbourne. Andrews and Gardiner both are struggling with injury it seems. Will be interesting to see what the coaching staff do.
McInerney in the ruck will be a potential advantage for the Lions. He had his colours well and truly lowered by Naitanui who was incredible, but before and after that he's done well against Darcy, Grundy and Gawn. English and Young should be an easier match-up for him, and we need him to have a very good game because the Dogs midfield is deeper than ours. I like the inclusion of Robertson, because he's shown he can do a decent job lining up on inside mids like Selwood, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to Libba.
Do not feel good about this game at all, especially with our forward line structure the way it is. Scoring well has been our biggest strength, and our capacity to score well has taken a significant hit.
