Preview AFL Round 8 Brisbane Lions V Geelong

[pod17]

Don't mind a loss like tonights as long as some new things are tried. Firstly, give the young guys in the twos a go. Maybe give Cornelius another crack, maybe give Proud an extended run in the side to see if he can cut it at AFL level, maybe give Bartlett a shot on the wing etc.

Secondly kick it long to the FF line instead of trying to pinpoint a pass at CHF. We have the tall timber to take a mark and Banfield to do the crumbing. This is where we broke down all night.

Still, as bad as tonight was, Polkinghorne's game was good and Rich looks as if he is getting back into some touch.

 

[Last of the Roys]

Brown shanked a kick or two as well. Should he be dropped?

And could you please point us to footage of Charman's exquisite skills?

I thought Leuie was one of the few on the ground that outpointed his opponent tonight and is coming along nicely.

Firstly, the whole team was absolutely pathetic tonight. Black looked liked the only one that never gave up.

But Leunberger was an absolute piece of poo. Every week on here people are saying how he is coming a long. I see Voss praise him after games, but I really don't get it - if he has deserved praise then we must be setting the bar extremely low. I don't see any aggression. I don't see any smarts at all in his ruck work (in fact I see the complete opposite). I don't see second efforts in the ruck. I don't see any disposal skills at all. Yeah you have to take into account at midfield is at its lowest ebb, but most of the things he did against Geelong led to turnovers.

I am not a Staker fan, and he did a few weak / poor things early against Geelong, but I really liked his effort in the ruck. I couldn't believe it, someone actually going after the ball after they have contested the hit out. Wow, is that really possible???

 

[Vipertooth]

Since when did I start supporting Richmond What a terrible month

 

[dannitori]

Since when did I start supporting Richmond What a terrible month

Thank you. That comment provided me with my first laugh in 4 weeks!
We are shocking... if we lose to Adelaide next week, we are seriously in trouble

 

[maggotman]

lol lol lol. gosh we are good. what a team!

the only good thing that will happen this season is that bollywood will get
to the grand final and loose against geelong.

that always comes a close second to brisbane winning the flag!

next post from me will be march next year.

ciao

 

[Judge]

Just a few comments, on a day when it is easy to be hyper-critical.

Matt Austin: I see no point in continuing to play him. He has a go, is physically OK, but it seems clear to me that he just doesn't have, and won't develop, the skills to make it at the top level.

Cheynee Stiller: I like Cheynee, he's a good runner, courageous, not a bad mark but he's plateaued and there's no chance of him ever improving our team. You know what you're going to get with Cheynee, and that's the problem. Vossy will no doubt continue to pick him at this point, but unfortunately this year must be his last.

Amon Buchanan: the worst of our trades, slow and unskilled and a shadow of the player he once was at the Swans. At his age, should only be played in an emergency.

Redden: why play him when his hip problem clearly means he can't kick? Like a young thoroughbred, he needs a spell to get his body right.

These guys weren't necessarily the worst last night, but my thoughts on them continued to crystallise as the game went on (and on...).

Unfortunately I haven't seen the Ressies play this year so I can't authoritatively suggest who should come in for the above, but Cornelius must surely be due for a go, maybe Collier, Harwood if he is fit. I'm assuming we have to give Bartlett an extended run in the 2's to get some confidence and match fitness before trialling him. Selwood for Buchanan.

Sorry guys, but I'm really struggling to see or say anything positive given our last month.

 

[Mooch]

But Leunberger was an absolute piece of poo. Every week on here people are saying how he is coming a long. I see Voss praise him after games, but I really don't get it - if he has deserved praise then we must be setting the bar extremely low. I don't see any aggression. I don't see any smarts at all in his ruck work (in fact I see the complete opposite). I don't see second efforts in the ruck. I don't see any disposal skills at all. Yeah you have to take into account at midfield is at its lowest ebb, but most of the things he did against Geelong led to turnovers.

I'm glad you posted that, I thought it was just me are continually reading praise of him on here. He won his share of hitouts tonight but he put every one in the same spot and was completely predictable. But around the ground he was terrible. He couldn't kick, handball, tackle or mark, which doesn't leave a great deal does it?

The only positive thing I could say is that at least he kept getting involved.

 

[Koji]

Is it me or does the team handball more than required? Not only that they handball to a contest. Just kick the flipping thing down 50m if you're going to put it into a contest then at least it's 50m away from goal.

Rich has handball'd nearly as much as he has kicked so far this year.

 

[acuguy]

We need to find a Lewis Jetta in the next draft.

Big problem is we are really hoping the likes of Rich and Redded to stand up and play big roles in games-unfair on 2nd year players

The Berger has been absolutely cruelled by injuries since he has been with us. He is 2 pre seasons off really becoming a very good player. Ruckman are 5-7 year investments- look at Cox!

 

[Duritz]

look at Cox!

I saw quite a bit of Cox on the TV yesterday. It looked to me like Big Cox was feeling the pinch. (*snort*) In fact, at times, they really put the squeeze on Cox (*ha!*). If I don't know better... I'd say Cox wasn't as hard as he once was!!!

 

[whatboutbob]

I'm glad you posted that, I thought it was just me are continually reading praise of him on here. He won his share of hitouts tonight but he put every one in the same spot and was completely predictable. But around the ground he was terrible.

If he was tapping it to the same spot repeatedly then it didn't stop him from putting it down our midfield's throats at least a half dozen times. I'm not saying he set the world on fire, but I do maintain that he continues to improve. For a young ruck as inexperienced as he is, that's all one can ask.

 

[wabaa]

If you are some sort of sadist, the replay is on One HD now

 

[lionshine]

There are a thousand negatives to come out of that game so I am going to look at the positives!

Hawksley was our best defender by far last night, had awsome rebound, took some great marks and had good disposal.

Polkinghorne was really good and should play over guys like Stiller and Buchannan when all the injured guys come back!

and finally Leuenberger, was our best player last night IMHO! Won the hitouts worked hard to get the footy and didn't give up all night. We have a special one here! I say give Fevola a rest, put Clark at full forward and elevate McCauley so he can play back up ruck to Leuy! However even when Fevola comes back we should play Clark at Ruck Rover or the wing and have Leuy and Broc doing Ruck duties(Clark 3rd man up)

Thoughts?

 

[sherrin_footy]

where is that thread where we are evaluating the new recruits that the lions team traded in?

 

[Nuggo]

If he was tapping it to the same spot repeatedly then it didn't stop him from putting it down our midfield's throats at least a half dozen times. I'm not saying he set the world on fire, but I do maintain that he continues to improve. For a young ruck as inexperienced as he is, that's all one can ask.

Plus he looks like he floats across the ground when he moves and can side step a midfielder no worries. He part of our midfield group that is going to take time to develop. Something which we don't have a lot of but that is the way it is.

 

[whatboutbob]

Sherrin - Private board I believe.

Hawks and Polks were indeed pretty good.

It is a pet peeve of mine, but I really wish Adcock would stop appealing for free kicks while play flows by him. It is not a leadership quality.

 

[Back2Back2Back]

Is it me or does the team handball more than required? Not only that they handball to a contest. Just kick the flipping thing down 50m if you're going to put it into a contest then at least it's 50m away from goal.

Rich has handball'd nearly as much as he has kicked so far this year.

For the love of god, yes. Way too much handballing at the moment, and it seems the plan is to always handball back in to traffic. I felt that a lot of our backline clearance attempts were felled through that final handball, and in many occasions it just isn't necessary.

I noted too that the occasions where we did belt it forward fast we actually did some good with it too, the attempts to run with handballs really hindered true movement - especially with a team that manned up so well. But chief among all issues last night, I was most frustrated with how slowly we entered our 50, and when we did, it was usually with a ****y little chip that allowed defenders to easily interfere.

 

[Nuggo]

There are a thousand negatives to come out of that game so I am going to look at the positives!

Hawksley was our best defender by far last night, had awsome rebound, took some great marks and had good disposal.

As a team we Rolled over in the first five minutes. With or without injuries we should be better than that. As a team we weren't prepared, our minds certainly weren't in the right place.

But yer I thought Hawksley is improving and is cementing a spot in that backline.

Unless Fev is really injured he plays. It is the only way the team will achieve an understanding of each other. Gotta remember this is his first year with new team mates and a midfield that struggles to get constant clean entries into the forward fifty to his advantage.

 

[Lehmo87]

I'd like to know the score in the last 3 or 4 minutes of each qtr. I suspect we'd be 5 or 6 goals closer if it wasn't for all those late goals

I thought I'd have a look at goals scored in time on and it really is quite damning. The score in time on was the Lions 2-8-20 as compared to the Cats 10-5-65 and, though we still wouldn't have won, it shows that we were far closer in my opinion than the scoreboard suggests - we just failed in stopping Geelong's momentum late in quarters. Also, we were most inaccurate during this period of the game scoring 2.8 as compared to 8.6 during the first 20min of each qtr.

 

[Axel.]

Agreed. Hawks probably played his best game for us.

 

[Nuggo]

I thought I'd have a look at goals scored in time on and it really is quite damning. The score in time on was the Lions 2-8-20 as compared to the Cats 10-5-65 and, though we still wouldn't have won, it shows that we were far closer in my opinion than the scoreboard suggests - we just failed in stopping Geelong's momentum late in quarters. Also, we were most inaccurate during this period of the game scoring 2.8 as compared to 8.6 during the first 20min of each qtr.

This is because it is part of the Cats game plan. At the end of each quarter is when that little of bit of fatigue sets in. They are mentally tough and just turn up the gas and blow teams away.

 

[John]

Can't wait to here your views Grim!

I hear that school teachers are under paid.

 

[Tassie4ever]

An appalling effort, by far our worst for probably years. Right back to the fat Chris Johnson days when total mediocrity ruled.

Anyone taking comfort from last night's performance is kidding themselves. Let's look at it from the old Richie Benaud perspective when the Aussies play NZ- who in the Kiwi side would get in the Aussie side? Last night- Maguire probably, Brown certainly, Leuenberger and perhaps Rich as project trainees for maybe 20% game time each [provided they adhered to team rules], Black off the bench, then who else would get in the Cats' side?

I can accept we were well beaten by a far superior side. What is far harder to accept is players not going hard at the ball, having a peek before deciding whether to commit, giving up on the chase. There were lots of examples of this last night. The video run-through will be a real embarassment to many.

As the crew on NIRS were saying last night, post-game, the toss of the dice with the mature age recruitment program looks to have been a failure with only one real positive, and that's Maguire. As for the rest, you can see why they weren't required by their old clubs, and that includes Fev who is a shadow of his former self [and very unfortunately, the body language isn't good- get used to the crappy service Fev, Brown has had to put up with it for years].

Most worryingly, the 2nd tier players like Redden, Austin, Rischitelli and Patfull seem to have dropped right off. As for Stiller- I haven't played footy for many a long year, but in the odd kick down the park I can guarantee that unlike him I can kick 35m no worries- this is simply nowhere near acceptable. More than that, it's downright pathetic.

We need to rebuild, but how? From the 1 1/2 quarters of the 2's that I saw, there's precious little there to assist. Maybe McCauley and Collier.

Maybe this is the doom and gloom of the day after, but I can't see us winning more than 1 or 2 for the remainder of the season.

 

[JB75]

I find it very strange that Travis Johnstone is always the first dropped - I thought he was playing back this year and yet somehow because our midfield can't compete, it is Travis' fault? Last week they threw him into the midfield after all else failed and he didn't have his best game. At least he gets the ball and is composed when he gets it, unlike many of the other panic merchants we have down back. Travis has been in our top five players this season - he sometimes makes mistakes, but at least he is not invisible like about one third of the side. Johnstone would have got a game in the Geelong side last night but is not good enough to get a game with us? Austin, Raines, McGrath, Patful, Polkinghorne, Adcock, Rich and Redden have all contributed far less than Travis Johnstone this year.

I am having some serious doubts about Voss' ability to coach. He inherited a game plan from Matthews which the players were well drilled in. Much of our success last year was acheived on the back of the game plan the players were already drilled in. Our back 6 was a strength, Merrett, Patful, MacDonald, Drummond and McGrath had played a lot of footy together and were predictable to each other, understood each others games and rebounded well. A good defence is built over years, so why Voss felt he had to dismantle this is bemusing.

Raines is a one trick pony, he has blinkered vision, is a poor decision maker, has zero composure under actual or perceived pressure and has a hit or miss approach on the football which on occasion looks good, but requires him to overcommit which more often than not results in the ball getting behind him. He is not in the same league as MacDonald, the man he replaced.

Voss has completely ruined Patful's confidence by trying to make him into a midfielder - he looks like he doubts whether he is good enough to even play at AFL level.

Adcock is hugely over-rated. He is slow, goes to ground often, overcommits to the tackle and lacks penetration with his kicking. He has no real weapons in his game and spends more time waving his arms around telling others what to do than actually getting a kick. Adcock is just an average player with an inflated reputation.

Maguire has battled well and is a good professional and a handy addition, but the backline has not gelled at all, the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.

This 2010 team is truly Voss' team, he hand picked his recruits, cut some guys he didn't think had a future and has had enough time to introduce his own game style. The last few weeks have been the most disorganised performances I can remember from a Brisbane Lions team- there is no pattern of ball movement or players running to designated spaces.

Fevola is playing like a 110kg crumber and is not giving us structure by leading hard and often and creating spills. When the ball is kicked to him, he is cheating, trying to drop behind his opponent and get cheap goals. He is not attcking the ball and/or splitting packs and creating opportunities for others which is what he is paid to do. At least Bradshaw gave an honest account of himself.

I notice Voss is now coaching from the sidelines as if he were coaching a developing side. Isn't this the same guy who topped up the list to compete for a flag in the short term? He can't have it both ways. He may have fallen for the three card trick of thinking his side only needed a tweak to win a flag ala Danny Frawley/Terry Wallace.

 

[Nuggo]

Attacking the mature age recruiting program seems unwarranted really. What did we pay for these guys? Bar Fev nothing. Who did they replace on the list? Under achievers bar Bradshaw. We certainly haven't lost doing it but at this stage probably haven't struck gold that some may have hoped for.