Preview Brisbane Lions v Carlton Blues PF, 5.15pm Saturday 23rd Sep 2023

[3KZ is Football]

Not unexpected, I'm backing Darcy in to do the job he's needed for. No Gunston makes sense too.

Gunston’s season is over. If we win, this is the team we take to the Grand Final, with the only change, Payne back in for Gardiner if he can get fit.

 

[iBeng]

Gunston’s season is over. If we win, this is the team we take to the Grand Final, with the only change, Payne back in for Gardiner if he can get fit.

One would certainly think so!

 

[undefined]

Ollie Lord, whom I didn't even know existed prior to the QF, kicked 4 goals. We were fine. Todd Marshall also got his 2 goals, we were fine.

If Curnow can kick 4 goals and McKay 2 goals, we know that won't be enough to win the game alone. So unless Curnow goes for 6+, I'm not too worried as long as we do our part in the middle/forward to offset whatever happens in the backline.

Jack Martin has been in excellent form, and comes back in. He'd be a primary concern of mine.

I feel the ease with which Brisbane put Carlton away hinges a lot on the midfield battle. Among other contests, it'd be significant if Dunkley can once again monster Cripps.

 

[p4p1]

On a side note the number 27 is an extremely lucky number for me, so I’ll go ahead and take Gardiner coming into the team as a good omen.

you must be Casey Stoner then. I am taking this as the greatest good omen.

 

[Viceregal]

Based on media reports this week, I don't even know who Carlton are up against.

Collingwood or GWS isn't it?

 

[Viceregal]

Let’s just hope if the umps are going to be red hot on that that they are consistent

BUAHAHAHAHAHA ... I mean yes I hope so as well indeed that is my one expectation of a ref that whatever house rules they apply they do so consistently

 

[LanceRomance]

Let’s just hope if the umps are going to be red hot on that that they are consistent because Joe in particular regularly has his arms chopped and gets nothing and I won’t get started on Charlie being constantly scragged getting nothing.

You are right, Charlie curnow the most scragged in the league

 

[SizeMatters]

Let’s just hope if the umps are going to be red hot on that that they are consistent because Joe in particular regularly has his arms chopped and gets nothing and I won’t get started on Charlie being constantly scragged getting nothing.

or the constant grabbing of Charlie. Starc does it up one end umps are caught on mic saying "watch Starcevich" but down the Lions f50 nothing on Charlies direct opponent who usually does much worse holding than Starc ever does. This happens week after week, month after month and year after year. NOTHING. It's a disgrace and I'm feeling sick even thinking about this game and how it's going to be officiated. We will be playing against 22 on field opponents Saturday night.

In saying that though sometimes I wish Charlie would play the ball a bit more and not for frees

 

[rye]

Had a feeling Jack might be done for the year, Which is horrible luck.

I still think we smash them.

agreed. been devastated about it since the injury.

luckily we have gunners contracted for next season. 2024 is the return of the king

 

[Harris Specter]

You are right, Charlie curnow the most scragged in the league

Richmond and Carlton supporters are comfortably the worst, even worse than Collingwood supporters.

 

[bungalow_bill]

I’ve felt like that before every game this season

Yep this could quite easily go pear shaped. Hopeful and think we can win but not expecting us to go in and thrash them. That's just hubris.

 

[rye]

Richmond and Carlton supporters are comfortably the worst, even worse than Collingwood supporters.

its amazing carlton supporters feel comfortable posting on other teams boards when theyre so sensitive on their own they ban you for reacting to posts over there

 

[LanceRomance]

its amazing carlton supporters feel comfortable posting on other teams boards when theyre so sensitive on their own they ban you for reacting to posts over there

I'm not a mod.

I work for a living.

 

[rye]

I'm not a mod.

I work for a living.

are you telling me bigfooty mods do all this unpaid labour for free?

 

[Cubs2Lions]

One would certainly think so!

Can’t wait for Gunston to be our sub next week if we do make the grand final, gosh the melts on here

 

[luthor]

Losing Payne might be seen as a blow but really, his form (probably affected by injury) hasn't been all that wonderful of late anyway, has it?

Gardiner is good defender and has shown an ability in the past to slot back in after missing games.


I'm really confident he can do whatever job he is assigned

 

[McIvor]

Can’t wait for Gunston to be our sub next week if we do make the grand final, gosh the melts on here

Dan Rich deserves that honour should it eventuate.

 

[Nunez]

Losing Payne might be seen as a blow but really, his form (probably affected by injury) hasn't been all that wonderful of late anyway, has it?

Gardiner is good defender and has shown an ability in the past to slot back in after missing games.


I'm really confident he can do whatever job he is assigned

His one on one win rate dropped significantly. Pre round 20 he won 80+% of one on ones. Post injury he's lost over 60%. A huge drop.

 

[luthor]

His one on one win rate dropped significantly. Pre round 20 he won 80+% of one on ones. Post injury he's lost over 60%. A huge drop.

I think it's a really good move NOT to play Payne when he's obviously carrying an injury.

A fully fit Gardiner is a better proposition than a 75% fit Payne.

It will be really interesting if we win AND Gardiner has a good game AND Payne is fit for the GF

 

[BRAB]

its amazing carlton supporters feel comfortable posting on other teams boards when theyre so sensitive on their own they ban you for reacting to posts over there

Richmond fans didn’t go full flog until they won the first premiership.

Carlton fans have gone full tilt after scraping over the line in two finals. I thought I liked Carlton fans given we shared so much time at the bottom together but they’ve gone feral so quickly.

 

[3KZ is Football]

I think it's a really good move NOT to play Payne when he's obviously carrying an injury.

A fully fit Gardiner is a better proposition than a 75% fit Payne.

It will be really interesting if we win AND Gardiner has a good game AND Payne is fit for the GF

Under those circumstances, what do you reckon Nathan Barley - drop Lester?

 

[luthor]

Under those circumstances, what do you reckon Nathan Barley - drop Lester?

Coming from you....BLASPHEMEY!!!!

 

[Thomasno]

Everyone is concerned about the Blues tall forwards (rightly so!) but I'm really concerned about their midfield. It bats deep these days. Cripps and Walsh will need to be accounted for. Dunkley on Cripps for the game of his life and I'd have Clugga play off Walsh to try to damage the Blues more so than what Walsh is capable of. Walsh is a gun and can do it all. Run all day, kick goals, inside and out. Neale will probably have Hewett on him for most of the game so hope he can find some support.

Overall though I think we match up well on the Blues and can nullify their strengths albeit a tad more difficult with Payne gone and bringing in undersized and bog average Gardiner. Let's hope we win the midfield battle.

I don’t think they tag Neale. They tried it earlier in the year, and Hewett only held Neale to 20 disposals - and we still smashed them in the middle. Plus they’ve not really run a proper tag in recent months anyway.

Works for us

 

[alscotoz2]

A few people seem to be getting themselves worked up. No need. We play close to our best, we win. Nothing Carlton have produced in the past month raises any red flags.

Looking forward to a quiet final quarter.

 

[twhowler]

Enjoying the posts here, plenty of thought-provoking stuff

PAYNE- he’s a huge loss compared to our last game v blues. But has been struggling in the past few weeks. So IF Gardiner is not too rusty we should be okay. Also depends on Lester playing well on Curnow. Biggest danger i think is Harris deciding the backline needs him intervening everywhere, creating 2v1s and letting ball spill to spare carlton player. That is our weakness after all - ground balls in defence. We need to keep CALM. Curnow has 10th most frees in the league and Gardiner likes to scrag so i’d keep dizz well away from him. We will also get probably 6-7 minutes a quarter with no third tall (tdk ruck, pittonet off) meaning harris can control the air a bit better

NEALE - almost certainly won’t cop a hard tag. Would be a huge relief for him these days. Had 2 awesome finals before prelim last year. Reckon he is primed

MIDS OVERALL - i feel like Carlton’s midfield is very good but not super quick. So our pressure and workrate has to be up. Dunkley with the soft-tag on Cripps. Have to watch Walsh’s run. Can Berry do a job outside of centre clearances? Carlton like to rotate s few through there. We should be fresh and backing our main 3 to do the job, but not be afraid of some minutes to our own pinch-hitters

RUCK - maybe the biggest change since last time. Huge match for oscar. Carlton have a decent duo. Again oscar being fresh is such a bonus for a ruck.

80+ PLEASE - this will be hard for carlton to beat. It’s generally our defence we worry more about at the gabba. Our lowest scores this year at the gabba are 64 (cats) and 72 (saints). In both games we kicked for goal terribly. Our next lowest was 87 (from 32 shots at goal). Yes it’s finals and carlton have a good defence. But we are kicking serious scores up there this year

WHO CAN BE THE ONE Weitering in great form. I think Daniher is a tricky match-up for him though - gets on the move. Charlie has gone well v blues. Intriguing they are bringing in Boyd, might get the job? Bailey kicked a pearler then did nothing. Rayner in great form. Hippy did everything well barr kicking in qf. Lot for them to contain

BUT PLEASE PLEASE DON’T JUST BOMB Weitering very good in the air. Marchbank took a few last week. McGovern zones off. And we play 2 KFs now. Our most painful finals losses tactically were gws 2019 and dogs 2021. So much mindless kicking long. We have adjusted this year but tight finals have a way of making teams regress (just ask melbourne). I think the best test of maturity and being finals hardened will be lowering our eyes on saturday night

Bloody pumped. Go boys!