Unofficial Preview Changes v The Dogs, round 4 in Ballarat.

[dlanod]

I'll use the opportunity of our first win and the endorphins available to remind everyone that there's still plenty of previews that we need posters for this year!

Preview - 2021 Brisbane Lions preview writers sought!

Every year we have round by round previews written by posters on our forum. They're repeatedly some of the most popular threads of the year, so once more - we're looking for volunteers to take each week in the forthcoming season! Preemptive thanks for anyone throwing their hat in the ring...

www.bigfooty.com

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Why do posters keep bringing up what the umpire said? He’s not the MRO. Dangerfield and Reid didn’t even give away frees but got suspended.

I don't want to give this statement a like but it hits the essential point exactly.

Was it careless, etc needs to be looked at carefully

 

[M Malice]

No way in the world Charlie cops a suspension for that, he was going low and the player buckled at the knees and slipped to the ground while he was in mid motion, would be more egregious than the suspension Zorks copped a couple of seasons ago for an innocuous tummy tap.

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

I cannot believe that people do not appreciate Lester's form last season. He had a much better year than Gardner. He doesn't get a game because he 'is good around the club'. He gets a game because he has become a very dependable defender.

Ballanden goes if the Big O is ready. Berry for Berry but young Berry actually got some of the ball last night which was great to see. Gardner will be underdone so bringing him straight in is somewhat of a risk.

 

[M Malice]

I cannot believe that people do not appreciate Lester's form last season. He had a much better year than Gardner. He doesn't get a game because he 'is good around the club'. He gets a game because he has become a very dependable defender.

Ballanden goes if the Big O is ready. Berry for Berry but young Berry actually got some of the ball last night which was great to see. Gardner will be underdone so bringing him straight in is somewhat of a risk.

Lester has been fantastic the last couple of seasons and is rapidly becoming one of the undropables, very clever player and rarely gets shown up for lack of pace these days.

I was a staunch critic of his but have been turned by his great form.

 

[Section 5]

Fagan mentioned in the presser Oscar could not walk for three days so he's got to be in doubt
It is a long season so i doubt he would be rushed back in unless fully fit.
At least we have a long break for players to get over any injury issues and soreness.
Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

31

Ht

178cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

looked spent after the game. We know he struggled to get up for this game but played well till half time.
Too many in doubt to make predictions yet.
Hopefully we get some encouraging training reports during the week on Oscar, Berry, Cockatoo, Gardiner & McStay
LTI or ?? Rayner, McFadyen & Archie. Has to be our worst injury list for many years
A good test of the squad depth

 

[dlanod]

Probably comes down to the medical report but there seemed to be a fair bit of force involved. If bracing yourself when someone running into you can get you 2 weeks then an arm swing when trying to hit the ball could be an issue.

Fyfe went off concussed. That didn't happen here. Maybe a fine for careless, high, low impact.

 

[SL16]

In: McInerney, Gardiner, J Berry
Out: Ballenden, Payne/Adams, Birchall (rested)

 

[youneverknow22]

In: McInerney, Gardiner, J Berry
Out: Ballenden, Payne/Adams, Birchall (rested)

Adams was better than Andrews last night and was probably one of our best players. There's no way we should be playing again without him in defence.

 

[jackess]

I cannot believe that people do not appreciate Lester's form last season. He had a much better year than Gardner. He doesn't get a game because he 'is good around the club'. He gets a game because he has become a very dependable defender.

Ballanden goes if the Big O is ready. Berry for Berry but young Berry actually got some of the ball last night which was great to see. Gardner will be underdone so bringing him straight in is somewhat of a risk.

Gardiner was 7th in the BnF and Lester wasn’t top 10

 

[BangyBangy]

Pretty sure Fagan said last night that Gardiner hasn't played at all yet. Would be a big call dropping someone from the backline to accommodate his return without having any scratch match / practice match game time.

 

[jackess]

Pretty sure Fagan said last night that Gardiner hasn't played at all yet. Would be a big call dropping someone from the backline to accommodate his return without having any scratch match / practice match game time.

Dizzy is a pro. Has played over 100 games and has multiple top 10 BnF finishes. He’s not the sort of guy who needs to find form in the 2s

 

[martinson]

Payne made a couple of bad errors last night but he kept his head up and didn't stop trying. I'm loathe to toss him out because he will keep improving if we persist . If Gardiner's fit I think he goes though. We need smart players at Ballarat , when we played there last time they had it all over us for knowing how to play the ground.

Ballenden goes for Big O. I'd push Fullarton out for J Berry against this particular opposition but listening to Fages presser I don't think we're going to drop Fullarton . So you're probably left with T Berry . And after that Lester and Ah Chee. Tough call if the 3 coming in are fit enough.

 

[BangyBangy]

Dizzy is a pro. Has played over 100 games and has multiple top 10 BnF finishes. He’s not the sort of guy who needs to find form in the 2s

Not referring to finding form.

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Gardiner was 7th in the BnF and Lester wasn’t top 10

Gardiner was well beaten in his position several times. Lester was not.

Probably a difference between the two as far as the BF is concerned is that Lester does not have the 'top end' that Gardiner has and also Gardiner played on several much bigger players last year who he could not handle. You can probably remember quite a few like this.

Adams or Payne can play on the big forwards and allow Gardiner not to be out sized. He will become a weapon.

 

[martinson]

I see a couple of calls that McCarthy could miss.

He's one of the first picked imo. Very smart team oriented player who does many crucial little things that go unnoticed. And pulls out a blinder every now and then. Besides which he's in the leadership group isn't he ?

 

[jackess]

Gardiner was well beaten in his position several times. Lester was not.

Probably a difference between the two as far as the BF is concerned is that Lester does not have the 'top end' that Gardiner has and also Gardiner played on several much bigger players last year who he could not handle. You can probably remember quite a few like this.

Adams or Payne can play on the big forwards and allow Gardiner not to be out sized. He will become a weapon.

Maybe in your opinion. Just not the coaches and most fans.

Dizzy isn’t suited to the very tall forwards but we need defenders that are versatile to cover for when opposition forwards block or are transition the ball quickly and he can cover them. Also he can play on the crafty smaller forwards.

Bulldogs will have 3-4 tall forwards this week we need Dizzy to cover on the talls but also Bontempelli when he goes forward.

 

[martinson]

Gardiner was well beaten in his position several times. Lester was not.

Probably a difference between the two as far as the BF is concerned is that Lester does not have the 'top end' that Gardiner has and also Gardiner played on several much bigger players last year who he could not handle. You can probably remember quite a few like this.

Adams or Payne can play on the big forwards and allow Gardiner not to be out sized. He will become a weapon.

Adams can play small like Gardiner and big better than Gardiner.

To date he hasn't been anywhere near as durable as Gardiner so it's all a matter of him staying on the park for a few games . His strength was very important for us in the final quarter. last night

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Maybe in your opinion. Just not the coaches and most fans.

Dizzy isn’t suited to the very tall forwards but we need defenders that are versatile to cover for when opposition forwards block or are transition the ball quickly and he can cover them. Also he can play on the crafty smaller forwards.

Bulldogs will have 3-4 tall forwards this week we need Dizzy to cover on the talls but also Bontempelli when he goes forward.

Gardiner is a good match up for Bont (and Dusty Martin for that matter) but don't you think it a big risk given he hasn't played for weeks?

 

[jackess]

Gardiner is a good match up for Bont (and Dusty Martin for that matter) but don't you think it a big risk given he hasn't played for weeks?

Have to play him at some point. They flew him down so they must be prepared for it. Might start slow like Adams but the team will be better for it in the long run.

 

[martinson]

Have to play him at some point. They flew him down so they must be prepared for it. Might start slow like Adams but the team will be better for it in the long run.

Gardiner has to come in because he's one of our best players. I'm excited by what he and Adams can bring together if they both stay fit. 2 competitive bulls who make the opposition earn it.

 

[Tom14]

Have to play him at some point. They flew him down so they must be prepared for it. Might start slow like Adams but the team will be better for it in the long run.

Particularly as there probably won’t be any vfl matches for a few more weeks at least - so he’s not going to get the match fitness any other way.

Ballenden out for Big O

Dizzy in for Payne. Harsh on Payne, but he’s a young player who lacks composure sometimes and Adams and Lester are in better form.

Berry for T Berry. I’ve been reasonably happy with tommy so this is a tough call. I think Ah Chee has been pretty poor but he offers more positional versatility so probably stays in.

T Berry or Answerth as the sub. Not sure whether they fixed the issue of Answerth having to play round 4 to avoid his suspension not commencing until the VFL season but the way around that is him to be the medical sub.

 

[jackess]

‘I had a scan, it wasn’t a great result’: Lions star reveals concerning back injury

‘I had a scan, it wasn’t a great result’: Lions star reveals concerning back injury

www.foxsports.com.au

Looks like Neale will play through a back injury.

I guess Neale at 60% fitness is probably better than our next best option. Probably can’t play 95% midfield though.

 

[Milux]

If all our players are fit to be selected id go.

Big O for Ballanden.
Dizzy for payne.
Now the tricky one is fitting Bez Sr in. Does bez Jr come out. Or maybe linc? So hard to decide.

 

[cotter101]

‘I had a scan, it wasn’t a great result’: Lions star reveals concerning back injury

‘I had a scan, it wasn’t a great result’: Lions star reveals concerning back injury

www.foxsports.com.au

Looks like Neale will play through a back injury.

I guess Neale at 60% fitness is probably better than our next best option. Probably can’t play 95% midfield though.

Back our medics in but if giving him a week or two off would help then I’d be all for it. Crucial to our chances this year.

Berry Snr, Robinson, Robertson can all pick up the slack.

Hopefully the 9 day break helps him.