Lions, why are they so successful..?

[Kato]

I was watching fox footy the other day, and they had a Brisbane match on, where Brisbane was, as usual, dominating...

This got me thinking (an usual task). Why is Brisbane so dominate..?

Obviously there are many reasons. But while watching them play I notice that they have a large amount on midfield type players...
-Black(brownlow)
-Voss(brownlow)
-Aka(brownlow)
-Hart(normsmith)
-Lappin
-Headland(freo)
-C.Johnson
-B.Scott
-C.Scott
-L.Power
-C.McRea
-Robbins(North)

All are starters...

Could this be one of the reason why they are so successful..?
(Running style of game as oposed to the position player style, hope that made sense)

Could North go down this line with the number of quality and up and coming midfield type players..?


Or maybe I should not of eaten that pork roll from footscray...

 

[Shinboners]

They've had a lot of luck when it comes to injuries. They've got a very good squad assembled, and they play great footy, but apart from Voss during mid-2002, I can't think of any time when the Lions have had more than a couple of their best 22 in the medical rooms.

I reckon that if we had a similar good run with injuries in '97, we would have taken that flag without raising too much of a sweat. And plenty of Carlton fans feel that if they didn't lose Kouta, Silvagni, Ratten, and one or two others, they would've given that 2000 Essendon team a run for their money in the Grand Final. Dons fans reckon that a fit Hird and Mercuri would have been the difference between winning and losing in 2001.

Whether by sheer luck or bloody good management, the Lions have made the most of having close to their best team on the field when it matters.

 

[Shinboners]

p.s. When it comes to that Lions midfield you mentioned, nearly all of them were in that Lions side that "won" the wooden spoon in '97 (or was it '98?).

 

[RoosLuver]

Im pretty sure it was 98 that they won the spoon Shinners

 

[Angus1]

Agree with Shinners on keeping your best team out on the field.

Also I think they have the best gameplan going at the moment. Mathews has really got them well drilled and they just have to do their jobs and the score takes care of itself.
Having a fit Lynch has been a huge help as well as picking up Pike from us and pretty much keeping their best players on the ground.

Take 2 or 3 of the top players out of any team and they come back to the field a bit.

One more thing is confidence. It is the vital ingrediant to all sportsman. Without it you can never achieve your potential.
Winning brings confidence and confidence brings winning.
No team is more confident then Brisbane.

 

[Carlos]

An extra half a mil or whatever it is in the salary cap wouldnt have hurt either!!

 

[Briedis]

Two words - Leigh Matthews.

 

[NeoBlaze]

Their game is an amazing mix of power and skill....what else can i say.....

 

[Carlos]

Their good players are better than everyone else's and they have more of them?

 

[Shinboners]

Originally posted by Carlos
An extra half a mil or whatever it is in the salary cap wouldnt have hurt either!!

Helps keep them together.

But the Swans had similar benefits and apart from their fluke in '96, they haven't been within a sniff of a Grand Final.

 

[Carlos]

Originally posted by Shinboners
Helps keep them together.

But the Swans had similar benefits and apart from their fluke in '96, they haven't been within a sniff of a Grand Final.

I'd usually try and respond with something thoughtful, but talking about the Sydney Swans makes me feel dirty.

I guess its easier just to say refer to my last post in this thread. Simplified, i know, but as i've gotten older i've taken less and less interest in other teams. No one gives 2 sh*ts about us, so the sentiment is glady reciprocated!

 

[Roylion]

Originally posted by Shinboners
They've had a lot of luck when it comes to injuries. They've got a very good squad assembled, and they play great footy, but apart from Voss during mid-2002, I can't think of any time when the Lions have had more than a couple of their best 22 in the medical rooms.

3 or more Omissions from our Best 22 in 2002,

Round 4 2002 vs. Bulldogs: Power, McDonald, Brown.
Round 9 2002 vs Dockers: Leppitsch, C. Scott, Johnson, McDonald
Round 12 2002 vs. Kangaroos: Notting, Voss, Lappin, McDonald
Round 14 2002 vs. Melbourne: Lappin, Voss, Brown.

Overall missed games in 2002 from the Premiership team
13 games - Keating
10 games - McDonald
8 games - Shattock
7 games - Lappin
6 games - Brown
5 games - Headland
4 games - White
3 games - Voss, Johnson, Lynch, Akermanis, Power, C. Scott, Notting,
2 games - Hart, Leppitsch
1 game - McRae,
Black, Michael, Pike, Ashcroft and B. Scott played all 25 games.

 

[Bloodstained]

How about the Historical approach ...

In 1995 the Brisbane Bears (after threatening to for most of '94) finally came on with rush and its not an unreasonable thing to say that they were the 2nd best team of the finals series that year, certainly they pushed Carlton harder than anyone else had in that Elin Final.

1996 was another incremental improvement, they finished well up the ladder won a couple of finals and played smashing footy the whole way, at the end of 96 they added 8 of old Fitzroys best to a list already sparkling with exFitzroy champions and the football superpower called the Brisbane Lions were born ...

Except it didn't quite go that way to start off with - 97 was only OK, the team struggled on and off the field and the strains of last years shotgun marriage showed.

Things went from difficult to downright disasterous during the annushorribilis of 1998 for Brisbane - How on earth could a team made up of the rather excellent Brsibane Bears PLUS 8 of the best of old Fitzroy end up with the wooden spoon a mere two years later.

With some remedial work (Matthews in the Coaching Box, Ireland in the office) and some smart and lucky recruiting, the Lions have never really looked back from 98 and have indeed gone from strength to strength since then.

Shinboners is right to pont out the club has had great good fortune with injuries, and little things like the home ground advantage, the weather and the concessions all help but my point is this

At the start of the 1997 season Brisbane seemed a team headed for greatness, the shock of the following 2 seasons really only reinforced the old sporting cliche, When the Going gets Tough, the Tough get going.

Or put another way - 97 and 98 merely delayed the inevitable. Brisbane really were a superteam, right from the start. Its only now we all truly and properly understand this.

cheers

 

[mighty mick]

Originally posted by Briedis
Two words - Leigh Matthews.

one of the most respected coaches around and very humble as well, none of the sheedy high and mighty crap.

the team is an awesome well oiled machine that is fantastic too watch at full throttle as long as they are not playing the roos.

they really seem to enjoy thier footy.

 

[SkARkS_69]

Michael Voss
Jason Akermanis
Justin Leppitsch
Simon Black
Nigel Lappin
Des Headland
Alastair Lynch
Marcus Ashcroft
Tim Notting
Chris Johnson
Johnathon Brown
Shaun Hart
Darryl White
The Scotts

enough said. They had awesome players all over the park and not one player in the team was soft, even McRae got cleaned up by freeborn nicely in the G.F and got up....made me respect him a bit more.

 

[HoRsE]

1. Underachieving for years on end. Plenty of early draft picks.
2. Pick of the best Fitzroy players
3. A real home ground advantage
4. Salary cap allowance
5. A top line coach who turned a champion list into a champion team.

All of these points have helped Brisbane, but 1 and 4 have been the biggest imo. If your not going to win the flag the best place to finish is last. Look at the Bulldogs, they have constantly finished middle of the road where as Collingwood, Brisbane and StKilda have all had many years in the lower part of the ladder. Not surprisingly these 3 teams now have great lists, the trouble is holding these lists together (under the cap), this is where point 4 kicks in to give Brisbane a huge edge.
Some sides don’t need the extended time at the bottom as they have at least 1 top line player per year wanting to go home (Pickett, Chick, Headland ect) and usually get them at bargain rates.