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Round 1 Preview: Saint Kilda vs Brisbane Lions
Match commences at 2:35pm XXXX time at Etihad Stadium.
Symmetry is a strange thing in footy. The better part of a year ago, I was sitting down trying to figure out what a new season would look like for us after a positive preseason and how that would actually translate into on field performances. I was pondering how our Women's grand final played in close proximity to the men's game would go and if the performance of the women's team would somehow inspire the men's team to follow.
Pictured: Lions Legend SBT celebrates murdering another Victorian. Be scared Bulldogs.
It's 2018 and I'm thinking all the same things. This year's a little different though, we have a Hodge.
As someone who really has only followed the Lions passionately since 2010 I've really only ever known negative preseasons, and it's why this one has felt like such dream since Luke Hodge declared his intent to join the club in a coaching/playing capacity. Since then we've secured all our young stars and entered an AFL season not worrying about who will leave or if the culture is shit or if the coach is any good, but how the actual footy might go on the field. It's a weird feeling and one that makes it hard to gauge how we actually stack up as a team.
The future for once looks good and with hope comes expectations. It's genuinely uncharted territory for a lot of us and I think it's easy to set ourselves up for disappointment. On field performance doesn't necessarily follow off field success immediately and I think that's important to keep in mind.
Preseason for me was just confusing. The Gold Coast game really told us nothing other than the fact that you can actually play footy on a bigger shit heap than Metricon. I don't think that those two games actually would have changed anyone's mind, those who think this season will be miserable again will be left thinking the same way, and those who think that we're basically 100% going to rise and win 10 premierships in a row probably haven't been brought back to earth either.
All this preamble leads us to one thing.
I genuinely have no idea how Saturday is going to play out.
Not the slightest clue.
Saint Kilda really should have the team to defeat our team if they are serious about their footy this year. Our forward and backlines are bookended by the prepubescent versions of Alex Rance and Buddy Franklin and our midfield is a little light on experience. For every positive we have the Saints should have something that overrides that.
I'm actually quietly confident we'll win though and it's based on a mixture of blind hope, and the Cameron/Bundy factor. Having actual forward pressure will be something that I'm not used to.
Key Players:
For the hosts,
More just the lack of these two guys. I have no doubt that the Saints have a very good squad and will be able to replace them over time but I think there might be a slight adjustment period at the start of the year when they get used to playing without Nick specifically. I don't actually remember the last time that Nick Riewoldt didn't destroy us in a match so that'll be nice to not have to deal with that.
Jack ______
Jack is a really good player and will do a lot of damage to our team. You all know who I'm referring to. If we can stop Jack we can win the game, so I hope we stop Jack.
Lions
Wow it's actually really hard to find images of Charlie on the field in a Lions Guernsey right now. Won't be hard to find him on the field though, expect him to be a huge presence in our forward line, will love mopping up Eric Hipwoods dropped marks and will always be good for a goal or two and a bucket of tackles. Good bloke, player and will enjoy hunting in tandem with Allen Christensen in the Forward Line.
Always a Lion Luke. I actually can't imagine him playing for any other club, true legend of the Club and will lead our young defence all year. He's actually still pretty good at footy too which is a bonus.
The last time I said a Lions forward would be a key player for us he got delisted so not doing that again.
I will mention this happy boy though. Kid is a freak and will play round 1 for sure. 4 years as a Lion is already locked in for him and it'll be amazing to watch a top pick develop at our club without the fear of him leaving us.
Will do something freaky on Saturday and I'll love him even more.
Final Remarks.
I am really looking forward to this season, there's so much young talent on the list and I fully expect us to see that on show every single week for the entire season. It all starts with Saint Kilda and I actually think we'll have a much better idea of where this team sits come Saturday night.
Either way the future looks good, just have to find out how long we have to wait to see it all come together now.
Saints by 10
Lions Women by 2 points
Etihad to be a strong, stable and safe playing surface for professional athletes to play football on.
Match commences at 2:35pm XXXX time at Etihad Stadium.
Symmetry is a strange thing in footy. The better part of a year ago, I was sitting down trying to figure out what a new season would look like for us after a positive preseason and how that would actually translate into on field performances. I was pondering how our Women's grand final played in close proximity to the men's game would go and if the performance of the women's team would somehow inspire the men's team to follow.
Pictured: Lions Legend SBT celebrates murdering another Victorian. Be scared Bulldogs.
It's 2018 and I'm thinking all the same things. This year's a little different though, we have a Hodge.
As someone who really has only followed the Lions passionately since 2010 I've really only ever known negative preseasons, and it's why this one has felt like such dream since Luke Hodge declared his intent to join the club in a coaching/playing capacity. Since then we've secured all our young stars and entered an AFL season not worrying about who will leave or if the culture is shit or if the coach is any good, but how the actual footy might go on the field. It's a weird feeling and one that makes it hard to gauge how we actually stack up as a team.
The future for once looks good and with hope comes expectations. It's genuinely uncharted territory for a lot of us and I think it's easy to set ourselves up for disappointment. On field performance doesn't necessarily follow off field success immediately and I think that's important to keep in mind.
Preseason for me was just confusing. The Gold Coast game really told us nothing other than the fact that you can actually play footy on a bigger shit heap than Metricon. I don't think that those two games actually would have changed anyone's mind, those who think this season will be miserable again will be left thinking the same way, and those who think that we're basically 100% going to rise and win 10 premierships in a row probably haven't been brought back to earth either.
All this preamble leads us to one thing.
I genuinely have no idea how Saturday is going to play out.
Not the slightest clue.
Saint Kilda really should have the team to defeat our team if they are serious about their footy this year. Our forward and backlines are bookended by the prepubescent versions of Alex Rance and Buddy Franklin and our midfield is a little light on experience. For every positive we have the Saints should have something that overrides that.
I'm actually quietly confident we'll win though and it's based on a mixture of blind hope, and the Cameron/Bundy factor. Having actual forward pressure will be something that I'm not used to.
Key Players:
For the hosts,
More just the lack of these two guys. I have no doubt that the Saints have a very good squad and will be able to replace them over time but I think there might be a slight adjustment period at the start of the year when they get used to playing without Nick specifically. I don't actually remember the last time that Nick Riewoldt didn't destroy us in a match so that'll be nice to not have to deal with that.
Jack ______
Jack is a really good player and will do a lot of damage to our team. You all know who I'm referring to. If we can stop Jack we can win the game, so I hope we stop Jack.
Lions
Wow it's actually really hard to find images of Charlie on the field in a Lions Guernsey right now. Won't be hard to find him on the field though, expect him to be a huge presence in our forward line, will love mopping up Eric Hipwoods dropped marks and will always be good for a goal or two and a bucket of tackles. Good bloke, player and will enjoy hunting in tandem with Allen Christensen in the Forward Line.
Always a Lion Luke. I actually can't imagine him playing for any other club, true legend of the Club and will lead our young defence all year. He's actually still pretty good at footy too which is a bonus.
The last time I said a Lions forward would be a key player for us he got delisted so not doing that again.
I will mention this happy boy though. Kid is a freak and will play round 1 for sure. 4 years as a Lion is already locked in for him and it'll be amazing to watch a top pick develop at our club without the fear of him leaving us.
Will do something freaky on Saturday and I'll love him even more.
Final Remarks.
I am really looking forward to this season, there's so much young talent on the list and I fully expect us to see that on show every single week for the entire season. It all starts with Saint Kilda and I actually think we'll have a much better idea of where this team sits come Saturday night.
Either way the future looks good, just have to find out how long we have to wait to see it all come together now.
Saints by 10
Lions Women by 2 points
Etihad to be a strong, stable and safe playing surface for professional athletes to play football on.
