Game Day Round 16, 2024 - Brisbane Lions vs. Melbourne

[knaf]

Let's be honest, the only way Joyce gets exposed is if he's left in a heap of 1v1 against a better footballer on the back of no Midfield pressure. If the mids to their job, he'll be able to do his. If they don't, then he probably doesn't have the ability like Andrews to hold back the dam from breaking on his own. Payne doesn't have that ability either for what it's worth.

Hopefully Jack is only gone for a week or two.

Agree this is the issue with the loss of Payne. He is more capable and experienced than Joyce in 1v1, particularly when kick is to the advantage of the forward. Joyce can break even with Van Rooyen in the air in a 50/50 contest but not sure he can clear the contest with his spoil. Will be a worry if Pickett or the funny hair bloke is at their feet. Lester and Starc will need to be on the ball to help out.

Payne hasn’t been in great form but over the last three weeks his negating work has been good.

Right attitude across the ground we win.

 

[Section 5]

I have been in Hospital for 8 days and discharged on Wednesday,
Unfortunately, i came home without my bladder, prostate and a bunch of lymph nodes.
So, i have only read the last few pages on the preview thread and this one today.
I may have missed any discussion on who will be Sub tonight.
Also, Ashcroft changes our midfield mix which has been going very well.

It will have to come from these five players in A-Z order.
Ashcroft ease him back in, Ah Chee, Bailey, Lohmann & Reville A great list to choose from as sub.

Most likely it will be Reville.
However, that changes our wing structure which has been good the last month or so.
Ashcroft as sub also makes sense to me at this stage of the year. Still 9 games to go plus hopefully finals.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Joyce has similar attributes to Payne. Pretty much a poor man's Payne. Fits the setup well but not quite at the same level

 

[Dalions]

The team only losses the difference in output between Payne and Joyce.
Joyce is competent enough for that difference to be not great.
The only issue for me is it is his first AFL game since R6 2022. (edit 2023)
He will need to be on his toes for most of the game.

My biggest concern about Joyce is that last time he played in the 1’s he seems to give away a lot of free kicks which is something that the team of defenders haven’t been doing much of late.

But I agree, I don’t feel we have lost a lot, he will be keen as, to play well and try and hold his spot for a bit.

For Melbourne, I feel they have lost more with Salem out than with Lever in.
The game is a fast paced game and kickers out of the backline are all important, Lever will take a few marks but the ball won’t transition as quickly in his hands as opposed to Salem.

Will back is great for us, it will be interesting to see how he is played and managed.

Massive game for Oscar tonight, if he can atleast halve the contests in there our mids should be too strong.

 

[martinson]

I have been in Hospital for 8 days and discharged on Wednesday,
Unfortunately, i came home without my bladder, prostate and a bunch of lymph nodes.
So, i have only read the last few pages on the preview thread and this one today.
I may have missed any discussion on who will be Sub tonight.
Also, Ashcroft changes our midfield mix which has been going very well.

It will have to come from these five players in A-Z order.
Ashcroft ease him back in, Ah Chee, Bailey, Lohmann & Reville A great list to choose from as sub.

Most likely it will be Reville.
However, that changes our wing structure which has been good the last month or so.
Ashcroft as sub also makes sense to me at this stage of the year. Still 9 games to go plus hopefully finals.

Sorry to hear that Section 5.

All the best with your recovery.

 

[Dalions]

I have been in Hospital for 8 days and discharged on Wednesday,
Unfortunately, i came home without my bladder, prostate and a bunch of lymph nodes.
So, i have only read the last few pages on the preview thread and this one today.
I may have missed any discussion on who will be Sub tonight.
Also, Ashcroft changes our midfield mix which has been going very well.

It will have to come from these five players in A-Z order.
Ashcroft ease him back in, Ah Chee, Bailey, Lohmann & Reville A great list to choose from as sub.

Most likely it will be Reville.
However, that changes our wing structure which has been good the last month or so.
Ashcroft as sub also makes sense to me at this stage of the year. Still 9 games to go plus hopefully finals.

Sorry to hear Section 5, take care of yourself and recover well.

 

[buttermuffs]

What with all these acrostics this week, I've a pretty taste for paradox.

Anyone played Europa Universalis?




while I normally like 4X style games, I don't actually generally like Paradox games that much. Don't feel right for whatever reason.

I can never play too cruelly in paradox games. Never going to be fascist in Victoria 3. Never genocidal in Stellaris. Incest in Crusader Kings 3 I don’t do. Too many terrible options that I avoid.

Never played EU4 though.

 

[buttermuffs]

According to First Crack last night, Ashcroft won 64 clearances last year which led to 96 points, first in the AFL (assuming for the first 18 rounds).

 

[Berrygood]

A lot to be excited about tonight's game. A team in good form, Ashcroft's return, home game etc.

I'm glad Joyce gets a run. Could be a few games if Paynes foot injury lingers. My knock on him after those few games was the free kicks he gave away. I thought he blanketed his man well enough but gave away unnecessary or inexperienced free kicks that more often than not ended in a goal. He has that risky Irish kicking tendency for good or bad too.

But, as far as I've been able to assess, there has been real improvement. Mentioned often as one of best on ground in the Vfl. Many times listed as emergency, our only option in his role I know, still he has to be thought of as up to it. Have read he has really taken ownership of the Vfl defense, becoming a bit of a leader. Hopefully that growth eliminates the unnecessary and inexperienced free kicks. I think he'll slot in well. Hope he goes well, I've long been a proponent for his retention. A great opportunity to prove it. A great test of our depth as well, as others have said, coming to the pointy end.

I feel like it's a 40-50 point win coming. We're up, we're hungry, and we have been tactically better recently. Berry back in the midfield has given us more options. More thought looks to be put into teams n players these days. Thumbs up to Fages there. I wonder if Stuey Dew has had any influence here. He'd be mixing with the line coaches doing his skills sessions. They'd talk, exchange ideas. Anyway just a thought.

 

[MSB ROYS]

Go Lions! Looking forward to Will's return, Rayners's domination and another frustrated jig from Lever.

Section 5 - I hope we can win tonight in a good game to help take your mind of other things.

 

[lionsrules]

with payne....i suspect we would be managing this. Id play him next week thne rest him for the perth trip (not worth the travel and harder surface) have him ready for the sydney game and see if he needs one more rest before pre finals bye.

 

[Thomasno]

I can never play too cruelly in paradox games. Never going to be fascist in Victoria 3. Never genocidal in Stellaris. Incest in Crusader Kings 3 I don’t do. Too many terrible options that I avoid.

Never played EU4 though.

Who needs incest when you can just marry your infant son to a peasant from the Middle East with good traits?

As an aside, I never heard back from the club about my application to join their youth development team…

 

[M Malice]

with payne....i suspect we would be managing this. Id play him next week thne rest him for the perth trip (not worth the travel and harder surface) have him ready for the sydney game and see if he needs one more rest before pre finals bye.

Do we even know the details of what the problem is with his foot?

 

[Section 5]

Below our midfielders CBA's percentage for the last three games and their 2024 yearly average.
We have to fit Will Ashcroft into the mix now which can only be a good thing.

If the club can get the midfield time mix for these players that should be a big positive.
No matter the mix we should have good players available at CBA's and stoppages.

Player	Last 3 CBA's Percentage	2024 Average CBA's Percentage	Difference Year - Last 3
Neale	81	83	-2
Dunkley	71	77	-6
McCluggage	37	55	-18
Berry	76	36	+40
Rayner	16	25	-9
Bailey	19	21	-2
Ashcroft Year 2023	46 (last 3 full games)	44	N/A

 

[rye]

i actually didnt mind joyce from what we saw last year, gives up a bit of height compared to payne but he has good athletic traits. van rooyen isnt overly tall so i think joyce can keep him reasonably under wraps.

 

[M Malice]

Win tonight and we are 5th and only 2 points behind a top 4 spot > overnight anyway.

 

[wantok]

Who gets the Berry tag? Oliver has been out of form and Viney has stepped up as the main centre clearance performer. I'd tag him and rely on our overall midfield team effort at the other stoppages.
We don't want clean service to their forward line. The sort of clean service Viney provides. Oliver is more a grunt get it moving type.They have plenty of fire-power up forward. Fritsch has very good forward craft and Pickett is a nemesis.

On SM-A525F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Happy_Neale]

I have been in Hospital for 8 days and discharged on Wednesday,
Unfortunately, i came home without my bladder, prostate and a bunch of lymph nodes.
So, i have only read the last few pages on the preview thread and this one today.
I may have missed any discussion on who will be Sub tonight.
Also, Ashcroft changes our midfield mix which has been going very well.

It will have to come from these five players in A-Z order.
Ashcroft ease him back in, Ah Chee, Bailey, Lohmann & Reville A great list to choose from as sub.

Most likely it will be Reville.
However, that changes our wing structure which has been good the last month or so.
Ashcroft as sub also makes sense to me at this stage of the year. Still 9 games to go plus hopefully finals.

Sorry to hear mate hoping for a smooth recovery. You’ve had a tough week by the sounds of things so wouldn’t recommend reading the rest of the preview thread.

 

[Berrygood]

with payne....i suspect we would be managing this. Id play him next week thne rest him for the perth trip (not worth the travel and harder surface) have him ready for the sydney game and see if he needs one more rest before pre finals bye.

Payne is like a steam train. From a full stop, he takes a while to get going. The wheels will spin a bit here n there, but once up n going he's as consistent and reliable as you can get. The longer he goes the more efficient he gets. Also like an old steam train, he breaks down, when he does he needs a patient n thorough repair. Can't rush it or the problem compounds.

He needs as much time as he needs to be 100%, then he needs time to be match confident. Hopefully he's back and chugging along before the end of the season.

Berry is a bit like that too. Took a while to get the body right, took a handful of games to get going and is now near his best.

 

[Dalions]

Hoping for no repeats of this tonight, either the lights out or the effort after coming back on.

 

[Elixuh]

Hoping for no repeats of this tonight, either the lights out or the effort after coming back on.

Joe's just wondering if that means he can go home now

 

[Dalions]

Joe's just wondering if that means he can go home now

I thought he did?

 

[Harris Specter]

Nervous.

Considerably increased positive coverage of our team, citing how this is the team to watch etc. This is when we will lose typically. A good test of the maturity of this group.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Nervous.

Considerably increased positive coverage of our team, citing how this is the team to watch etc. This is when we will lose typically. A good test of the maturity of this group.

Plus a prime time game although this hasn't been as big of an issue recently

 

[Denno]

Who gets the Berry tag? Oliver has been out of form and Viney has stepped up as the main centre clearance performer. I'd tag him and rely on our overall midfield team effort at the other stoppages.
We don't want clean service to their forward line. The sort of clean service Viney provides. Oliver is more a grunt get it moving type.

Huh? Viney butchers the ball by foot. I'm not concerned about his ability to "hurt" us at all, personally. Quite happy for one of our guys (Dunkley?) to go head to head.

They have plenty of fire-power up forward.

They're 14th on the ladder for scoring. It's going to be very against trend for them to kick a big score.

Fritsch has very good forward craft

Who is horribly out of form.

Pickett is a nemesis.

Who actively avoids any form of contact. Keep close to him and he's a non-factor.

As others have also said, earlier in the week, all things being equal, we win, and win well. We just need to go in with the right mindset (which surely shouldn't be hard, considering recent history).