Preview Round 16 Lions vs Bulldogs Thursday June 30th @ 7:20 PM Brisbane Time @ The Gabba

[briztoon]

Why has Ah Chee been promoted? He was dropped a couple of weeks ago and now he is back in. He was terrible in the reserves last week, wasn’t in the best players from what I saw. So doesn’t seem to have been picked on form. Surely we could have put Matho in to rotate off the bench with Lyons, Neale and Rayner,instead of Tunstill who presumably will be rotating with the wingers. I would have thought it would be better to have more rotations through the midfield rather than the wing,especially when we don’t use our wingers much anyway. And with our midfield severely lacking in grunt.
I don’t understand what the selectors are basing their selections on, it’s certainly not based on performance in the VFL.

We dropped MRobbo, who played wing, and replaced him with Ah Chee.

However I agree on your point, but would have different players in there.

Obviously we’re going to continue with Neale, Lyons, McCluggage and Zorko as our main mids, with Rayner and Bailey rotating through there. With Berry potentially playing some time inside.

 

[martinson]

One of Ah Chee or Prior should be in the team every week.

Priors game against the Hawks is probably the best game off the wing from someone other than Berry all year.

100%.

One thing that is underestimated in footy is defensive pressure . They both strive for it.

Ah Chee is a guy who's always been happy to play the team role. But he can jump higher than anyone in the side and at crucial times in games has shown exceptional closing speed to shut down the opposition.

I don't know why he hasn't been able to nail down a permanent spot . Reasons other than what I see.

 

[Tom14]

100%.

One thing that is underestimated in footy is defensive pressure . They both strive for it.

Ah Chee is a guy who's always been happy to play the team role. But he can jump higher than anyone in the side and at crucial times in games has shown exceptional closing speed to shut down the opposition.

I don't know why he hasn't been able to nail down a permanent spot . Reasons other than what I see.

Completely agree. Its not like the others we have had playing wing have actually touched the ball more.

Prior actually runs defensively and is decent in the air too. Still has a long way to go but I would have thought he does the basic things well enough to stay in the team.

 

[Pride of lions]

Ah Chee is one of the first players I'd pick and has a lot of improvement in him.

But each to their own.

I rate him too. But he was dropped,played poorly in the reserves and then gets promoted again. Doesn’t make any sense to me. I just don’t understand what criteria they are using for selection. Why drop him in the first place if they just put him back in despite not showing any form in the 2’s. What are the other players supposed to think?

 

[LIONS08]

I rate him too. But he was dropped,played poorly in the reserves and then gets promoted again. Doesn’t make any sense to me. I just don’t understand what criteria they are using for selection. Why drop him in the first place if they just put him back in despite not showing any form in the 2’s. What are the other players supposed to think?

He was huge the week before in the twos… also played a bit in the 1s last week so not perfect preparation for a game. I didn’t think he was that bad

 

[Big Sauce 21]

The way we rotate the wings you'd think fagan thinks they're the issue...

 

[briztoon]

I rate him too. But he was dropped,played poorly in the reserves and then gets promoted again. Doesn’t make any sense to me. I just don’t understand what criteria they are using for selection. Why drop him in the first place if they just put him back in despite not showing any form in the 2’s. What are the other players supposed to think?

He didn’t play poorly. He was played as an inside mid in that reserve game.

 

[On the quiet]

Apart from Darcy Gardiner(it could be argued he is now not in front of Payne) this is us at full strength, at home against a Dogs side with a few significant outs we should be winning this comfortably.

If not we are in trouble as far as a flag goes for this season IMO.

Except for about a week or two after the Swans win, I never seriously thought we could win the flag, but believed if we finished top 2, could make the 'big dance', now I am not sure as top 2 is in serious jeopardy. We simply must respond tomorrow night, and I am confident we can.

 

[davemc_lions]

He didn’t play poorly. He was played as an inside mid in that reserve game.

yep I find it interesting where players play VFL then AFL
Ah Chee inside mid VFL on weekend.. AFL wing, HB or HF.. no mid time. Maybe this week he play some mid time. Would be worth a try.
Dev, Terry inside mid VFL.. AFL defensive forward.. Maybe just play Dev and Terry defensive forward in VFL so the practice that spot.

 

[On the quiet]

Clearly we're lacking grunt in the midfield.

No one's fault ,we've done well with the cards we've been dealt.

But if we want to be a fearsome contending side that others don't want to play we need 2 more bulls inside. And more ferocity from our forward and back half.

You're asking the impossible to have that happen overnight or perhaps at all ,but that's what we need to be aiming for to win a flag.

I believe Starc did a bit of athletics as a kid and has shown plenty in the backline to make me believe with a good pre-season training as a mid he could spend time there next year and beyond...just not now when we are still a good chance to finish top 4.

 

[luthor]

I feel for Matho.

From all reports, has been tearing it up in the VFL but can't even get a look in.

He's been a loyal clubman and despite criticisms of his game, he's rarely let us down when called up to the Firsts , not that I can remember anyway.

Probably will get delisted at the end of this season.

So sad



On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[3KZ is Football]

Tunstill is playing wing, not inside midfield.

Personally I'm a bit disappointed Dev didn't keep his spot, but it's up to him to win it back.

How? Form in the Reserves is of no account.

 

[LIONS08]

I feel for Matho.

From all reports, has been tearing it up in the VFL but can't even get a look in.

He's been a loyal clubman and despite criticisms of his game, he's rarely let us down when called up to the Firsts , not that I can remember anyway.

Probably will get delisted at the end of this season.

So sad



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Still contracted for next year…

 

[3KZ is Football]

Fagan is demonstrating arrogance and inflexibility by ‘doubling down’ on Tunstill. Any one of our Emergencies is more worthy of a game. Also, going in without Fort is just plain silly. We won eight of our first nine games playing Fort and McInerney in the ruck, but now Fagan walks away from what was clearly working. What tangible advantage is gained from playing McStay in the ruck? I am pleased to see Ah Chee back in the team and Zorko and Bailey are big inclusions. Based on selections this week, it is clear that Fagan has decided to give the players a “mulligan” after all. Fairly typical. To radically rearrange the team would be akin to Fagan suggesting he got it wrong last week and I don’t think he has taken that on board. I also note that Answerth continues in the team despite uninspiring performances each week. Hubris from Fagan and as students of Ancient Greek theatre know, Hubris is a fatal flaw.

 

[Pride of lions]

He didn’t play poorly. He was played as an inside mid in that reserve game.

I know he played as an inside mid but he hardly touched it. Certainly wasn’t among the best.

 

[BRAB]

I feel for Matho.

From all reports, has been tearing it up in the VFL but can't even get a look in.

He's been a loyal clubman and despite criticisms of his game, he's rarely let us down when called up to the Firsts , not that I can remember anyway.

Probably will get delisted at the end of this season.

So sad



On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I think Matho is a huge club man and wouldn't be too angry at not being selected. I think he knows he's first in line if Neale or Lyons go down.

We're lucky to have a player of his quality who is mostly happy to stick around on minimum wage in the twos.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

Fagan is demonstrating arrogance and inflexibility by ‘doubling down’ on Tunstill. Any one of our Emergencies is more worthy of a game. Also, going in without Fort is just plain silly. We won eight of our first nine games playing Fort and McInerney in the ruck, but now Fagan walks away from what was clearly working. What tangible advantage is gained from playing McStay in the ruck? I am pleased to see Ah Chee back in the team and Zorko and Bailey are big inclusions. Based on selections this week, it is clear that Fagan has decided to give the players a “mulligan” after all. Fairly typical. To radically rearrange the team would be akin to Fagan suggesting he got it wrong last week and I don’t think he has taken that on board. I also note that Answerth continues in the team despite uninspiring performances each week. Hubris from Fagan and as students of Ancient Greek theatre know, Hubris is a fatal flaw.

How about we settle down little ones and just be grateful that we are 10-4 so far and sitting 3rd on the ladder this year, while also being having the opportunity to play finals for the past 3 seasons as well.

Much better position than what most clubs are in at the moment and I wouldn’t have any other way given what we have been through before Fages entered the club.

 

[3KZ is Football]

How about we settle down little ones and just be grateful that we are 10-4 so far and sitting 3rd on the ladder this year, while also being having the opportunity to play finals for the past 3 seasons as well.

Much better position than what most clubs are in at the moment, in terms of their short-term & long-term future.

I thought the goal was to win a premiership, not simply be in a better position than “most clubs.” You are setting the bar too low “big one”. Then again, we should be grateful as you say, that we have made the finals for the last three years, going out in straight sets twice and only winning one out of six finals doesn’t matter because we are giving that record a “mulligan” it seems.

The point is, with the depth of talent on our list and repeated top for finishes, we haven’t even made a Grand Final yet. Premiership windows can slam shut very quickly, with player movement and injuries. Just bear that in mind.

 

[bungalow_bill]

He didn’t play poorly. He was played as an inside mid in that reserve game.

Has Ah Chee ever played well as an inside mid in the 1's or as junior/with the Suns?. Seems to have played everywhere else

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

Fagan is demonstrating arrogance and inflexibility by ‘doubling down’ on Tunstill. Any one of our Emergencies is more worthy of a game. Also, going in without Fort is just plain silly. We won eight of our first nine games playing Fort and McInerney in the ruck, but now Fagan walks away from what was clearly working. What tangible advantage is gained from playing McStay in the ruck? I am pleased to see Ah Chee back in the team and Zorko and Bailey are big inclusions. Based on selections this week, it is clear that Fagan has decided to give the players a “mulligan” after all. Fairly typical. To radically rearrange the team would be akin to Fagan suggesting he got it wrong last week and I don’t think he has taken that on board. I also note that Answerth continues in the team despite uninspiring performances each week. Hubris from Fagan and as students of Ancient Greek theatre know, Hubris is a fatal flaw.

I went to Siracusa recently specifically to see several ancient Greek plays in the amphitheatre they were performed in 500BC, AESCHYLUS (wrong spelling) is my favourite as he was bald and killed by a falling turtle! They play them every year.

They changed the dates to later this year just before we left.

If Matho gets 50 disposals in the twos will he get a game? Can anyone believe that Tunstill will/could perform better than Matho tomorrow?

Not hubris, stupidity

 

[Cubs2Lions]

I thought the goal was to win a premiership, not simply be in a better position than “most clubs.” You are setting the bar too low “big one”. Then again, we should be grateful as you say, that we have made the finals for the last three years, going out in straight sets twice and only winning one out of six finals doesn’t matter because we are giving that record a “mulligan” it seems.

The point is, with the depth of talent on our list and repeated top for finishes, we haven’t even made a Grand Final yet. Premiership windows can slam shut very quickly, with player movement and injuries. Just bear that in mind.

To be honest and straight to the facts, I don’t think we’ll win a premiership in the short-term with this mob as we blew our chances in 2020 (when everything was situated in QLD) and again last year in 2021 so my heart doesn’t believe in our chances at all this year unless we start showing some serious improvement occurs in our side starting from tomorrow.

Now look, don’t get me wrong in saying that I would love the club to win a premiership or two or three cause they 100% deserve it from what has transpired at the club in the past and I was only truly a tiny little one when we accomplished our three-peat in the early 2000s, so I haven’t seen my club have any sort of major success at all (other than our 2013 NAB Cup & 2018 AFLX Competition victories that we all saviour on here ).

I just don’t want to kid myself and emotionally believe that we are the number one team this year and that we’ll win the premiership like I’ve been dearly hoping for the past 3 years cause in reality, we haven’t and ain’t the number 1 seed now and given the fact that our old players input in our Best 22 (Lyons, Rich, Zorko & Robinson) has significant declined this season compared to previous years and our less experienced players haven’t stepped up as highly as a result, teams like Melbourne, Fremantle & Geelong will just run over us like they have already this year.

Just imagine if Neale went down tomorrow with a serious injury (god forbid my soul) and misses the entire rest of the season, there will be no chance in heaven or hell that we’ll be winning that premiership this year as he is pretty much our only consistent pure midfielder in our side at this current moment of time (no matter what other chances we decide to make around the whole 22).

In saying that though, I truly believe that we’ll have a better chance at winning some silverware from 2025 and beyond IMO given the amount of young players at the club being more mature and experienced by the time it occurs (even if we won’t have a massive home advantage given the GABBA reconstruction), providing that we continue to operate and run the club in the world-class standards that Fages, Nobes, Hodgey, Daly, Swanny & Wellington have implemented over the past 5 years for us, on-field & off-field.

Regardless of what happens though in the future of the footy club, I’m just happy that my beloved football club is not irreverent anymore like other clubs are like North Melbourne and just how far the club has become now from being a laughing stock in the 2010s to now competitions in finals & premierships regularly and if we win only one premiership (I’ll be the happiest person in the world) but if we don’t win one in the short-term and have to mini-rebuild to have a better shot at it later in the future (It’s really not the end of the world).

 

[McIvor]

Fagan is demonstrating arrogance and inflexibility by ‘doubling down’ on Tunstill. Any one of our Emergencies is more worthy of a game. Also, going in without Fort is just plain silly. We won eight of our first nine games playing Fort and McInerney in the ruck, but now Fagan walks away from what was clearly working. What tangible advantage is gained from playing McStay in the ruck? I am pleased to see Ah Chee back in the team and Zorko and Bailey are big inclusions. Based on selections this week, it is clear that Fagan has decided to give the players a “mulligan” after all. Fairly typical. To radically rearrange the team would be akin to Fagan suggesting he got it wrong last week and I don’t think he has taken that on board. I also note that Answerth continues in the team despite uninspiring performances each week. Hubris from Fagan and as students of Ancient Greek theatre know, Hubris is a fatal flaw.

Great post - said fairly similar things in different ways thsi week. Tunstill has no business being in the team when other better players are out and agree that what was working with the two rucks has been dismissed b/c Fagan wants 3 key forwards. Not only shouldn't McStay not be played in teh ruck but if hes not staying, why play him and revert back to the genuine two rucks. Ah Chee should never have been dropped to. I love what Fagan has done for the club and the selectors but first time in years that I think they are making critical errors.

 

[rye]

the dogs have the biggest midfield on the comp im pretty sure. dunkley, bontempelli and macrae are all 190CM+ bodies - if we can beat them in the midfield battle im willing to say the midfield capitulations against melbourne are more of a mental block that can be overcome and we can bring it to these bigger midfield stacked teams such as carlton

digging back a few years - richmond lost to adelaide in the home and away season by 76 points in 2017. they then belted that same adelaide team in the grand final. maybe this group can accomplish a similar turnaround

 

[Jeremiah001]

Following a football club is a journey, not so much a destination. If winning a premiership is the only measure of success allowed then one isnt going to find much joy in being a sports fan.

This club has experienced far more lows than highs in my time following them but i cant remember a time (other than the threepeat years) that i have been more confident for the success of our club. From the success of the women's program, the recognition of Indigenous culture, Springfield, membership numbers to sustained finals campaigns. I could go on.

Our chances of premierships in the future are far more likely because of the successes of our club now. I struggle with this concept that every loss is a portent to the apocalypse, that every selection or non selection is a personal slight or that every non-premiership season is an unmitigated disaster. So enjoy the wins and mourn the losses but other than a premiership this is as good as it gets.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Gameday thread up.