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

[Nathan Barley]

I think our only hope is Zorko coming back and stepping up through the midfield. Hopefully 2 weeks off has helped him out.

 

[martinson]

All that I can say is that, we better get a response this week.

Agree. Don't want to sound too dramatic but we've copped a bit this week after being given get out excuse cards for the rest of the year.

So this week is a test of character and motivation. If we lose and aren't good enough so be it but what we want to see is a Red Hot Go.

 

[martinson]

I think our only hope is Zorko coming back and stepping up through the midfield. Hopefully 2 weeks off has helped him out.

I like him in the back half but we need him more in the M/F . He's the Captain and he sets the tone. Fit and in form he's a handful.

 

[M Malice]

If we lose this one even close to the same margin and manner that we lost against the Demons it will be an extraordinary kick in the guts for those of us like me who think that we are/were a chance at a flag this season.

 

[mpal6]

Berry on a wing is so wasted. Such a bad move, especially against Dees last week. One big inside mid who has the size to tackle and match up to Viney, Oliver, Petracca and we go stick him in the wing. Atrocious.
If Fagan wants to win with this mob against finals bound teams, Berry plays at the center. Period.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Berry on a wing is so wasted. Such a bad move, especially against Dees last week. One big inside mid who has the size to tackle and match up to Viney, Oliver, Petracca and we go stick him in the wing. Atrocious.
If Fagan wants to win with this mob against finals bound teams, Berry plays at the center. Period.

Doubt it will happen. We've played about 6 guys on the wing this year and Berry is the only one to have played reasonably well

 

[M Malice]

Berry on a wing is so wasted. Such a bad move, especially against Dees last week. One big inside mid who has the size to tackle and match up to Viney, Oliver, Petracca and we go stick him in the wing. Atrocious.
If Fagan wants to win with this mob against finals bound teams, Berry plays at the center. Period.

IMO some people (me included in the past) think that J.Berry should be an inside mid purely because he is big bodied, Jarrod has demonstrated that he does not have the vision or awareness to play that role consistently well, unless it's a hard tag on someone like Oliver/Cripps.

It looks like wing is his most appropriate role to utilize the weapons he has, attending more centre bounces may be a good idea where there is a little more room to move.

 

[Tom14]

I understand after Thursday night why everyone is so negative - I've never been more confident that we don't have what it takes to beat the Dees and we have a lot of work to do to turn this season around.

But I can't get on board with predicting us to fall down to the bottom half of the 8 either. Prior to the Dees game while we had lost to Freo and the Cats, it wasn't like they were massive thrashings. The dogs do not have the back 6 to make our forward line so impotent, and they will be without Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

24

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

, potentially weightmann (think he will be a test), likely no English given his history of concussions, and Bruce surely won't come in after a hamstring twinge and coming off the ACL recovery.

I get that the manner of the loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and if you are a victorian fan who hasn't got to see them much at all over the last few years it would have been very disappointing, but I don't think we are nearly as bad as we looked thursday night. Better team selection will help too.

 

[martinson]

I understand after Thursday night why everyone is so negative - I've never been more confident that we don't have what it takes to beat the Dees and we have a lot of work to do to turn this season around.

But I can't get on board with predicting us to fall down to the bottom half of the 8 either. Prior to the Dees game while we had lost to Freo and the Cats, it wasn't like they were massive thrashings. The dogs do not have the back 6 to make our forward line so impotent, and they will be without Bailey Smith, potentially weightmann (think he will be a test), likely no English given his history of concussions, and Bruce surely won't come in after a hamstring twinge and coming off the ACL recovery.

I get that the manner of the loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and if you are a victorian fan who hasn't got to see them much at all over the last few years it would have been very disappointing, but I don't think we are nearly as bad as we looked thursday night. Better team selection will help too.

Agree . Better team selection , the Gabba , the Bulldog outs and our potential ins , the big kick up the backside the players and coaches have just had , if we don't win this we're in trouble.

 

[Tom14]

Agree . Better team selection , the Gabba , the Bulldog outs and our potential ins , the big kick up the backside the players and coaches have just had , if we don't win this we're in trouble.

I totally agree with that sentiment - I am just confident we will come through. I don't expect us to magically fix our team defence though, so could be in for a bit of a shootout.

 

[Nathan Barley]

I understand after Thursday night why everyone is so negative - I've never been more confident that we don't have what it takes to beat the Dees and we have a lot of work to do to turn this season around.

But I can't get on board with predicting us to fall down to the bottom half of the 8 either. Prior to the Dees game while we had lost to Freo and the Cats, it wasn't like they were massive thrashings. The dogs do not have the back 6 to make our forward line so impotent, and they will be without Bailey Smith, potentially weightmann (think he will be a test), likely no English given his history of concussions, and Bruce surely won't come in after a hamstring twinge and coming off the ACL recovery.

I get that the manner of the loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and if you are a victorian fan who hasn't got to see them much at all over the last few years it would have been very disappointing, but I don't think we are nearly as bad as we looked thursday night. Better team selection will help too.

We did lose to them twice last year. They don't seem to be the same team but neither do we.

Not sure amy of our forwards are in decent form and our midfield is completely out of sorts

Will be an interesting game.

 

[martinson]

I totally agree with that sentiment - I am just confident we will come through. I don't expect us to magically fix our team defence though, so could be in for a bit of a shootout.

It's clear where we fell down last week . If you look at our cattle it's probably and endemic issue but you would expect a complete turnaround in effort which should stem the bleeding against lesser opposition.

The one query I have is that there's a likely school of thought that some of our players have been clearly out of form for most of the season based on previous years and it's maybe just hoping that they can recapture it.

 

[fugitive]

I have zero confidence against the dogs, besides the Sydney game, all of our results against decent sides have been flukey wins or just when you expect that the team will come of age we have been completely dismantled, yet frustratingly we are still 3rd on the ladder

 

[McIvor]

Expecting a massive response this week. I think we will surprise a few! Let’s go lads!

We were told that last week by those in the know at the club that post on here - I'm not buying it until i see it - i hate saying it, but I dont trust this group at all. You dont know what you are going to get and therefore cant be trusted and in honesty, I dont think the players play for the jumper or care like those premiership years and last few years of being the Bears.

 

[LIONS08]

We were told that last week by those in the know at the club that post on here - I'm not buying it until i see it - i hate saying it, but I dont trust this group at all. You dont know what you are going to get and therefore cant be trusted and in honesty, I dont think the players play for the jumper or care like those premiership years and last few years of being the Bears.

You are entitled to your opinion but I hope heartedly disagree.

 

[bato]

Sounds like MRobbo could be out. Isolation because his family members are all sick.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Berry on a wing is so wasted. Such a bad move, especially against Dees last week. One big inside mid who has the size to tackle and match up to Viney, Oliver, Petracca and we go stick him in the wing. Atrocious.
If Fagan wants to win with this mob against finals bound teams, Berry plays at the center. Period.

He was also completely free on so many occasions and Rich and co completely ignored him. Fagan could have selected Prior or Ah Chee and played them on the wing. It was 101 stuff from Fagan. Both Prior and Ah Chee are hard at it, they run both ways and they occasionally bob up on the scoreboard.

 

[KissKiss]

Its been pretty clear that while Berry looks like an inside mid, his shoulders cant take it. Whether this is short term or for ever we arent going to get much inside mid time from him.

And now that he hasnt played inside he has been our best performed wing for a few weeks. Even if we way under utilised him last week. I think for now we should keep going with Berry/McCluggage/Prior/Ah Chee as out main wings most weeks

 

[Dalions]

Its been pretty clear that while Berry looks like an inside mid, his shoulders cant take it. Whether this is short term or for ever we arent going to get much inside mid time from him.

And now that he hasnt played inside he has been our best performed wing for a few weeks. Even if we way under utilised him last week. I think for now we should keep going with Berry/McCluggage/Prior/Ah Chee as out main wings most weeks

Personally, I think Prior definitely needs to come back in the team. He is atleast one that adds a bit of Mongrel.
We certainly lacked some hard nose attitude last week.
I would love to see back in the guts, he was getting a bit of time in there earlier this year until he re-injured his shoulder.
Pretty sure there was someone who come on here earlier in the year claiming that Jarrod’s shoulder is cooked. Maybe not far off the mark.
Chris Fagan himself said in an interview recently that Jarrod sees himself as an inside mid, now is the time to push that button if he is ready for it.

 

[Gibbo_88]

I understand after Thursday night why everyone is so negative - I've never been more confident that we don't have what it takes to beat the Dees and we have a lot of work to do to turn this season around.

But I can't get on board with predicting us to fall down to the bottom half of the 8 either. Prior to the Dees game while we had lost to Freo and the Cats, it wasn't like they were massive thrashings. The dogs do not have the back 6 to make our forward line so impotent, and they will be without Bailey Smith, potentially weightmann (think he will be a test), likely no English given his history of concussions, and Bruce surely won't come in after a hamstring twinge and coming off the ACL recovery.

I get that the manner of the loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and if you are a victorian fan who hasn't got to see them much at all over the last few years it would have been very disappointing, but I don't think we are nearly as bad as we looked thursday night. Better team selection will help too.

One upset win or loss for any team on the ladder from 2nd - 7th and it will likely be the difference between top 4 and top 6. I think we're on for finishing 3rd-6th but beyond that I struggle to see us winning a final. Our defence has been leaking so many goals at times, games like the Pies, Hawks and Giants stand out as times where our midfield should be able to defend a hell of a lot better than they did. Squiggle is showing our attack is still the best but our defence has us middle of the pack and if we can't change that then we are just making up the numbers. We've either got to change the way we defend or react a lot quicker starting this week.

 

[Gadzorks]

Are we promoting smart play, multi positional players and skills over brawn? Dead sure Carlton players get marked on aggression at the ball, it's a Voss calling card.

Maybe we've become a gentleman's team. OMG. That was Melbourne. Well be taking cheese platers next!!!

how did they get aggression back into their game?

 

[Strato]

Are we promoting smart play, multi positional players and skills over brawn? Dead sure Carlton players get marked on aggression at the ball, it's a Voss calling card.

Maybe we've become a gentleman's team. OMG. That was Melbourne. Well be taking cheese platers next!!!

how did they get aggression back into their game?

Aggression is all due to : Mindset. You can tell our players including parts of last season and this season, the tenacity and aggression is not there. I have said it before: If you don't have tenacity and aggression included in your game, your'e an easy target. Our players look lethargic, lack energy, interest and enthusiasm. Get all these things back into our game, it will less frustrating and more positive for everyone. Our flame is low - let's ignite the flame.

 

[Jimmy Two Hands]

Are we promoting smart play, multi positional players and skills over brawn? Dead sure Carlton players get marked on aggression at the ball, it's a Voss calling card.

Maybe we've become a gentleman's team. OMG. That was Melbourne. Well be taking cheese platers next!!!

how did they get aggression back into their game?

Lots of factors, but I think you've gotta acknowledge that giving Max the sole captaincy was a major factor in Melbourne turning it around. He oozes confidence and Viney is too redline to be a consistent, calming force. You could argue that Zorko is similar to Viney, but against Dees I thought there was a noticable lack of on-field leadership with no Zorko and Harris under the pump.

 

[Gadzorks]

Lots of factors, but I think you've gotta acknowledge that giving Max the sole captaincy was a major factor in Melbourne turning it around. He oozes confidence and Viney is too redline to be a consistent, calming force. You could argue that Zorko is similar to Viney, but against Dees I thought there was a noticable lack of on-field leadership with no Zorko and Harris under the pump.

How often does the best player on the field not want to be the leader? Neale is awesome, but are teams better off when their awesome player is also the leader by nature?

Obviously just naming Neale leader doesn't work, and it's not his thing.

It's not the same, and it's a bit circular, but I'm thinking Ablett was was by far the best gc player, but he wasn't a leader. So their best player on the field was named leader and the team lacked cohesion and aggression.

Do players look to that best player and expect leadership even when someone else is the named leader. And when a different player is the leader, does the best player still draw the attention and set the tone for the rest of the players?

probably a rubbish thought expressed poorly.

 

[Mighty Lions]

If we lose this one even close to the same margin and manner that we lost against the Demons it will be an extraordinary kick in the guts for those of us like me who think that we are/were a chance at a flag this season.

Not to mention the huge kick in the guts the players would endure should that happen as well....players hurt from big loss's just as much (if not more) than supporters do.