Preview Round 18 - Melbourne Demons vs Brisbane Lions • Friday 14 July 2023 • 7:50 PM • MCG

[Section 5]

Below from wheeloratings.com and BOM Melbourne forecast.
We won the last two encounters one being a final at the MCG.
Charlie Cameron

23

Charlie Cameron

Age

30

Ht

180cm

Wt

76kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.1

3star

K

8.4

3star

HB

3.7

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

3.2

5star

G

1.5

5star

D

9.6

2star

K

7.9

3star

HB

1.7

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.7

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

9.6

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

4.2

4star

M

1.4

2star

T

3.4

5star

G

1.2

4star

could be the key to this game. His goal return over the last 4 games 0, 2, 1, 0.

 

[lionsrules]

I have Lyons and Madden out if Dunkley is fit and McCarthy in.
Lohmann out as sub and his replacement could even be zorko.
But 6 goals basically gives Gunston another week..... (would prefer Ah Chee in).
Who comes out for Bez? Id like to keep Fletcher and Robertson in. Then theres the do we play Fort? So would we be saying Fort replaces Gunston?
What a mess. I've gt no idea.
Viceregal ... wonder what squiggle does once the ins and outs sort themselves out.

 

[Viceregal]

I have Lyons and Madden out if Dunkley is fit and McCarthy in.
Lohmann out as sub and his replacement could even be zorko.
But 6 goals basically gives Gunston another week..... (would prefer Ah Chee in).
Who comes out for Bez? Id like to keep Fletcher and Robertson in. Then theres the do we play Fort? So would we be saying Fort replaces Gunston?
What a mess. I've gt no idea.
Viceregal ... wonder what squiggle does once the ins and outs sort themselves out.

It updates them with a figure eg last week it gave the Eagles iirc 2.somthing goals back due to team selection.

 

[jonnobackpocket]

Fletcher will be dropped and rightly so, we have had a look and will be a good player but not best 22 at this point. Dev Rob is our 23rd 24th or 25th best player and that’s OK but no way he plays over Zorko. Would love Cal to come in but realistically unlikely. Yeah Gunston kicked 6, 3 of them on Jayden Hunt

5

Jayden Hunt

Age

29

Ht

188cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

5.3

1star

K

3.3

1star

HB

2.0

2star

M

1.7

2star

T

2.3

4star

MG

78.7

1star

D

5.3

1star

K

3.3

1star

HB

2.0

1star

M

1.7

2star

T

2.3

3star

MG

78.7

1star

D

5.3

2star

K

3.3

2star

HB

2.0

2star

M

1.7

2star

T

2.3

4star

MG

78.7

2star

who is a borderline AFL wingman so suggest no one gets too carried away. One good performance for the year against a useless team hardly suggests he has turned the corner. Get a feeling we will be suggesting he needs to be dropped this time next week. Leave Fort out- Joe is a good enough back up. Easiest decision is Madden out- he not going to make it.

 

[Warwick]

I’m strangely confident with how we match up against them. I’m more worried about Freo/Crows tbh. Not saying it’s going to be easy of course.

Oliver and Fritsch have given us problems in the past so they are massive outs. Someone fast and creative like Pickett always gives us grief as well but he has been in really ordinary form.

I’d like to see us play Starc on Petracca when he goes forward and Berry when he is in the middle. If they sacrifice their games I’m confident our other mids can get over the top of Viney, Brayshaw and co.

The forward line will be really interesting because if we play somewhat defensive on May and Lever, it will give a third forward like Gunston/Rayner a chance to get off the leash. Or just don’t bomb it in long… The 5 or 6 up forward also need to apply team pressure on Salem and Langdon (similar to what we did to Saad) to stop that uncontested kick up the wing.

If Lester and Payne continue their good form it will allow Andrews to nullify the danger when their rucks rest forward.

 

[ice444]

A win at the mcg is needed, so may as well beat the demons and almost claim a top 4 spot....

If we win, collingwood/port have to play eachother so a top 2 spot is still available.

Lions by 3 goals.

 

[twhowler]

Probably the hardest side to select of the year.

McCarthy comes in for Madden.

Then it gets tricky.

Obviously if Dunkley is fit he comes in for Lyons. If Dunkley is not fit I would lean, just, towards keeping Lyons in. We don't need to worry about Oliver. And even Petracca likely to be forward a lot. So Lyons can ball-hunt with Lachie.

Berry in if fit. If Dunkley is in then I would omit Roberonts. Is Dunkley is out i would omit Fletcher. Need to maintain some level of defensive inside mid.

Second ruckman v Melbourne? I lean towards no. Gunston has to stay (thought it'd never write that) for now so who would we drop? Would have to be another runner. Seems like a bad idea on the mcg. Especially if we have Lyons. I think we need to think of the balance in terms of running power so we should not be playing all of Lyons / Fort / Gunston.

Sub? Has to be either Ah Chee or Fort. Certainly some risk either way. I would go Ah Chee. Yes a disaster if Oscar goes down but that would be unlikely. Ah Chee at a stretch can play a marking target forward or be third defender down back. And crucially he can be put anywhere else if we get another injury, or we need to shake things up.

Will be a fascinating Thursday night.

As for the game - honestly Melbourne are not going very well are they? And yet they beat the pies. If we really are the third best team in it and a genuine shot at a flag, we beat a Melbourne side without Oliver and Fritsch. It's just that simple.

Ready to disappointed as usual at the G.

Hoping for a 4 goal win.

 

[Elixuh]

Imo the two danger areas are the wings and their defence.

I think we should be OK in the midfield and their forward line isn’t great.

Ruck will be interesting but Gawn is old and Grundy is not very good.

At the end of the day I don’t see how they out score us based on recent results.

 

[twhowler]

Article on Gunston

'Another dimension': Rejuvenated forward boosts Lions' mix

After an impressive return, Jack Gunston is eager to help the Lions' strong forward line improve even further

www.afl.com.au

Shows the benefit of the training block - to be fair to Fagan he looked a lot better than i thought he would

And also again like Lyons begs the question - if he could barely train for that long - why wait so long to give him this block? Still not proactive as a club re our line-up but at least we didn't wait until round 23 this time

 

[Section 5]

Probably the hardest side to select of the year.

McCarthy comes in for Madden.

Then it gets tricky.

Obviously if Dunkley is fit he comes in for Lyons. If Dunkley is not fit I would lean, just, towards keeping Lyons in. We don't need to worry about Oliver. And even Petracca likely to be forward a lot. So Lyons can ball-hunt with Lachie.

Berry in if fit. If Dunkley is in then I would omit Roberonts. Is Dunkley is out i would omit Fletcher. Need to maintain some level of defensive inside mid.

Second ruckman v Melbourne? I lean towards no. Gunston has to stay (thought it'd never write that) for now so who would we drop? Would have to be another runner. Seems like a bad idea on the mcg. Especially if we have Lyons. I think we need to think of the balance in terms of running power so we should not be playing all of Lyons / Fort / Gunston.

Sub? Has to be either Ah Chee or Fort. Certainly some risk either way. I would go Ah Chee. Yes a disaster if Oscar goes down but that would be unlikely. Ah Chee at a stretch can play a marking target forward or be third defender down back. And crucially he can be put anywhere else if we get another injury, or we need to shake things up.

Will be a fascinating Thursday night.

As for the game - honestly Melbourne are not going very well are they? And yet they beat the pies. If we really are the third best team in it and a genuine shot at a flag, we beat a Melbourne side without Oliver and Fritsch. It's just that simple.

Ready to disappointed as usual at the G.

Hoping for a 4 goal win.

With McCarthy and Ah Chee available it does make things a little tricky selection wise. A great position to be in though.
We are lucky it is not a KPP issue at the moment.

Dunkley: Take no chances with him. If fully recovered that's great. Lyons stays in or out depending on Dunkley.
Madden: Out. In Berry.
McCarthy: In. With either Dev or Fletcher missing out. If Berry still out, then one could play.
Fort: Sub replaces Lohmann.

The only way i see Ah Chee getting back in for now is if Berry is still out. Selectors may then prefer Ah Chee over Dev or Fletcher.
Zorko plays again unless he has a setback after the Eagles game. He was walking around fine after the game. He won't be sub.
And Gunston holds his spot.
I prefer for us to keep a more mobile player in the side and retain Oscar and Jo rather than go with Fort.
Thats why i think Fort will be sub. If we can win the clearances (we are ranked 1 for both center and stoppage) that will be the important factor.
If clearances become a problem, then inject Fort into the game.
Gunston holds his spot.

 

[p4p1]

I've seen people say this game is crucial for our season. Crucial for Top 2 maybe, but even if we lose we are still a game clear of Melbourne in 4th.

You're right but the prospect of Port at home is much better than Port away. Magpies, home or away doesn't bother me because we need to be winning at the G.

 

[M Malice]

On SEN this morning Nathan Buckley was talking about Chris Fagan and how he perceives his coaching philosophy... in his opinion >

1- He has a long term outlook.
2- We don't vary our playing style to suit a particular opponent.
3- He has a style that he likes and they are just trying to refine it, improve it and trust in it.

He was very complimentary of Fagan and thinks the flag is a race in 3, Port, Pies, Lions.

 

[p4p1]

Did Rich do alright on the weekend?
And if so, enough to warrant selection?

I hope Fagan keeps Dev and Fletcher in, maybe even Madden as a defensive forward tag. Gunston stays in based on form, but it was against the worst side in the comp.

Wouldn't want to pick the team this week.

If we are playing a 3rd tall Gunston is the obvious albeit only real option.
With Richy, the guys playing him position at the moment (Willmot, Coleman, McKenna) are all putting in better performances and are almost undroppable. He is probably going to need an injury to one of those 3 to get into the team.

 

[p4p1]

Big selection calls at the table this week.
While I am not convinced that Gunners is 'back' the coaching panel likely will be. I expect him to stay in the team but this game could decide his future at the Lions tbh.
Dunks, Berry, Ah Chee, McCarthy all looking to get back in.
Madden goes out. Lyons out.
Ah Chee probably only makes it back into the team if Gunston comes out.
Fletcher or Dev comes out for McCarthy. We might favour Dev's defensive side over Fletchers.
Ah Chee as sub. But hopefully he gets a bit more game time than our sub normally does.

 

[dlanod]

Imo the two danger areas are the wings and their defence.

I think we should be OK in the midfield and their forward line isn’t great.

Ruck will be interesting but Gawn is old and Grundy is not very good.

At the end of the day I don’t see how they out score us based on recent results.

So over or under 81 point win?

 

[Elixuh]

So over or under 81 point win?

Is that even a question? Over.

 

[dlanod]

Is that even a question? Over.

That's what I expected, great call.

 

[luthor]

So over or under 81 point win?

81 points is our Go To margin.

Don't see anything wrong with sticking to what we know

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[3KZ is Football]

Just win FFS!

We won last time I saw us play Melbourne there in the 2022 finals! Then we best Melbourne at the GABBA. I’m tipping a win again. A little mini-Melbourne FC back to back to back.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Not very subtle on the Lions App. Publicity team in overdrive. Would love to see the same sort of media again after the Melbourne game. Gunston is going to be held much more accountable by Melbourne. He needs to get amongst the goals again, but we really need Charlie, Eric and Joe to fire.

 

[CarterS]

I'd like to see the rest of the competition's record interstate against Top 4 teams. I'll bet it's not brilliant.

 

[Nunez]

View attachment 1734450
Not very subtle on the Lions App. Publicity team in overdrive. Would love to see the same sort of media again after the Melbourne game. Gunston is going to be held much more accountable by Melbourne. He needs to get amongst the goals again, but we really need Charlie, Eric and Joe to fire.

Are you okay? When whipping boys dominate it's hard on the best of us.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Are you okay? When whipping boys dominate it's hard on the best of us.

I could have kicked a couple against West Coast and I’m waiting on a knee replacement on my preferred. As many said before the game, coming back against West Coast was never going to be a good indicator. That said, your general point is a good one Nunez and I am super happy that Gunston got amongst the goals big time. After all, he’s a Lion !

 

[Nunez]

I could have kicked a couple against West Coast and I’m waiting on a knee replacement on my preferred. As many said before the game, coming back against West Coast was never going to be a good indicator. That said, your general point is a good one Nunez and I am super happy that Gunston got amongst the goals big time. After all, he’s a Lion !

For me the goals didn't matter. What gives me faith in Jack was his running capacity was night and day compared to earlier in the season. Someone was going to get a bag, but Jack's ability to get back to defence then back forward to be in scoring positions was elite. Also, I don't see Jack kicking some of the goals he did pre training block. Frankly, I don't think he could have with how stiff his back is.

I was sceptical but had only heard great things about his training block. I think the proof was in the performance and expect he will be able to back it up.

 

[M Malice]

For me the goals didn't matter. What gives me faith in Jack was his running capacity was night and day compared to earlier in the season. Someone was going to get a bag, but Jack's ability to get back to defence then back forward to be in scoring positions was elite. Also, I don't see Jack kicking some of the goals he did pre training block. Frankly, I don't think he could have with how stiff his back is.

I was sceptical but had only heard great things about his training block. I think the proof was in the performance and expect he will be able to back it up.

That is one hell of a training block from Jack to go from a liability to elite re transition in a month.. maybe he was training with Harry Sharp during his sabbatical.