Quigley's Half Time Report

[Quigley]

Sorry it is a little late and as per usual I am well and truly tired of writing now.

[Quigley]

Great to see a lot of people giving their own take on the first half of the year. I am not ashamed to say I have plagurised a few comments. Keep up the good work guys.

What we have learnt in the first half of the year is that the Lions are back and at 7 wins and 4 losses are ahead of where many including me thought they would be. Maybe we are not quite at the top just yet but they certainly should be playing finals this year and given further development in the second half of the year you never know. The most encouraging thing for me also as a spectator and fan is that we are not just one of the workmanlike teams that eek out wins but are a power team that plays a style of game that can blow teams away. At the top of our game there are very few teams that can go with us and as we continue to develop you would have to think there are going to be less and less teams in that already small group. Our consistency has improved a lot over last year and we are playing at a high standard for longer than we have been over the last few years.

One thing which is often overlooked when rating teams is quite simply the ability to keep your best team on the park. Unlike in the previous years we have been able to keep pretty close to our best team on the field and this alone has seen us win more games. It is no surprise that teams which contend are those which can play their best team most weeks. Although we have had a few injury issues (eg Lapping and Drummond to name a couple) we are suffering nowhere near to the same extent as we have for the last three years.

At the beginning of the year I don’t think we looked that good and it seemed we were going away from the hard tackling style that won us games at the end of last year. What I think it developed from though was not an unwillingness to play that style but the fact that our fitness levels were not as high as was needed to play that style. As the team has worked into the season and gotten match fit the energy sapping style at which we are good at has become to the fore. For the last 5 or 6 games the Lions have been able to play the game style which they want to and they have won more than they have lost.

The other two things which were a concern early which I think we have improved on quite a bit are our skill level generally and our clearance work. For the first 6 or 7 rounds we were consistently soundly beaten in the clearances and this severely affected our ability to win games. Our rucks were not getting quality taps and our midfielders were second to the ball more often than not. Charman’s ruck work has improved in the last 4 or so weeks and so has the support for Black. For the quality and reputations of our mids though we should be doing better and we struggle against quality midfields to get first use of the ball.

The skill work has also improved since early in the year and the team are hitting targets much more often (Freo game excluded) than they were last year and early this year. This is particularly evident in the entries into the 50 which were ordinary at best. I still wouldn’t consider us one of the better teams at hitting our forwards but I do think we are much improved.

Our backline has continued to build on their very solid finish to last year and are very much an unheralded strength of our side. From the start we have been one of the more difficult teams to score on with Patfull and Merrett continuing to develop as key defenders and Macdonald having a career year as a running defender. These three have been our rocks at the back. Roe, Begley and Drummond have all missed chunks of games through injury but we have had good depth and have managed to cover pretty well. It is not a surprise when Roe and Drummond were back in we looked better and continued our winning run. The addition of McGrath to the backline has strengthened our ability to cover dangerous small forwards and also much improved our run from the back.

Our midfield started pretty slowly but have started to come on as we have strung the wins together. Black is playing as well as he ever has and Power has been good without being exceptional. Lappin has been out since round 4 which has hurt our run a bit but Notting after a slow start has started to return to his hard running style of last year. Stiller and Rischitelli were our young guns in the middle who both started slow and whilst Rischitelli managed to just keep his spot Stiller has been dropped a couple of times and is fighting hard for a recall. Rischitelli has improved as the season has gone on. Johnstone was the big addition to our midfield this year and has managed to get his hands on the ball plenty. It was the other aspects of his game though which were not up to scratch for the first 6 or 7 games and which have been much improved since he was publicly called out by Leigh.

Up forward we are as dangerous as any team in the competition. Bradshaw returned magnificently from a season out and is currently second in the Coleman. Brown on the other hand started slow but since captaining Victoria has been on fire. His combination with Bradshaw seems more assured now and although they still lead into each other’s space a bit they are now kicking bags in tandem including bags or six each in rounds 9 and 10. Corrie and Hooper have also looked very good this year and the defensive pressure they apply has been a big factor in our game plans. Hooper is improving all the time as a goal sneak and Corrie’s quality of disposal has set up many plays. I would like to see both of them get a bit more of it but I am very happy with both at this stage. What has been disappointing though is our continued inaccuracy in front of goal. We have kicked 170 goals and 171 behinds making us one of the most inaccurate teams in the competition.

As a team we are still a very direct team which has bucked the trend toward possession football. We tend to try and get to the corridor as much as we can and get it long quickly. We are much better at it this year and the two pronged forward line has helped. This is very much borne out in the stats where we are 5th in points per game but 15th in kicks per game, 14th in disposals per game and 16th in marks per game. Somewhat surprisingly we are also not that good stopping the opponents disposals as despite ranking second in tackles per game we also last in least opponents handballs and disposals per game. Our tackling though has been a feature since the 4th or 5th game of the year and we are now making them stick and actually physically intimidating teams which are more developed than we are.

Adcock – has not been at his best in the first half of year averaging only 18 disposals a game to go along with 3.8 marks and 4.2 tackles per game. He has also only managed 5 goals to date. After a hugely successful move into the midfield last year Jed was expected by most (me included) to be right up there with Black as our keys in the middle of the ground. To me it looks like he has been carrying an injury for most of the year possibly arising from a corkie in round 1. He has played all 11 games to date but hasn’t been moving as freely as he can. The good news is that I think he might be coming good finally and he did have a career high 30 possessions against the Saints in round 9. In the Fremantle game in round 11 I kept eye on him on several occasions and he seems to be moving more freely than has been the case for most of the year. Hopefully we will see a big second half of the year. To date he has been good without excelling and having the influence that we know he can.

Austin – was not expected to play firsts football in the first half of the year and he hasn’t. He has a put on some weight since the beginning of the year and is now a very solid build for a first year player. He is now very nice size for a mid and he is a very smooth mover on the field. He is another who splits time for the Suncoast between onball and defence. He needs some more miles in his legs but the biggest thing likely to hold him back is his disposal. Quite simply he struggles to hit the side of a barn by foot at the moment. I would be surprised if we see him this year for exactly that reason – he needs another preseason to try and overcome this deficiency.

Begley – was moved into a set position for the first time this year playing as a defensive backman for the first 5 games of the year before succumbing to the dreaded quad injury. He has been listed as returning in 3 to 4 weeks ever since. I must say I was a little disappointed in Colm’s start to the year as I thought he would tear it up. Leigh however never really let him off the leash and he averaged only 13 possessions a game. Defensively he was solid without being spectacular and with the move of McGrath into the backline he might struggle to regain his spot when he gets fit. He is still progressing well though and would be considered one of our next generation of players. His best game was game 1 where he picked up 21 possessions.

Black – has been in as good a form as at any stage in his career including his Brownlow year. I haven’t checked the odds but I would expect him to be behind on Ablett in the Brownlow voting at the moment. He has been a rock in the middle for us winning a mountain of possessions in general and in the clearances in particular. He is currently 3rd in the AFL in disposals per game with 28.1 per game. His disposal has been first class and has lead to a lot of scoring shots for our forwards. We have all seen Black play a lot of good games over his career but this year he has managed to put a lot of those top shelf games back to back. Hopefully we don’t see what happened last year where Black also started strong but faded due to OP issues. He has continued to have some problems in this regard and did miss round 7. All Brisbane supporters will be behind me I think in hoping that the modified program he is on is effective.

Bradshaw – 2006 I think was Bradshaw’s break out year with 56(?) goals without Brown and with ordinary service. I commented at the time that he was coming into his peak as a power forward and given that it was a contract year for him I was very surprised teams seemed to be targeting our other players notwithstanding that many of those same teams had big holes up forward. After a year out with injury he has returned bigger and better than ever and at the halfway stage is running second in the Coleman with 43 goals. He has been very consistent for a key forward only having three games where he kicked less than 3 goals. Also unlike most in our team he has been very accurate in front of goal kicking only 17 behinds to go with the 43 goals. He has been playing as a true full forward and not getting a lot of possessions (10.1 per game) but he is making those count having 5.5 scoring shots per game. He has also managed to slot in 5 marks per game and has been setting an example for the younger guys with his run and chase when the ball is tied up in the forward line. Quite simply there have been few better full fowards in the competition in the first half of the year and he has been our best and most consistent forward Brown included. Not bad for a guy with a bung knee who should be playing in the backline for us (sorry couldn’t resist that one). A hamstring injury in round 11 might see him out for a couple of weeks.

Brennan – has been played much more on the ball this year and is having a career high in disposals at 16.4 per game. Despite that I am not convinced. He has played all over the ground but mostly at HFF with significant runs onball and has been given every opportunity to rack up the possessions and quite simply he hasn’t done that. He has played all some good games including two 23 possession and 9 marks in rounds 6 and 7 but for me there have not been enough of those games. He fades in and out of games too much and for a forward by profession his kicking for goals has been woeful (1 goal and 10 behinds). With a couple of exceptions his disposals have generally been much improved this year with him hitting his targets for the most part. You could not say though that his disposals have hurt factor. He has played all 11 matches to date but I am yet to be convinced that he has a position in our next championship team. Where will he play? I think there are better options coming through as an onballer come forward flanker. Give him credit though he has played a lot better and most consistently than he has to date and if he can continue to improve he could very well prove me wrong.

Brown – after a 6 goal game 1 against West Coast Brown struggled to get the ball and picked up only 9 goals in the next 5 games. The run of poor form culminated with Browney missing round 7 with a quad injury. Notwithstanding missing that game Brown turned out to captain the Victorians against the dream team and since that game he has been carving it up with 21 goals and in the last three games he has averaged over 20 possessions and 14 marks per game. He has had a couple of dog days in front of goal but in general has been pretty good and had 36 goal and 24 behinds for the first half. All up for the first 11 games he has averaged 14.7 disposals, 8.2 marks and 3.2 inside 50s per game. He is currently 4th in the Coleman and is coming home with a wet sail. For the betters amongst us don’t write off Mr Brown just yet. He hyperextended his knee in the preseason and reinjured his knee slightly against North in round 10 but notwithstanding that he seems to have regained his lateral movement and is running his opponents around and marking at will. The big man is back and the rest of the competition will be scared.

Charman – had a very ordinary start to the year to the extent that his position may well have been in trouble if Clark was available early. He was splitting time with Leuenberger and was not able to get into the groove. He was not winning the taps and was not a factor around the ground. That all turned around after he played in the Victoria v. The Rest game where he seemed to get his mojo back and he returned to form at least in regard to his ruck work with games of 25, 26 and 25 hitouts in rounds 8 to 10. For these matches he rucked with Clark and got the majority of the ruck time. During that time his ruck work was top shelf and cleaner than I can remember him ever being. A concern though is he is still not getting a huge number of possessions but credit though he is making each of his possessions count. In round 11 he was dominated by Sandilands in the ruck (only 9 hitouts) but again he was playing in tandem with Leuey. Are these two able to play effectively together? Remember how good Leuey looked in round 20 last year against the Swans and this year he got his chance again in round 4 when Charman was down and again he looked very capable as the number 1. Stats wise Charman has averaged 19.5 hit outs a game to go along with an anaemic 10.8 disposals a game. He has drifted forward occasionally but has not been used in the forward role much yet but he has picked up 6 goals in his 10 games.

Clark – with Brown and Bradshaw cemented up front I was worried there might not be the opportunity for Clark to get the games that he needs and I thought we might struggle to keep him at the end of the year if he couldn’t crack the side. After having a dread quad injury early in the year U was even more worried but Clark seized his opportunity in round 7 when he was given a run as the back up ruck. I admit that this was a surprise to me as I didn’t think they would risk him in that role but credit the selection panel because he has done extremely well and the experience that he has gained will stand us in good stead if Charman or Leuenberger goes down in the future. For the Suncoast he was played all over the ground on his return from injury and he showed great aptitude in this free utility role so much so that he has largely be used in this way in the firsts. He has backed up in the ruck but most of his time on ground has been as a HF a kick and a half from goal. His ruck work has been solid and he has also done some good work in the back half when required. In round 11 he played the whole game in the back half to do the job on the tall Freo forwards and resting rucks and he did very well showing more proficiency in that role than I expected. His lateral movement was good and his reading of the play excellent. In his around the ground roles he has shown excellent movement for a big man and given his size and marking ability he is an extremely difficult matchup. His disposal skills around the ground have proved to be very good but his goal kicking style is still terrible and his drop all over the shop. With Bradshaw out for a game or two he should get an opportunity as a key forward over the next couple of weeks to show where he is at in that regard. In the 5 games that he has played to date he has averaged 10.8 possessions, 4.8 marks (great for his limited TOG) and has picked up 4 goals and 3 behinds. Bear in mind he is still only 20 and you have to think there is a lot to look forward to from Clark in the years to come.

Copeland – is one of the veterans of our side but is now a fringe 22 player. He came into this year looking like he might well be an important small leading forward for us after finishing last season well in that role. He was however unable to maintain form and was moved back to his tagging roles. For the 6 games that he has played this year he has failed to score a goal and has only 2 behinds. He has averaged 11.5 disposals and 3.3 marks per game. At this stage I think he is a valuable depth and matchup player.

Corrie – has played all 11 games in the first half and was a bit slow out of the gate averaging only 10 possessions for the first three games before picking things up. Over the 11 games he has averaged 11 disposals a game to go along with 3 marks. He has been playing on the half forward flank and up onto the wing. He regularly starts in the forward line where he and Hooper put enormous pressure on the rebounds from the forward line. He then moves up onto the wing where he offers great run and carry. Unlike some of our young players he also has real hurt factor in his disposals and a lot of good things happen when he gets the ball. He has averaged 4.4 inside 50s which is good for 17th best in the AFL to date. I wasn’t totally convinced about Corrie at the beginning of the year but I am happy to be proved wrong. I would still like him to get more of the ball though and he hasn’t had a single game over 20 possessions yet. He is given the opportunity to get plenty of the ball and needs to average more than 14. I think he needs to improve his endurance. The other thing he needs to do is become more of a goal scoring threat. He has scored 12 goals so far but is usually not a threat in this regard. His best game so far was probably the one against Melbourne in round 6 where he picked up 18 disposals, 4 marks, 3 goals, 2 behinds and 4 inside 50s.

Clouston – he is coming along very nicely and he looks like he will be an AFL player. We saw him in the preseason down back and that is probably where he is going play at AFL level but he is showing with the Suncoast that he can also score goals if he is thrown forward. He picked up 4 goals in round 6 against Redland. He moves very well, has good height, is disciplined and seems to have good defensive instincts. If Merrett went down Clouston might well be close to the top to replace him. He probably needs to develop a bit more and get stronger but I would be shocked if he is not moved to the main list at the end of the year.

Collier – hasn’t played yet for the firsts but I am will be surprised if he is not blooded at some stage in the second half of the season. Collier will be a very important part of our backline for many years tom come. I thought at the beginning of the year he might easily turn out to be the steal of the draft and I still think this could well be the case. There hasn’t been a lot of press about Collier but from the game I saw I think he is developing extremely well. He has been solid defensively playing at CHB but the thing that could make him an elite player for the Lions is his game breaking runs from the back. He will burst onto the ball and he is extremely difficult to bring down. He needs to work on getting a bit more of it and continue to get stronger and improve defensively but he could easily be our CHB for the next decade.

[Quigley]

Dalzeill – as an older prospect he was expected to challenge for games this season and I think it is fair to say that he has but hasn’t quite cracked it yet. He was okay in the preseason without setting the world on fire. The big weapon of Dalzeill is his running ability. He was second to Stiller in the preseason endurance testing and he has the ability to keep running when other guys are stopping around him. His endurance has been well publicised but what I surprised me was that he also has a pretty nice burst of pace as well. He has been a feature in the best for the Suncoast and along with Proud he has probably been the most consistent performer for the year to date. He has been played mostly onball and resting up forward. He is not great in and under but as mentioned his ability to keep running sees him running down players and rack up the possessions at AFLQ level. He is a regular contributor on the scoreboard as well.

Dzufer – he was one I was expecting to build on a solid season last year in his second year on the rookie list but it hasn’t really happened. He has not featured in the best since round 2 and whilst he often gets a favourable mention playing off half back he has not been knocking the door down to demand a game at senior level. He runs well and gets up and down the field as well as anyone and he regularly pops up with a goal. Probably needs to work on his disposal skills a bit more and on keeping his feet but people who have seen him a bit think he is an AFL player. Hopefully we will see him at his best in the second half as the pressure is on him.

Drummond – again Drummond has struggled with injury this year. He has only managed 5 games this year being games 1, 2, 8, 9 and 10. After round 2 Josh went down with a quad injury and then sat out round 11 with a hamstring injury. He has also not been at his high possession best averaging only 16 possessions a game to date. He really has had only one game like we saw from his last year and that was in round 9 against the Saints when he picked up 28 disposals, 5 marks and 4 tackles. The positive for the team though is that in rounds 8 to 10 I thought his defensive work was much better than we saw last year. He has been given some jobs on smalls and talls and has done the jobs pretty well. He has shown so far that he is not just a lose man in defense but can play an all around game if required. Disposal wise he has usually been good but he has played a couple of games where his kicking was below his normally very high standard and I wonder if these games might not have been injury related.
Garner – after two years out with knee issues he was put on the rookie list and the good news is that he has managed to string a few games together. The reason he was kept around is that he is a key position player with superb kicking skills. It was reported after one game in the rain that he had the best kicking skills in the Suncoast team and this might be pretty close to the mark. He plays mostly in the backline at FB or CHB but will get a run up forward when the Suncoast rotate the likes of Henderson and Tyler through the backline. He doesn’t have the softest hands going around but he takes his fair share of marks. Defensively he needs work though. He doesn’t tend to punch well and too often goes to ground and is outbodied. I would think he is behind the likes of Clousten, Collier, Henderson and Tyler but with his kicking skills he could make up the difference very quickly. It is much easier to do some gym work and get a bit stronger than to become an elite kick.

Hanley – has been out since early April with a bad hamstring injury. It was disappointing that injury struck because before that I was getting excited and thought we might actually get to see him play this year. He looked good in the preseason game that he played and featured in the best for the Suncoast in their round 2 match against Labrador. He is a solid young guy who is very hard at it and has, dare I say it, a bit of Vossy about the way he goes about his work. He will attack the packs and use his power to come out the other side. His disposal is very good for the limited experience he has with the oval ball. I expect him to start his career off the HBF before moving into the midfield. I think we might have a major prospect on our hands here. Hopefully he is back playing soon.

Harding – managed to hold his place for the 6 games from round 6 and has shown glimpses but has not really seized the opportunity he has been given. He was probably fortunate that the team was winning and that Leigh is always reluctant to change a winning side. He has been played mostly onball with occasional stints up forward. He has averaged 10.5 disposals, 2.3 marks and 2.3 tackles per game. He hasn’t been given much time on ground but if he is going to be a permanent member of the team he needs to get more of it. He has managed to do that at AFLQ level but hasn’t been able to translate those skills to the AFL yet. He is now almost 22 and has been in the system for a while now and he might be running out of opportunities. The positives are though that he has very good attack on the ball, he has great pace and he can stick his tackles. He has started to translate his pace to the game more this year but still needs to improve his endurance so that he can repeat sprint more. His disposal skills have improved a bit I think over last year but he still lacks penetration and is prone to missing targets. It is not going to help that he suffered a knee injury in round 11.

Hawksley – after some good form for the Suncoast he was given an opportunity to debut in round 11 against Freo. Playing more of a defense role than he is used to playing he managed to pick up only 6 possessions and 2 marks. He was named in the best for the Suncoast in three of the four games prior to the Freo game and was BOG in the good win over Mt Gravatt in the week before the game. Playing on the wing he gets plenty of the ball for the Suncoast and he has the reputation of having top shelf skills. It is great to see him come back from the OP issues that severely interrupted his preseason and kept him out of the first few rounds of the year. He is a player who a few on Bigfooty (Irel in particular) had high hopes on and it was good to see him get a run. I watched the Freo game live and I have to admit that I didn’t notice him that much but he seems to move pretty well and he did his job pretty well.

Henderson – very surprisingly we have already seen Henderson in 5 games so far. For a first year key position this is very uncommon thing for the Lions and a very encouraging one. He got his chance in round 2 and played in 5 of the next 6 games as a half forward or back. Whilst his stats have not been fantastic (6.2 disposals, 3.2 marks, 1.6 tackles per game and only 2 goals and 1 behind) there have been glimpses of talent that make you think he will be a star for us in a couple of years. He can play up forward or down back and has excellent height and marking ability. He also covers the ground well and gets out on the lead reminiscent of a young Browney. His best game was probably his last where he picked up 9 possessions and 5 marks. For the Suncoast he is a regular on the score sheet and managed a bag of 5 in round 9 against Mt Gravatt. The Suncoast tend to swap their key positions around a lot playing them up forward and back and Henderson for me looks like he is best suited up forward. Generally he is not dominating for the Suncoast though and with a full team to pick from I am not sure we will see him again this year (mothball him and let him work on what he needs to work on in the Suncoast where he can build his confidence). He needs to get stronger but looks like he will fill out very well.

Hooper – is another who needs to get his hands on the ball more. He has played in all 11 games to date and has averaged 9.7 disposals per game, 2.6 marks and 4.6 tackles. The tackle figure though doesn’t accurately reflect the pressure that he puts on the opposition clearing the ball from their defense. Teams know what to expect this year and are careful to be aware that he is closing on them but that just means that their disposal is not as good and more turnovers result. He is another who started slow and looked underdone at the start of the year. Given his game is built around being able to chase hard this affected his effectiveness. He has come back now and although still not getting much of the ball he is back to his high pressure best. He is extremely quick and uses that well to tackle and force turnovers. With Corrie in the team he is not working back as deeply as we saw toward the end of last year but he is being given short stints onball. When he is onball he is doing okay but still not getting many possessions. When he does get the ball though his passing is very good and like Corrie he can make things happen. He only has 11 goals to date but he is actually looking to score more now rather than give off like he was inclined to do early in the year. He is showing signs that he might develop into the goal sneak that we need crumbing at the feet of Brown and Bradshaw. He could be very effective in this role swooping in with his electric pace. Rhan is one of my favourite players and I am hoping he continues to develop into a dangerous small forward on both sides of the game.

Kiel – has had a hamstring injury for the last few weeks but has been a lot quieter than I expected this year. He has figured in the best only twice so far this year (round 3 against Mt Gravatt and round 7 against Southport). I was expecting him to be dominating the AFLQ and be demanding promotion to the main list. Instead he has been steady and for the last few weeks prior to getting injured he has been playing for Southport instead of the Suncoast. I am not sure what that means. I know that the Suncoast can only play 16 listed players and hence some players are sent to play for their old clubs but I don’t think it is common to send the same player back regularly.

Johnstone – I was pretty apathetic about the acquisition of Johnstone - I thought he repeated skills and did not address team weaknesses and further does not play the style of game that we need to play to win. Early on it looked like I was going to be right he was filling up the stats pages but they were cheap possessions, he went missing when the heat was on, he missed targets when there was any pressure and his defensive effort was not as good as we required. About round 7 though he was called out publicly by Leigh and credit to him he responded. From there he seemed to work harder on the things which help our team to win. He still got his possessions but now he was making the team around him better. Round 8 he was fantastic with 32 possessions, 7 marks, 6 tackles, 5 inside 50s and 3 goals. He has been played all over the ground and it is usual to see him start in the middle before doing a stint up forward then one down back before going back to the middle and then finish up forward again. I think he best serves us as a half forward flanker. He often has that extra time playing there that he needs and he is becoming a dangerous goal kicker for us. After a slow start goal kicking wise (1 goal in his first 4 matches) he has stepped things up and has 12 from his 10 games including 2 lots of 3 goals in the last 4 games. For the first half of the year Johnstone has averaged 20.7 possessions, 4.8 marks, 3.2 tackles and 3.6 inside 50s per game and he currently ranks 7th in the AFL in kicks per game. If he can keep playing like he has in the last 4 games I think I will be happily wrong on us trading for him.

Lappin – played the first four games before succumbing to an Achilles problem which has kept him out of the rest of the season to date. In the four games that he did play Nige wasn’t getting the pill as much as he was last year and only averaged 18.5 disposals per game and he didn’t hit targets as accurately as I would like. His tackling though was very good and he averaged 5.5 per game. In the games that we lost I commented at the time that I thought we really missed his run and ability to provide a link between the backfield and the midfield. McGrath has picked some of that slack since his move into the backline but the run of Lappin will be a big boost when he returns in a week or two.

Leuenberger – played the first 7 weeks and continued to show glimpses of the talent that has everyone convinced he will be dominating the competition in a couple of year. His best game was in round 4 where Charman went down and Leuenberger had to carry to load in the ruck. Against a quality ruck tandem in Lade and Brogan he performed very well picking up 22 hit outs and 14 disposals. In that game he got better the further it went and he was the best ruck on the ground in the last. That is a thing I think at the moment – he takes time to get into the game and with Charman also working best with more TOG there is not the time available to show him at his best. He was given a rest for round 8 and Clark was brought in. Clark has performed well, shown more versatility and allowed Charman to play the time in the ruck that he needs and given that the Lions have been winning Clark has retained his spot. He was brought back for match up reasons against the Dockers and the same style issues were evident. He only managed 3 hit outs but what he did show was some nice marking ability picking up 6 marks. Notwithstanding the issues I expect for development reasons if nothing else Leuenberger will get at least another 5 games in the second half of the year. In between those games he will be given all the TOG he needs for the Suncoast to improve his game. He has fantastic around the ground ability and we have not seen as much of it as I would like to date this year. He has averaged 8.8 disposals, 2.2 marks and 12.8 hit outs per game. One of the really encouraging things with the hit outs has been the quality of the taps. They are already top quality and he directs his taps very nicely to the targets.

McGrath – has been in the wars this year with knee, ankle and hamstring injuries already this year. He started the year for the Suncoast before coming back in round 5 playing up forward and started much like he finished last year ie disappointly. By week 8 he might well have been playing for his career and the fact that we hadn’t been able to fill the defensive hole left by Begley’s injury might well have saved it. With McGrath struggling up forward Leigh decided to throw McGrath into the backline and he has performed excellently back there. Defensively he has been very good matched up on the opposition’s most dangerous small forward and going forward the quality of his disposal has been first class. He has pinpointed his passes and he has lead his forwards extremely well in his forward 50 entries. He missed round 11 again through injury and now he needs to get fit and keep on the park. He looks like he might become a key member of our back line going forward. Stats wise he has averaged 12 possessions, 2 marks and 2.4 tackles per game in his 5 games in the first half. He has picked up only 2 goals (both in his first game of the year). His best game to date was against Carlton in round 8 where matched up on Betts he picked up 18 possessions, 4 marks and 4 tackles.

Macdonald – is quite simply having a career year. He has averaged 22.6 disposals, 5.6 marks and 2.2 tackles per game and he has been a key element in the Lions underrated defence. Especially early with a lot of guys out he provided great drive and run from the back. Even when Drummond came back and McGrath was moved to the backline he has continued to get his possessions and be a leading offensive weapon in the backline. He has set career highs in disposals, kicks, handballs, marks and tackles. Most weeks he has been kept away from tough defensive match ups so as to free him up but I would say his defensive work has been solid. I am not sure that his disposal skills have been as good as last year but it might well be that the improvement was so noticeable last year. This year his disposal skills have been pretty good and I certainly haven’t seen any indication that he is returning to his poor skills that were a trademark prior to 2007.

[Quigley]

Merrett – he has again been very solid playing on the best full forwards in the game. Our first half draw is far harder than the second half and he has been through the worst. He is not the surprise he was last year and coaches and opposing players have had time to work out strategies for him. As a consequence he has had more difficulties. Notwithstanding that, he has continued to do a very good job. Offensively he has shown much improvement this year with his kicking actually being pretty good. He can occasionally still come up with a clanger but that is not more often the result of poor judgement rather than poor skill. The other improvement in his game so far has been in his marking. He is consistently taking some good quality marks and that is not something which we saw last year where he was told to punch everything. Overall I think his confidence is improving each week and it won’t be long before he is considered right up there with the best fullbacks in the competition. He has averaged 9 possessions and 3.8 marks per year. The possession count is so low because he is still not used as much as he probably should be by his other backs. His best game came against the quality of Geelong where he had 15 possessions and 9 marks.
Mills – is in a difficult position. When he plays the team invariably plays well especially when he is playing as a roving half forward. He is a very good mark, has elite endurance and very nice height. The problem has been that his kicking has been of AFL standard whether for goal or from the field. With the number of young key position talents who we have on our team his opportunities might be limited. His quickness is a little below what I would like for a defender but it comes down to his kicking and if he improves that he is definitely an AFL player. He has gotten one game so far this season and that was the win against Port. He picked up 8 disposals, 3 marks, 1 tackle and 1 goal (his first career goal I think).

Moody – has not played yet this year after having OP problems. The pressure is on him to hang onto his roster spot in the second half. He needs to come back and prove that his disposal is AFL standard. Physically he has the tools but he just needs to show that his skills are up to speed. If Macdonald can do it there is hope for Moody as well.

Notting – there has been a huge difference between his first 5 games and his second 6 games. Coming off a career year he looked much below that level in the first 5 games where he averaged only 13.8 disposals, 3 marks and 2.8 tackles per game. In the last six games he averaged 23.8 disposals, 5.2 marks and 3.7 tackles per game. He has set career highs in handballs in the Freo game and in tackles in the Melbourne game. He seems to be returned to his hard running, long kicking best.

Patfull – since moving into defence full time midway through last year Patfull has gone from a marginal prospect to an integral part of the team. He has continued to build on his good defensive work to the extent that he is rarely beaten even by the stars of the competition. He regularly gives away height at CHF but like Bolton at Sydney he makes up for it with his athleticism and tenacity. I would like to see him run off more than he currently does and he has not really been an offensive factor in many games so far this year (only 10.3 disposals per game). When he has run forward he has looked good and has provided good service more often than not. For him to step up to the elite level he needs to bring his offensive game up a few notches. Defensively I would say he has pretty much matched it with any CHB in the competition to date this year. He has set his career high in marks (9) twice this year once against Hawthorn and once against Geelong. Those were his best games all around and he also picked up 15 and 16 disposals respectively. Those kind of disposal numbers are what he should be getting each game.

Polkinghorne – has surprised me in that he has actually gotten a game. I was not expecting to see him this year but credit too him he has been playing very well for the Suncoast and has deserved his opportunity. He is a solid player both in physique and game style. He is not flashy by any stretch but he is an in and under player who works hard and wins his fair share of the ball and when he goes forward he is capable of kicking goals (10 so far for the Suncoast including 2 games of 3 goals). I don’t see him being a consistent member of our side in the second half of the year but getting any games this year puts him ahead of schedule. He played in round 6 against Melbourne and managed 10 possessions, 7 marks, 2 tackles and 2 behinds.

Power – just keeps on keeping on. So far this year he has averaged 23.6 disposals, 2.7 marks, 5.3 tackles and 3.3 inside 50s. He is 9th in the AFL in tackles, 13th in handballs, 10th in goal assists and 20th in disposals. He hasn’t been winning as much ball in the clearances as I would like but he keeps racking them up. His kicks also seem to be getting shorter and shorter and it is a certainty that he does not have the penetration that he used to. He is also not the goal threat that he once was and only has 4 goals. What Matthews has also done a lot this year is put Power on one of the dangerous opposition mids and let them run with each other. He has had some wins but his player has also hurt us on more than one occasion.

Proud – has played in 3 games to the half way mark and is probably unlucky not to have a quite a few more. Leigh generally likes to reward those who are performing for the Suncoast and Proud has been in the best virtually every week (7 times) and BOG for the Suncoast more often than not(5 times). The general consensus is that he has been given some things to work on and that the coaching staff haven’t yet seen enough improvement in those areas. I would like to think they are trying to get more miles in his legs with the aim of giving him an extended run in the firsts in the second half of the year. The thing that he really needs to improve is his running without the ball. Even at this early stage of his career he is probably one of our better in and under players but at the moment he just does not get the easy possessions. He doesn’t make space and provide an easy option for his team mates. What he does have is superb balance and is a very evasive runner and this is extremely evident at the level below. He is very strong for his size and he keeps his feet when everyone else is going to ground. He has been splitting time for the Suncoast between the middle and up forward and he is a dangerous crumbing forward. He is too good to remain in the reserves for long and I would think that we will see him play quite a few more games in the second half of the year. He is a definite player of the future for us. In his three games to date (rounds 2, 3 and 7) he has averaged 10 disposals, 3 marks, 3 tackles and 2 inside 50s per game.

Rischitelli – another who started the season very slowly and was probably lucky to retain his spot. As it is he has played all 11 games and is starting to put some nice games together. For the year to date Rischitelli has averaged 15.3 disposals, 4.1 marks, 4.4 tackles and 3 inside 50s per game and has kicked 5 goals and 3 behinds. Not fantastic numbers and he has not have any games above 20 disposals. His best game to date came against the Demons in round 6 where he picked up 20 disposals, 6 marks, 10 tackles and 7 inside 50s. The most disappointing thing is that for most of the games this year he has not been much support for Black in and under. In some of the latter games he has done okay when Charman was up and running but still I was expecting more of him given that he is supposed to be one of the leaders on the team in this regard.

Roe – at the beginning of the year he had a 1-2 week quad injury which kept him out for 7 or 8 weeks. He came back into the side in week 8 and played the following week as well before injuring a hamstring early in round 10 which kept him out of round 11. In the games he did play he looked good and the backline looked to have better balance. He has really improved his disposal skills over the last couple of years and he was also good defensively in the games he played this year something which he struggled with at times last year. He also is not afraid to run off and when he does he looks very good. He is going to start to feel some pressure for his spot from the likes of Collier but from what we have seen so far he is still our first choice by a fair margin. He needs to keep on the park.

Selwood – for me the first half of the year reinforced my position all along that he should only ever be considered if he is going to play as a tagger. He has played in that tagging role but also as a back. The backman experiment was not successful and his hit and miss disposal skills were a real weakness. After a poor round 1 he was dropped until round 4 and apart from again being dropped for round 6 played the rest of the games ending up with 8 games played to date. To date he has averaged 13.5 disposals, 4.4 marks and 3 tackles per game. 17 disposals is the most he has gotten to date. Credit him though he has done some nice tagging jobs taking the likes of Hodge out of the game. His disposal skills is something which is highly scrutinised to the extent now that every clanger is highlighted. At best you would have to say his disposal lack hurt factor and penetration. He often has trouble hitting targets and this has again been evident this year. He tends to give the ball away in bad situations. This season he has had some days where he has been very efficient with his disposals. These games have usually been when he has gone handball crazy and not gone to his kicking under pressure. He has averaged 7 kicks and 6.5 handballs per game. He is a dividing presence on this board with a lot of people very hard on him (I am often in this camp) and those who think he is unfairly singled out. Generally for me I think he has a place in the team at the moment but that position is only as a close checking tagger and this year he seems to have regained some of his stopping power that he looked like he had lost last year.

Sheldon – we are yet to see Sammy missing the whole first half of the season with OP. After good signs last year in a crumbing forward role I was hoping we could see some good things from Sheldon this year. There is still time but I think it unlikely that we will see him this year. Training reports have him back in the main group and we might see him back for the Suncoast in the next week or so. I have high hopes for Sheldon lets hope he can show us what he has got this year.

Sherman – has been given a set role in the first half of the year and is doing a really nice job. He has been given a run with role on some of the best players in the competition and has done very well. He has improved defensively as the season has progressed and the offensive parts of his game are also coming back. Last year he couldn’t hit the side of a barn with his kicks or handballs but this season he is more and more hitting the targets. In the last couple of games he is also starting to get forward and kick goals. I think the idea is for Sherman to become our version of Kane Cornes, a tagger who is capable of racking up the numbers himself. Sherman has the potential to do that and when you factor in his goal scoring prowess you have a major weapon. As a tagger he is not a close checking player but sits a step off and tries to shut down his man as soon as he gets the ball. This tactic also allows him to be in a better position to runoff if the situation warrants. For the season to date he has averaged 14.6 disposals, 3.6 marks and 2.1 tackles per game and has kicked 4 goals and 8 behinds (but 3 goals and 1 behind in rounds 10 and 11). I love this role for Sherman and it is great to see him on his way back. This a role which really helps the team and as I said makes him a real weapon that other teams have to worry about.

Schmidt – had a delayed start to the year when he suffered a quad injury during the preseason. At the moment he still looks like he is short of a run. On the field at the moment I don’t think he is running hard enough to be considered for first team football and he is looking slow. On the positives though he has put on some weight especially in the lower half and I think come next year he will well and truly have an AFL physique. Notwithstanding that he is not in great shape he does look like a footballer and he gets to spaces and reads the play well and gets a hell of a lot of the ball. For the Suncoast he has split time in and under and down back and he looks much better when he is onball. Down back he seems to struggle which given that I saw his primary opportunity as a backman that was a little disappointing. In contested situations he has also been a little inconsistent – sometimes he is reluctant to become involved but when he does he really can nail the tackles and bumps and he makes a physical presence. There is a number of things to improve but I still have high hopes for the young guy. He was named in the best for the Suncoast in rounds 6 and 7 and Redland and Southport.

Smith – a fairly quiet start for young Phil although he did feature in the best in rounds 5 and 6 against Broadbeach and Redlands. From what I have seen he is being played mostly in the back pocket as a defensive stopper with runs up through the midfield. Coming in a tagging prospect he has played the negative roles before but it is hard to stand out. Defensively I thought he was okay with standing out and going forward he too often takes a poor option. Skillwise he could use some work as well. He drifted forward when playing in the midfield against Redlands in round 10 and managed to kick 3 goals but these are the only goals he has kicked to date.

Stiller – has played 5 games and has been dropped twice in that time. Admittedly he hasn’t been in great form but in each of the games I didn’t think he was the worst player running around and so I considered him unlucky to be dropped. The likes of Rischitelli, Sherman and Brennan all had as poor starts yet managed to hold their spots but Stiller who has been one of our better performers over the last two years was dropped. He seems to be playing more on ball in the reserves and perhaps Leigh wants him to be more of a factor around the clearances. Despite starting to work into some good form for the Suncoast I don’t think he is ever likely to be other than a winger or outside player. If though he comes back and picks up a clearance or two then the time with the Suncoast will be time well spent. He has been in the best two for each of the last two Suncoast games and he is very much the leader of that unit when he plays. He is running hard and committing his body to the contests. I still expect him to play most of the rest of the season. For the 5 games that he has played he averaged 15.2 disposals, 4 marks and 2.8 tackles per game. Down from what he can do but like I said hardly the worst of the guys running around. His disposal skills are still not elite (although they continue to improve) and he has made a few bad turnovers in the games he has played this year.

Tippett – has missed a lot of the season to date with quad and finger injuries but despite this he seems to be developing pretty well. He played a couple of preseason games and did reasonably well in senior company. When he has had to bear the load in the ruck for the Suncoast he has done well. Against Redland in the last round he dominated and would have won the hit outs 2 or 3 to one. He still needs to bulk up but if he had to come in and ruck at AFL level I think he would compete well. His development might be inhibited a bit when Leuenberger plays for Suncoast as he doesn’t get much time in the middle in those games. At the moment he is really only a ruck. His extreme athleticism has not translated as yet into him being a legitimate KP option even at AFLQ level.
Tyler – he is another whose chances of playing AFL football in the first half of the year have been cruelled by injury. He missed a lot of the preseason with a lower back injury and this interrupted his preparation for the year. For the Suncoast he has been playing primarily up forward but also spent a substantial amount of time in the backline. He and Henderson present a very dangerous combination at AFLQ level although he hasn’t gotten a bag yet this year. He has picked up 9 goals to date with a few two goal games. Physically he still pretty slim in the lower body but he has a major set of shoulders on him indicating that he might develop into a monster given a couple of years of development and time in the gym. Not sure if we will see him this year though.

[OldLion]

Fantastic stuff Quigs - I assume you wrote this prior to the Dogs game, which probably sobered us up a tad. We do need our full compliment ( stating the obvious ) cause depth is an issue. Being Melb-based, many of our drafted players disappear into a black hole so it's great to get news there esp. on guys like Tyler, Schmidt etc that we see rarely. The Dogs now have a core of skilled players in their mid 20's ready to go - and hopefully these SunCoast guys will evolve into that in a few years.

A few comments -

Brennan - just wasn't a top 10 draft pick after all. All that beep test guff still doesn't measure basic footy smarts so in my mind he's now a fringe player who may have a day out occasionally but can't really be relied upon. It's all up to him now. As a supporter, he does your head in.

Leuenberger - it's a tough gig being in the ruck. Having seen Kreuzer actually win a game for the Blues, could he do that now? I don't think so. A real work-in-progress who will be handy but doesn't impose at present.

Drummond - boy he is crucial .. without him, our defensive clearances are a high-wire act.

Polkinghorne - looks good ( not sure why ) solid, hard at it and seems to get to the right spots.

Disposal skills - compared with the Dogs, problematic at best. They can all spear a 40m pass that doesn't get above head height ( like the Cats ). Effective disposal will cruel us.

Bradshaw - amazing performance .. still a touch player but clearly made a massive commitment to getting back. All power to him.

Brown - up there with the greatest. He has a presence that Aka could only dream of ( and I rate Aka highly ) - we are so lucky to have him. That State game was basically a JB benefit .. he got frees for falling over.

Proud - everyone wants him to do well - he plays a style that supporters enjoy .. but maybe not the coach.

[Quigley]

Leuenberger - it's a tough gig being in the ruck. Having seen Kreuzer actually win a game for the Blues, could he do that now? I don't think so. A real work-in-progress who will be handy but doesn't impose at present.



When I look at Kreuzer I see the second coming of Josh Fraser. Good around the ground but his ruck work is not particularly good and probably never will be. Fraser like Kreuzer came straight in and produced maybe to the detriment of his long term development. Being taken number one and the Blues ruck division being terrible they have had to play him and play him a lot.

Leuenberger is more like Cox. A ruck technician who has great around the ground ability. Cox did take a fair while to get there and Leuenberger is well ahead of where Cox was at the same stage. He was brought on slowly. The Lions ruck division is much stronger than Carlton's and the Lions can afford to take their time and make sure he is not overplayed and learns to do things right. As I mentioned I think he is not getting the TOG he needs to really shine but it may be best for the team and his long term development that that continues. I think Leuenberger is already much better in the ruck than Kreuzer is ever likely to be although Kreuzer is better around the ground at the moment.

Cox or Fraser which do you take? Given a choice I would still take Leuenberger because a ruckman should primarily win the ruck contests and that is where berger will excel and Kreuzer may struggle.

[maroon and blue]

Watching Sherman on Saturday he is standing a liitle too far off his oponent. Gives the impression he is hanging on the perimeter of the action. Not a good look. He is also running too hard, it appears he is going one way whilst the ball is going the other. Needs to slow down and get balanced prior to kicking and get the ball under control.

[awesome_assassin]

Good read, well worth the wait Quigley:thumbsu:

[charles202]

Quigs i hate to know how long that took you, but i really appreciate the effort, great read :thumbsu:

[CoZi36]

Great report, thanks for the time and effort.

[TheBrownDog]

Too long... didn't read.










;)

[Ruse]

thanks quiqs you're my favourite poster on here.:thumbsu::)

[blackpowerlappin]

Magnificent work Quigley. Any potential Robert Murphy's coming through Suncoast.

[acuguy]

Great read Quigs, Roe is the interesting one for me, i think he has the potential to be one of the better defenders in the competition, what impresses me about Roe is his attack on the footy and his selflessness as a defender. I think he has all the attributes- pace, courage, athleticism, skilfull and i am hoping these attributes will make him an elite defender. Are you sold on him?

[Quigley]

Great read Quigs, Roe is the interesting one for me, i think he has the potential to be one of the better defenders in the competition, what impresses me about Roe is his attack on the footy and his selflessness as a defender. I think he has all the attributes- pace, courage, athleticism, skilfull and i am hoping these attributes will make him an elite defender. Are you sold on him?
I think Roe is a step below that elite level and I am thinking he is probably not going to get there. He has some very nice tools but has yet to put it all together. He doesn't get the serious defensive jobs and he is not getting enough ball to be the big run off threat. He balances our backline extremely well though.

There a few coming through who are 4 or so years younger who have that potential to be elite.

[Quigley]

Magnificent work Quigley. Any potential Robert Murphy's coming through Suncoast.
Murphy is a pretty unique kind of player and I don't really see the Lions having anyone like that on their roster at the moment. They have concentrated on having our goals scoring threats as the key positions and there are quite a few of those who are could get a game. The small / medium forwards tend to be the smaller guys who are not really consistent leading threats. Proud has the ability to be a very nice small forward but I can't see them puting the focus into making him a full time forward.

[blackpowerlappin]

Are you of the opinion we could do with a Murphy, O'keefe type? I think we need that to draft recruit that kind of a player, others that come to mind are Porplyzia, Chapman, SJohnson- after watching us against the dogs it was obvious we need to find that type- who can divide and split defences.

[Quigley]

We do not have a big goal scoring threat at small forward and I think that we could certainly use that although I do not think it would be a priority for me. Hooper can play the Davey type role and Corrie is coming along nicely in his first full year in the role. He could play that high possession small forward provider role pretty well ala Chapman and Porplyyzia. Proud I think has the more physical edge to his game similar to the likes of Porps and Chapman and I think could easily play that role if we wanted him to. Rioli is the guy I was hugely keen on us picking up last year because I think he would have added a dimension to our forward line from day one. I don't think it is essential but it certainly would be handy

Johnson I see more as a conventional CHF working out at the 50 albeit he is a very mobile CHF. Henderson, Clark and Brennan play this kind of role at the moment although admittedly in a slightly different way. I think we are covered in this area.

[weevil]

I think Roe is a step below that elite level and I am thinking he is probably not going to get there. He has some very nice tools but has yet to put it all together. He doesn't get the serious defensive jobs and he is not getting enough ball to be the big run off threat. He balances our backline extremely well though.

There a few coming through who are 4 or so years younger who have that potential to be elite.

Yeah, he looks like he should be the complete package but there is something missing. There is no doubt he is a good player, it’s just that sometimes he gives you glimpses of something more. Feel that he needs to bulk up to take it to the next level.

[acuguy]

I think we need that mid sized mobile marking target on our forward line. If we managed to snare a player like Murphy, Fisher, Porplyzia, Hahn then i think our forward line would be complete.

[Vidman]

Collier – hasn’t played yet for the firsts but I am will be surprised if he is not blooded at some stage in the second half of the season. Collier will be a very important part of our backline for many years tom come. I thought at the beginning of the year he might easily turn out to be the steal of the draft and I still think this could well be the case. There hasn’t been a lot of press about Collier but from the game I saw I think he is developing extremely well. He has been solid defensively playing at CHB but the thing that could make him an elite player for the Lions is his game breaking runs from the back. He will burst onto the ball and he is extremely difficult to bring down. He needs to work on getting a bit more of it and continue to get stronger and improve defensively but he could easily be our CHB for the next decade.

sounds very Leppa-esque, would you agree? How long do you think before he's an integral? end of next year?



Henderson –


Every time I see him play I'm reminded of Lynchy, I just can't get it out of my head. Is it just me or is there something about the way he carries himself/bodyshape - a hint of a swagger?


Proud –


I'm getting excited to see him when I can. He sounds like he has a bit of Lambert in him in the way he plays? and I think that hard in and under is what we are missing at the moment.

Great work Quigs, post of the year so far.:thumbsu:

[maroon and blue]

Yeah, he looks like he should be the complete package but there is something missing. There is no doubt he is a good player, it’s just that sometimes he gives you glimpses of something more. Feel that he needs to bulk up to take it to the next level.

I wholeheartledy agree about JRoe, there is also a lack of consistencey in the team overall. Just when you think they are on a roll they flatten out. We have been dogged by injury too much. Is it the training regime or the Gabba surface, too many hamstrings and lower body problems(except for Brown's vertebrae) or that we simply listen to the physio's too much. It's the off- field stuff that is holding us back. Put our best team on the field, allow them to gain confidence and we would be right up there.