PattyKwasagun
Norm Smith Medallist
Date - Sunday, August 24
Time – 1:10pm AEST
Venue - The Gabba
Weather - 20° Partly cloudy
Television – Live across Australia on Fox Footy and also live in Queensland on 7mate
Preview by blackpowerlappin
4 bourbon and cokes, 2 Carltons and a House Red. Thanks, hope you don't mind, but a pack of us Northern Mebourne Suburban Lions are still celebrating the shellacking of the Ferrals and immediate dumping of their 2014 finals aspirations. What a win! It was beautiful! Waves of run and carry, burst, hunger, young KPDs and KPFs, emerging 2nd, 3rd and 4th year talent across all lines. Now, I love the stats more than the average guy and whilst I could go through them for a while, much in the same way Kingy and Vossy can in the War Room, there is a greater importance that is occurring. We are watching a style, a system that is predictable to the players and validated by stats that should reflect success and positive win/loss ratios. While last year and the year before presented us with some cracking come from behind wins, momentum swings and out of the blue charges for victory, this year the stats are secondary. Why? Because we can see the likes of Gardiner and Clarke, Harwood and Mcstay switching play before they have the ball, and know their pass will result in a loose man further up the ground who will be supported by runners up the middle of the ground. We are seeing the development and excitement that comes with slick ball movement and delivered with intent. That happened gloriously for 3 and half minutes against Adelaide but for the whole game against the Ferrals. That's the way it is when you are rebuilding and developing the kids.
Some more of the good:
A solid KPD triumvirate in Justin Clarke, Darcy Gardiner and Daniel Mcstay. They have already cemented themselves in the back half, Gardiner and Mcstay have shown they can compete, swing and generate forward thrust whilst Clarke is holding his own against most of the Gorillas he confronts. Walker ran riot after he went off. The upside with these boys is huge. In Harwood, Adcock and Patful we have a balanced spread of run and link with the mids as they automatically run and switch from deep to the connecting players on the flanks or through the coridoor. The difference this year, in particular the second half of the year is how well they have followed and persevered with their style of play. The predictability only highlights the team progression on the back of emerging talent.
The defence is now enabling the Lions to unveil crazy and ballistic run and carry conveyances. Hanley, Taylor, Zorko, Bewick, Crisp, and Aish and Beams. As the year has gone on Zorko and Hanley have moved to more midfield orientated roles fuelled by handballs and effcetive kicks from the likes of Rockliff, Martin, Adcock, Patfull and the very handy Lester. This combination, when on, are proving a handful for many of our more fancied opponents and is a reminder that we are now starting to beat teams above us. Lions supporters would agree the 7 wins this year a rated higher than the 10 from the previous couple.
Of course we have our issues and this is where Kingy lights up his toys whilst Vossy articulates his thoughts on the game. Our delivery into the forward line can be disastrous. The Richmond and West Coast games were lost due to appalling forward entries and choosing wrong options. We know the top teams will destroy us if this does not improve over the next couple of years. Add to that the ability to turn the ball over and losing clearance counts. In addition we also know we need a key forward or two command a spot on form. We have a few of these emerging now so things are looking a little rosier as is the excitement when the Green machine is buzzing. With Leuey, Rich and Redden still to come, 2014 will turn out a whole heap better than that 130 point drubbing in that pre season NAB game.
The Dockers:
Well hands up if you watched the Dockers against Geelong and Hawthorn? Hands up if you were quietly thinking "jesus, these guys are back"! You know what you get when you play the Dockers, no time, no space, Centre Half Forward and Centre Half Back midfielders, speed machines on the flanks and wings, a 6 ft 2 glove, Gigantor in the ruck and terrorist forward smalls who machine gun goals if Pav doesn't. Only the Dockers know what happened against the Saints that day, but the style of game we are developing is the type of game that can test the Dockers. Of course, as magnificent as it is pump the Ferrals, they are a far cry from what the Dockers have put out there the last two weeks.
In the words of Leppa last week- "we were monstered by Adelaide" he said. Well, based on what I saw from the Dockers over the past two weeks, should they bring that to the Gabba on Sunday, you may as well turn on to a Victoria's Secret Christmas Special if you want excitement as a Lions fan. From memory the last time we played them we broke the record for the least forward 50 entries in history? It was downright painful.
In Conclusion:
I'm a half glass full type of bloke. I backed us to beat the Ferrals on the weekend for all the reasons I have stated above. I also backed Freo to win the Premiership last year. They are just starting to activate the turbo boosters and commencing the launching sequence for mine. They will come to the Gabba expecting a challenge. They are not in a position to rest players so they will be keen to deliver a clinical performance. Whilst Fyfe will miss Ballantyne will be back. For the Lions, we would consider ourselves a tough challenger, and will want a respectable display, one that will enable us to make up for the shocker against Adelaide in front of our home support.
I think the Lions will put up a good show but I expect the Dockers will be fine tuning the machine and win by 38 points.
Time – 1:10pm AEST
Venue - The Gabba
Weather - 20° Partly cloudy
Television – Live across Australia on Fox Footy and also live in Queensland on 7mate
Preview by blackpowerlappin
4 bourbon and cokes, 2 Carltons and a House Red. Thanks, hope you don't mind, but a pack of us Northern Mebourne Suburban Lions are still celebrating the shellacking of the Ferrals and immediate dumping of their 2014 finals aspirations. What a win! It was beautiful! Waves of run and carry, burst, hunger, young KPDs and KPFs, emerging 2nd, 3rd and 4th year talent across all lines. Now, I love the stats more than the average guy and whilst I could go through them for a while, much in the same way Kingy and Vossy can in the War Room, there is a greater importance that is occurring. We are watching a style, a system that is predictable to the players and validated by stats that should reflect success and positive win/loss ratios. While last year and the year before presented us with some cracking come from behind wins, momentum swings and out of the blue charges for victory, this year the stats are secondary. Why? Because we can see the likes of Gardiner and Clarke, Harwood and Mcstay switching play before they have the ball, and know their pass will result in a loose man further up the ground who will be supported by runners up the middle of the ground. We are seeing the development and excitement that comes with slick ball movement and delivered with intent. That happened gloriously for 3 and half minutes against Adelaide but for the whole game against the Ferrals. That's the way it is when you are rebuilding and developing the kids.
Some more of the good:
A solid KPD triumvirate in Justin Clarke, Darcy Gardiner and Daniel Mcstay. They have already cemented themselves in the back half, Gardiner and Mcstay have shown they can compete, swing and generate forward thrust whilst Clarke is holding his own against most of the Gorillas he confronts. Walker ran riot after he went off. The upside with these boys is huge. In Harwood, Adcock and Patful we have a balanced spread of run and link with the mids as they automatically run and switch from deep to the connecting players on the flanks or through the coridoor. The difference this year, in particular the second half of the year is how well they have followed and persevered with their style of play. The predictability only highlights the team progression on the back of emerging talent.
The defence is now enabling the Lions to unveil crazy and ballistic run and carry conveyances. Hanley, Taylor, Zorko, Bewick, Crisp, and Aish and Beams. As the year has gone on Zorko and Hanley have moved to more midfield orientated roles fuelled by handballs and effcetive kicks from the likes of Rockliff, Martin, Adcock, Patfull and the very handy Lester. This combination, when on, are proving a handful for many of our more fancied opponents and is a reminder that we are now starting to beat teams above us. Lions supporters would agree the 7 wins this year a rated higher than the 10 from the previous couple.
Of course we have our issues and this is where Kingy lights up his toys whilst Vossy articulates his thoughts on the game. Our delivery into the forward line can be disastrous. The Richmond and West Coast games were lost due to appalling forward entries and choosing wrong options. We know the top teams will destroy us if this does not improve over the next couple of years. Add to that the ability to turn the ball over and losing clearance counts. In addition we also know we need a key forward or two command a spot on form. We have a few of these emerging now so things are looking a little rosier as is the excitement when the Green machine is buzzing. With Leuey, Rich and Redden still to come, 2014 will turn out a whole heap better than that 130 point drubbing in that pre season NAB game.
The Dockers:
Well hands up if you watched the Dockers against Geelong and Hawthorn? Hands up if you were quietly thinking "jesus, these guys are back"! You know what you get when you play the Dockers, no time, no space, Centre Half Forward and Centre Half Back midfielders, speed machines on the flanks and wings, a 6 ft 2 glove, Gigantor in the ruck and terrorist forward smalls who machine gun goals if Pav doesn't. Only the Dockers know what happened against the Saints that day, but the style of game we are developing is the type of game that can test the Dockers. Of course, as magnificent as it is pump the Ferrals, they are a far cry from what the Dockers have put out there the last two weeks.
In the words of Leppa last week- "we were monstered by Adelaide" he said. Well, based on what I saw from the Dockers over the past two weeks, should they bring that to the Gabba on Sunday, you may as well turn on to a Victoria's Secret Christmas Special if you want excitement as a Lions fan. From memory the last time we played them we broke the record for the least forward 50 entries in history? It was downright painful.
In Conclusion:
I'm a half glass full type of bloke. I backed us to beat the Ferrals on the weekend for all the reasons I have stated above. I also backed Freo to win the Premiership last year. They are just starting to activate the turbo boosters and commencing the launching sequence for mine. They will come to the Gabba expecting a challenge. They are not in a position to rest players so they will be keen to deliver a clinical performance. Whilst Fyfe will miss Ballantyne will be back. For the Lions, we would consider ourselves a tough challenger, and will want a respectable display, one that will enable us to make up for the shocker against Adelaide in front of our home support.
I think the Lions will put up a good show but I expect the Dockers will be fine tuning the machine and win by 38 points.
