Preview Brisbane Lions Vs Melbourne Demons - Sunday 3:30pm @ the Gabba

[BrizzyBandit]

Well here we are after round 14 with 8 wins and 6 losses.

It was strange to watch our 3rd quarter performance last week. For the first time I realised the days of us being at the bottom of the ladder were properly behind us. For a while anyway.
We have some positional gaps perhaps.... but we don't have any weaknesses across the ground.

Our defence has really taken shape Harris Andrews, Darcy Gardiner and Daniel Rich forming an enviable nucleus. When Hodge steps down we have Zac Baily and Noah Answerth, amongst others developing at an impressive rate.

Our midfield is scary good. Dayne Zorko is amongst the games best when he is on song, Lachie Neale is amongst the games best every week, and Berry and McCluggage are approaching the boundaries of the elite with every game they play. Add to that the competitive beast that is Mitch Robinson, and the ball winning ability of Lyons..... We are crazy crazy good. Not to mention Steph Martin and the Big O rucking who cause hell with the opposition who have to either stop a super mobile beast, or a giant who can seriously take a contested mark.

Up forward Eric Hipwood, Dan McStay, Lincoln McCarthy and Charlie Cameron when working well, combine to wreak havoc on defenders. Just ask St Kilda. we have the luxury to wait for Cam Rayner to develop.... we saw some glimpses again last week.

So why am I typing up what we (in here) already know? Well because the Melbourne Demons don't stand a chance against us at the Gabba this weekend.
They'll be coming to Brissy knowing that their chance of success is minimal.... and maybe that might make them dangerous for a quarter or two.... but we simply have too much fire power right across the ground.

If we play with the confidence we've seen atleast 8 times this year then we'll win this easily.
Hitting another bump in the road will most likely happen again.... just not this weekend with Melbourne only averaging 71 points this season with 10 games played in Melbourne. That won't be enough to beat us at the Gabba where we're averaging 91 points this season.

Lions by 40 (Melbourne's losing average is 34 points this season).
We've beaten 3 top 8 teams. Melbourne haven't beaten any.
Brisbane 108.1% (5th best) Melbourne 78.7% 2nd worse in the comp
Brisbane 6th on ladder. Melbourne 16th on the ladder.

 

[M Malice]

Even though we are coming off a great win I still think we should make a couple of changes. Latest injury list saying that Tom Cutler is likely to be the only player on our list who is not available for selection this week.

Outs- Ryan Lester, Jacob Allison.
Ins- Jarrod Berry, Zac Bailey.

IMO they are similar to the Saints in that they don't have many if any players that can hurt us, we usually struggle if we are off our game against sides with outside run and pace who play on quickly. Players that may hurt us-

Max Gawn- We are safe here, I'd back Stef and O to at least match him.
Clayton Oliver/Jack Viney- Inside grunt, we have Mitch Robbo or J.Berry to put a hard tag on either if needed.
Tom McDonald- Darcy Gardiner is the same height and has him covered IMO.
Christian Petracca- J.Berry a good match up if needed.
Jayden Hunt- Good outside runner with great pace if on, all ground pressure will nullify him.

If we bring our A game which I am confident of, Lions by 35-45 points.

 

[BRAB]

We are safe here, I'd back Stef and O to at least match him.

BIG CALL

Gawn has had a HUGE year so far.

 

[M Malice]

BIG CALL

Gawn has had a HUGE year so far.

I AM A SKINNY BALD MAN WHO MAKES CALLS.

 

[Dalions]

BIG CALL

Gawn has had a HUGE year so far.

And generally smashes Stef!

 

[Brett C]

I AM A SKINNY BALD MAN WHO MAKES CALLS.

Just not a flog we hope.

 

[davemc_lions]

And generally smashes Stef!

Big O might be ok against him. Stef does seem to get out muscled by Gawn and Grundy. which is amazing as Stef not small

I am a bit worried Demons finding some form if it was in Melb I be more worried.
If we can play like the 2nd and 3rd we win. Need to stop run on of goals which the demons not great at only kicked 5 in a row once.
They also lead the letting teams skip away 5 goals in a row kicked against them 9 times.
If you look at our games we where ahead and lost it the other team got a run on. Demons not that type of game
They keep it close or slowly chip away on wins. Freo down bench players although Demons hailed as a GF team after that win.

 

[luthor]

I expect us to win but I think this could be a fairly tight contest.

Even allowing for Freo's depleted bench last week, they (Freo) had been in hot form so the Dees will get confidence and self belief from rolling them.

Also, Melbourne have been killing it with their I50 numbers but have been their own worst enemy with their delivery to their forward line. If they keep their forays forward at a high number, sooner or later they are going to get it right.

If we can match them in inside 50 numbers, we'll win. If not, we'll need to rely on a pretty tight defence which hasn't always been our strong suit, or hope they continue their incompetence going forward. A dangerous policy, as was demonstrated in our loss to Carlton when the Blues finally did get hot with their forward entries.

So,contested possessions are going to be the key here. Another insipid effort in this area (ala the Carlton loss) and we will be in trouble.

 

[Clarkythelion]

I think we got to the bye, almost limped to it and refreshed. We re-set our sights and came up against St Kilda with the view, 'this is a game we should win and win well if we are a finals team'. Mission achieved and along with the refreshed bodies come a bit more belief. This is another match we should win, maybe not as well but on our own dung heap we should control it, and win it. Winning by 24 points and leading the whole second half would be a pass mark for us. Go Lions.

 

[Clugga2019]

Very excited for this. Finally a non Saturday arvo game which doesn’t clash with Saturday sport.

 

[Caiphus]

I'm worried that it could be a wet game and the Demon's ability to win it in the middle and get it forward will have more bearing on the result than our ability to score off of our entries. We really have to match them in the middle and just get it forward with low and fast ball and just let our small forwards dine out.

 

[Caiphus]

Oh wait, scratch that it's a Sunday game isn't it. Should be sunny!

 

[Dylan12]

You lot up in Brisbane deserve a nice stress free win like we had in Melbourne last week, so I'm going with that.

Plus we owe Melbourne too, we haven't knocked them off at the Gabba since round 5, 2013 and in addition have lost our last four to them, so we'll get back on the right side of the ledger.

 

[MSB ROYS]

Pivotal game in our season. Tipping a 16 pt win, hoping for another 10 goal win.

 

[Section 5]

You lot up in Brisbane deserve a nice stress free win like we had in Melbourne last week, so I'm going with that.

Plus we owe Melbourne too, we haven't knocked them off at the Gabba since round 5, 2013 and in addition have lost our last four to them, so we'll get back on the right side of the ledger.

Not beating Melbourne since 2013. This year we have been able to turn these long loosing streaks against Clubs around, so lets hope it continues.

Our win loss record from round 7, 2019 (SYD) - W-L-W-L-W-L-W- (Mel) - hope we change this trend also.

Brizzy Bandit - A typo i am sure, but the Game starts at 3.20 pm. Hopefully the Lions will be 18 points up by 3.30 pm.

Possibly only one change this week Bailey in for ??. Berry back in via NEAFL as it is still a long way to the end of season for these younger guys.

Lions by 15 +. Hopefully the rain has cleared by Sunday

 

[BRAB]

We beat them in our grand final in that JLT game. Hoping for a repeat

 

[lioninthesand]

We should win. simple as that. Don't get sucked in by that Freo win, Freo had no rotations left on the bench and the Dees fell over the line. Plus.. it's Freo, not GWS or the Cats, they are on our level. They are not a good team ATM. They are the worst team in the league going inside 50 (Andrews should be able to pick them off all day) and they are turnover merchants, if they give the ball back to us like they do normally we will destroy them in transition. . we play the Gabba very well. Really, its a 'should win' game. If it was at the MCG, totally different story. I also think the Dees will be good going forward, I just don't think they are right now.

 

[Tempy Tiger]

From a Dees perspective, because I’m sure you all want a Dees perspective, Harmes is likely to go to Neale. He’s a very effective defensive mid, seems to be able to shut down his man without going totally defensive and limiting his own output. If Zorko is getting out of hand Harmes will just go to him, he seems to be a guy you can tag pretty much out of the game.
You’ll have to put someone on Clarry or he will get 40+, and May is a strong possibility to poleaxe any number of your skinny forwards.
I think we will be a lot more competitive than you guys are hoping. We had a very depleted side for the start of the season and are only just now getting close to our best outfit out on the park.
I hope we put a defensive forward on Rich, he’s having an All Australian year.
Your boys are looking good and are great to watch, I’m looking forward to the game.

 

[dlanod]

May is a strong possibility to poleaxe any number of your skinny forwards.

That'd be a first - in the past he's lined up everyone else so far. Just be aware that you'll probably be missing him for the next couple of weeks after any Lions game.

 

[The Zork]

Confident we have them covered the majority of the field. Hogan used to give us headaches. I think stopping Petraccas influence weirdly might be the key.

Gawn and their mids could cause us dramas, so it’s another important game for Stef - he needs to get as close to breaking even as possible for as long as possible as O would be handy deep most of the game plucking some high balls.

 

[a mayes ing]

We aren;t going to lose. We have lost only 1 game at the Gabba this season and that was Easter Thursday against Collingwood.

 

[jackess]

We beat them in our grand final in that JLT game. Hoping for a repeat

Back to Back

 

[Tempy Tiger]

That'd be a first - in the past he's lined up everyone else so far. Just be aware that you'll probably be missing him for the next couple of weeks after any Lions game.

Definitely a bit of a boogie man for you guys. Stef will sleep uneasily Saturday night. He was one of my favourite players at the Dees, just never got the opportunity because of Jamar. He needed to be the main ruck but we experimented with him everywhere.

 

[lioninthesand]

Definitely a bit of a boogie man for you guys. Stef will sleep uneasily Saturday night. He was one of my favourite players at the Dees, just never got the opportunity because of Jamar. He needed to be the main ruck but we experimented with him everywhere.

who's the boogie man?

 

[Nunez]

who's the boogie man?