Preview Round 23- Lions v Tigers. Sunday 25th August 2019 3.20pm MCG.

[Scubaveg]

One of Taylor or Keays to come in for Christo.


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[davemc_lions]

We beat the Cats. #1 on the ladder.. very good chance home final. 9 in a row. Adams hit form. we came back from 3 goals down against the Cats.
and all most of you can go on about is Rayner should be dropped.. WHAT THE &(***&*(&*&(*&*

Every week we have 4-6 players with crap stats and we win.
Hipwood, Rayner, McStay, Big O/Martin how many goals ZERO
McCarthy got 1 at the end..

It is not all about stats.
Neale not getting 30-40 now although still contributes. Lyons steps up. Zorko comes and goes.
Guess what we won 9 in a row.
Our 22 contribute why we winning instead of teams with 3-4 who do 95% of the work.
I have been critical over the year on McStay, 2 ruck etc. we are first on the ladder

 

[ZoBlitz]

Phew, I was worried we wouldn't get time to talk about Rayner (despite the inordinate focus on him during the season) what with winning nine in a row, beating the top side in the comp and sitting first with one round to go...

Speaking about the game itself, hopefully we've learnt a few things from the Geelong game because we can't afford to turn the ball over against a team that punishes sides on the rebound.

 

[mpal6]

Was worried about the hot weather for our game, but I'm now relieved after seeing Tigers slugging out in wet weather, high pressure game. I think we will go in with similar fitness levels. I have a funny feeling we'll be up for this one - especially since there is a long losing streak and our players have been knocking them over one after the other. 10-0 coming up in my view.

 

[M Malice]

One of our strongest points is that we are now a very even team across the midfield rotations and possessions, while Lachie Neale is capable of getting 35+ touches we more often that not now have a great spread of 20 to 30 possessions through the midfield, makes our midfield very hard to shut down.

 

[frenchconnection]

Was worried about the hot weather for our game, but I'm now relieved after seeing Tigers slugging out in wet weather, high pressure game. I think we will go in with similar fitness levels. I have a funny feeling we'll be up for this one - especially since there is a long losing streak and our players have been knocking them over one after the other. 10-0 coming up in my view.

Haven't you guys heard the saying - the more wins you have on the trot the closer you are to a loss
Congrats to Brissie on a wonderful season - nobody would have predicted so much improvement in one year.
May the best team win at seasons end, the question being who will be playing off in the GF??

 

[davemc_lions]

if you want to talk about worries.. watch last 3 mins 2nd yesterday.. I just re-watched..
graphic up 4.4 to 0.3 in stoppage scores after Neale's goal then.
Ablett to Narkle crumbs goal
Danger, Selwood, Ablett to Miers crumbs goal
Atkins.. Miers hit post
Then a scrap forward to Ratugolea and goal
I know ebb and flow although it is a worry I assume teams checked vision against us
reminds me of when blues just ran out of centre unstopped against us
and dogs did it twice to us.

We really need to work out a way to stop big bodied A graders getting it out of centre

 

[marooned]

Our defensive setup needs to be spot on to stop the quick transition that Richmond love to play on turnovers.

 

[Viceregal]

Why is there an evil gremlin inside my head wondering how much fun a 'Cam Rayner wins the 2019 Norm Smith' thread (complete with out of context quotes of course) would be?

Re this game though - interesting that we could end up playing them two games in a row (either 1Lv4T, 2Lv3T or 2Tv3L) although hopefully at a different venue. Historically does that second game tend to flip the result of the first or maintain it (or is it a statistical crap shoot)?

 

[Grechy]

Can't wait for this one guys. Really thought you would stumble but you are the real deal this year and we'll need to be at our best to get the win. Should be a real contest with similar styles of high intensity pressure around the ball.

 

[mpal6]

Haven't you guys heard the saying - the more wins you have on the trot the closer you are to a loss
Congrats to Brissie on a wonderful season - nobody would have predicted so much improvement in one year.
May the best team win at seasons end, the question being who will be playing off in the GF??

In our 2001 season we finished with a 16-0 streak. We lost to Carlton in the middle of the season as well that year *wink*, it appears the pre-bye Carlton loss this year has given the focus back to the team on what they really want to be. No one expected us to get this far in 2019, just 3 more games if we finish top 2 and keep winning.

Fagan has said many times we are taking it one game at a time within the 4 walls of our club, I think it will continue next round and in finals.

 

[a mayes ing]

We need to start winning more clearances. There is a bad habit of teams running it out of the centre bounce time after time in a short period and scoring heavily.
Also, not sure what the hell was with all the out on the fulls that we were giving away. Was bizarre

 

[CarterS]

Feel like it will go right down to the wire with the %.

 

[Harris Specter]

We've had a habit of breaking droughts this year.

How good would it be to knock the Tigers off at the MCG!

 

[CarterS]

If Carlton beat Geelong it will really throw the cat amongst the pigeons as Richmond will be travelling interstate week 1 of the finals, either Brisbane or Perth. Would be good for us though.

 

[Milux]

This week is going to feel like an eternity.

 

[Scubaveg]

One of our strongest points is that we are now a very even team across the midfield rotations and possessions, while Lachie Neale is capable of getting 35+ touches we more often that not now have a great spread of 20 to 30 possessions through the midfield, makes our midfield very hard to shut down.

Although I’m a little concerned the players are a little too Charlie focused when sending the ball inside 50. That said there were a few opportunities for our forwards to break and lead toward the middle as Charlie was leading toward the boundary on the weekend. Those forwards didn’t take the opportunity and they should have. Result is either they are hit up in space or they creat space for Charlie. An opportunity to improve.


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[martinson]

Although I’m a little concerned the players are a little too Charlie focused when sending the ball inside 50. That said there were a few opportunities for our forwards to break and lead toward the middle as Charlie was leading toward the boundary on the weekend. Those forwards didn’t take the opportunity and they should have. Result is either they are hit up in space or they creat space for Charlie. An opportunity to improve.


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Rewatched the game . It was even most of the day . We were getting on top when they scored those 3 goals out of nowhere before half time. We had the better of it in the last half . I don't think we're Charlie conscious ,it's just that he breaks away from the opposition so quickly that he's impossible to ignore.

I reckon they lost it by not having a true ruckman. We were able to get the better of the stoppages as the game wore on.

Centre clearances were a problem early . This is a key issue for us this week . We also won't get it as easy around the stoppages. This is a big test for our guys on the MCG where we struggled early in the year. But great finals atmosphere experience again.

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

Will it Raynor will it be dry on Sunday, do you think?

 

[martinson]

Will it Raynor will it be dry on Sunday, do you think?

Lol. Let's hope it Rayne's goals for Cam.

 

[Dylan12]

TEAM-BY-TEAM ANALYSIS

Brisbane Lions (64 points, 120.9%) - vs Richmond

The two big top four clashes went perfectly for Brisbane, as they were victorious over Geelong and West Coast lost but not in a fashion that allowed Richmond to build percentage. It puts the Lions a game clear heading into the final round.

The equation is very simple with a win - the team that finished 15th last year will win the minor premiership. But if the Lions lose to the Tigers, they’ll be reliant on other results to determine their fate.

As long as it’s close against Richmond, no matter the result, Chris Fagan’s men should still finish in the top two.

WIN: FIRST

LOSE: FIRST if Cats lose, Eagles lose or win and don’t make up percentage gap (approx. 12 goals) and Tigers don’t make up percentage gap (would need to win by 10+ goals). SECOND, THIRD or FOURTH also possible depending on how many of those things happen.

 

[Dylan12]

 

[carnaroys08]

We need to start winning more clearances. There is a bad habit of teams running it out of the centre bounce time after time in a short period and scoring heavily.
Also, not sure what the hell was with all the out on the fulls that we were giving away. Was bizarre

That's a good point. This was part of a discussion i was in. The theory is these OOB Full errors and us seemingly getting caught with the ball more often was due to this being the first Finals Match played by most. Make no mistake, that game was a full dress rehearsal of genuine Final's Footy. Some players uncharacteristically kicked out on the full & some you never see run down got caught, simply due to lack of Finals exposure. Like a Thoroughbred having it's first crack at a Group Race. The extra pressure can unsettle them. Yet we still won, despite a few checks & getting shuffled back in the field mid race. I reckon we'll improve 3-4 lengths, I mean goals, on yesterdays effort simply for having had the "Finals" experience. We'll need to utilize this experience to beat Richmond next week; they've also had a good prep.
So we have our next full dress rehearsal of Finals Footy against Richmond next week. I'd expect we'll see far less bizarre errors from our players. While it's still possible to put in a bad game & lose, I'd expect the players to then react like they did after the Carlton loss & blitz two Home Finals for a ticket to the Big Dance.
If we put it all together next week, well beat Richmond by 5-10 goals. No Cotchin; we ought to *win the I50 count by quite a margin & the game.


edit: maybe equal the I50 count with superior goals per I50 & win the game.

 

[Thedeftouch]

I love that we are so easily dismissed as no chance. The astounding arrogance it must take to think that the team currently at the top of

the ladder will simply be brushed aside by the team fourth on the ladder. I'm not suggesting it will be easy but our chances of winning,

assuming, like I posted earlier, we don't freeze up, are actually pretty ******* good. I want Wallace to be prepared to apologise for his

dismissive attitude should we come out of the other side of next week's clash the victors.

I had a quick look at Terry Wallace's tips.

Since the bye he tipped us to lose to GWS (round 16), Port Adelaide (round 17), Hawthorn (round 19), and Geelong (round 22).

When the evidence doesn't support your opinion, you can change your opinion or you can double down

 

[LionsMaw]

I had a quick look at Terry Wallace's tips.

Since the bye he tipped us to lose to GWS (round 16), Port Adelaide (round 17), Hawthorn (round 19), and Geelong (round 22).

When the evidence doesn't support your opinion, you can change your opinion or you can double down

Well he clearly prefers the double down option, which is embarrassing for him because I would have thought the way we're going about our footy would have

spoken volumes. But I guess when you weren't a particularly good coach your ability to read how a team is going is going to be questionable.