Review Round 6, 2020 - Brisbane Lions vs. Geelong

[Kernel Kurtz]

Charlie was well-manned. McCluggage was apparently free around the 50? I couldn't see that as I was on the opposite site of the ground. Either way I would've expected a shot on goal there from any player who had the range - he was pretty much straight on and wasn't under particular pressure. It's a high percentage shot other than being on the run, and a set shot from a worse angle is probably a similar percentage shot.

Like I said we need to work on making space and moving , and that is all over the field not just inside 50.
Who was in the goal square area(Charlie)? from memory there was a lot of space around to work with.

That is my point, not just blaming Berry here.
It's one area of improvement we need to take.

We build our game on territory so the boot the ball forward is going to happen, time to work on alternatives .
Time to play more like Richmond or the Hawks when they were at there best, precision kicking and bodies in motion working through the field.
Is it time to bring Witho back ?
Edit: Sounds like it was Clugga I'm referring to that was in front of goal.
Carry on.

 

[M Malice]

Some people have thrown out the actual bathtub as well and are now chipping away at the bathroom tiles with a chisel and hammer.

I am absolutely flabbergasted that someone who's name shall remain unsaid is not too subtly inferring that Chris Fagan's job should be under threat, now that is demolishing the whole bloody house.

 

[LongLion]

Starcevich needs to be omitted for last night's display. A message needs to be sent particularly given we aren't short of players to play his position. I'd add Birchall to the list of omissions. Just no words.

 

[Harris Specter]

The loss stings even more because of the fact that we have work today.

Next 8 days will be the key to our success this year. We have to respond strongly.

I doubt the coaches will mark Starcevich too harshly for taking the corridor from a kick in there. He was perhaps not aware of the pressure Geelong were applying on our defenders. Big learning game for us, with a few injured and worse for wear and we are left licking our wounds.

We just couldn't take a big contested mark even though we had a height advantage and Geelong ran us off our feet. That lack of midfield pressure in the 3rd quarter was telling though. We had Lyons, Berry, Neale, Martin (I think) and we got smashed repeatedly.

 

[Harris Specter]

Starcevich needs to be omitted for last night's display. A message needs to be sent particularly given we aren't short of players to play his position. I'd add Birchall to the list of omissions. Just no words.

A bit dramatic. If coaches dropped a player everytime because of a few mistakes, there wouldn't be too many to choose from. Besides, you are neglecting the fact that there was no pressure from our midfielders in the third quarter. Our defenders were rushed and always having to kick to an outnumbered contest.

 

[Gibbo_88]

I thought Berry was entitled to have that shot. We need to have mids that are comfortable kicking the ball from 50 on the run for goal. That kind of play can really put pressure on another team in the same way our centre clearances and marks inside 50 gave us easy goals against Port. He screwed up the shot, but so has half the team for about 12 months.

Martin hasn’t put in 2 bad games in a row under Fagan so hopefully he kills it in the middle next week. Not so sure about Birchall though, he looks half a second behind everyone else.

 

[The Zork]

The Berry miss has been happening for a few weeks now from different players.
It’s just being highlighted as an important miss as we lost this week.
You cannot question his overall effort last night, although he was beaten we needed more players to have his work rate.

The other opportunities have gotten lost in the wins we’ve had.
Maybe McCarthy I think it was last week burnt someone from memory?
Charlie has burnt a few, he’s been burnt a few times himself. Just easy goals that good sides gobble up.

Yes we are a top scoring team but the issue of our f50 entries and general cohesion is just not where it needs to be. Rarely does it look clinical.

How often do we dominate play for a period with no reward only to concede a goal or 2 against the run of play.
Seems weekly I say to myself geez we should be up by more here.

 

[Dylan12]

I am absolutely flabbergasted that someone who's name shall remain unsaid is not too subtly inferring that Chris Fagan's job should be under threat, now that is demolishing the whole bloody house.

If it's me, I am not inferring that at all.

However, it's not the first time Fagan has been schooled as a coach (sadly in just about every big game we've played) and its pretty evident we have no plan B when it comes to rearranging our forward set-up and now we are learning he plays favourites.

He obviously has many credits in the bank and so he should too, but let's not pretend either that he is not guilty himself.

 

[RU_]

I’m trying to find footage of the Berry miss.. don’t think I was watching when it happened.


The worst part about losing like that on a Thursday night is that it’s ruined the weekend before it starts.

 

[jjami15]

At the end of the day it’s a wake up call. ‘Deer in headlights?’ Maybe but I think our little goal blitz at the start of the second woke them up. What was it 39 - 10? They were just better all over the ground. I would rather get spanked now, analyse and learn from it and move on. GWS will be another big test but you can’t jump so early until we’ve played other teams with better caliber.

 

[RU_]

If it's me, I am not inferring that at all.

However, it's not the first time Fagan has been schooled as a coach (sadly in just about every big game we've played) and its pretty evident we have no plan B when it comes to rearranging our forward set-up and now we are learning he plays favourites.

He obviously has many credits in the bank and so he should too, but let's not pretend either that he is not guilty himself.

You realise Fagan isn’t the one out there right? We were a kick away from a 30 point lead.. he can’t do anything if the players lose the momentum.

 

[briztoon]

Got to admit, this is the flattest I’ve felt after a match.

Couldn’t believe I was watching us get pantsed in the ruck, and then pantsed in the contest for ground balls.

It always felt they had more numbers around the ball. And that was with them two men down before quarter time.

Oh well, think I’ll try and take a break for a short time.

 

[AFLQLD]

This is one of those games you either learn from and move forward or don’t learn from and repeat the mistakes on a regular basis. It might be a bit of an indicator about where we are at if we have any similar losses again this season. Big midfield bodies winning clearances will always do damage and we have to be able to stop that momentum much more quickly. We worked hard enough but really didn’t perform in the midfield in the third when the tide turned against us.

There needed to be much more pressure on Dangerfield at clearances and probably means that we do need to have a player who we can throw in and can clamp down on a dominant midfielder as well as play their normal role at other times. Cripps did the same thing to us last year. Robbo may have been the guy before his injury set us back.

I think we are 75% of the way towards a consistently sustainable formula for winning games but the last 25% is still to come. The personnel requires some tweaking I think. The roles of Birchall and Ah Chee need defining more, although Ah Chee did reasonably well. Of our forwards, perhaps only Hipwood, Tom Berry and Rayner stayed involved as the game swung away from us. Rayner has incidentally played two of his best games in the last couple of weeks and is showing greater maturity and consistency.

I think we learn most about players when the momentum is with the opposition and those players who can turn that momentum around are really critical to success. We will get that response more from young players as they mature but we need more from the forwards

Our goal kicking...it is more than a concern. It has the potential now to cost us multiple wins this season. There just isn’t confidence in most of our players that they can kick set shots and our goals on the run haven’t been much better. We really need a game where we kick 15.3 to put the opposition away. I don’t think there is a magic formula except good routines and lots of practice. The number of near misses we have us incredibly frustrating to fans so I can only imagine it is way worse for coaches and players.

Finally, we let Geelong own the corridor both in attack and defence and it hurt us a lot. Being able to claim control of the corridor is a path to quick turnovers and quick scoring. It was noticeable that they stopped us taking the corridor from half way through the second quarter and our pressure causing turnovers dropped away. It forced us to play at their tempo much more. And then their bigger midfielders took control of the flow of the game. Their inside 50s were clean and uncluttered while ours were just a scramble of eight Cats around the ball effectively killing our clean disposal.

 

[lioninthesand]

Starcevich needs to be omitted for last night's display. A message needs to be sent particularly given we aren't short of players to play his position. I'd add Birchall to the list of omissions. Just no words.

Young players are allowed to make mistakes and have poor games?

Are you seriously at an 'ropeable', 'insipid', 'no words'... tear the joint down stage after a 5 goal loss to a very good team?

You are a smart footy person - surely you have enough calm and perspective to see that any team can have abad night.

Let's see how we respond against GWS.

 

[Dylan12]

You realise Fagan isn’t the one out there right? We were a kick away from a 30 point lead.. he can’t do anything if the players lose the momentum.

Most coaches swing the changes to stem the flow.

I'm not sure Fagan did anything.

Our forward set up barely worked all night and he did nothing to change anything even if he swapped Andrews and McStay around or something.

 

[martinson]

A few overreactions and too high expectations.

We didn't capitalise on our many chances and were gassed halfway through the 2nd. Some of our guys could barely move in the 3rd. We got really tired and didn't back up overall from the quick turnaround.

I believe we've just about got our best team on the park and unless you've got the personnel to fix it then we just do the best with what we've got but these are what I see as our problem areas.

Overall our back lineup is a bit slow when the flow goes against us.

It's a shame CEY got injured because we needed that big bodied presence against a M/F like Geelong last night on a ground like that.

We are screaming out for a big bodied focal point up forward . Just like 14 other teams . So we do what we can with what we've got. Kicking into the pocket every time can wear you out if you don't get enough goals. Most games we get away with it . Why on earth they don't tell Rich to have a ping when he's near the 50 arc I don't know because he's more likely to goal than someone trying to scrunge one from the stoppage.

The last 5 big games we've played we've one 1 and lost 4 so even though the circumstances were sometimes against us we need to realistically accept that we need to improve as a team , perhaps change some things we're doing and ultimately look for better cattle.

But overall we're doing fine 4 out of 6 is ok. The guys came with the passion to have a real crack last night and just ran out of juice. It wasn't unexpected.Lots of time to freshen up for the Giants which is a big game.

I see someone called for Ah Chee to be dropped (shakes head) . He's what we need in our backline . Plus another one.

 

[dlanod]

Starcevich had a massive brain fade. Terrible kick.

But he was sold up the river by his team, to the point where I almost commented before he kicked that it was going to be a turnover somewhere.

Geelong had covered the switch so that wasn't on to relieve pressure and no one was moving ahead of the ball, whether to create space or into space. There was no way Starcevich should have thought a short kick into traffic was the best option but given what he was looking at, I can kind of understand. That play was a massive indictment on how we played for periods last night.

 

[Quigley]

We were outcoached last night pure and simple. Geelong got very easy movement through the midfield and were able to expose the deficiencies in our defenders. When we got the ball at the back they also funnelled it into the poor ball users well and mistakes were made. When we were on top Scott adjusted and when Geelong started to go away Fagan did not. One thing Fagan needs to get better at is in game adjustments. Too often there is no real plan B or willingness to make positional changes to try and mix things up.

The midfield is where we lost it last night. We were belted through there particularly in the middle quarters.

I find it interesting that there has been a fair bit of criticism of Berry. For me I have no problem with him taking open shots. He was balanced and in range and you want that shot to be taken. He was also huge in the last and again showed why he should be in the middle all the time. He was the guy who carried the midfield in the last quarter.

Starc made one howler and was not great overall but if Fagan was going to drop guys for one error Gardner would never get a game. Darcy had his usual two or three bad mistakes last night and struggled with his match up. The match committee have KPD alternatives surely they have to give someone a run shortly. We went in undersized and paid for it.

Speaking of match ups Lester got left high and dry with his match ups last night. Time and again he was matched up on extremely quick opponents and was exposed for it. I agree with the comment of others that he looks to have picked up a yard this year but he is never going to be a speed merchant and he was exposed yesterday. With Birchall back there and being as slow as he is it can make match ups difficult.

At the other end of the ground we struggled to mark anything. Charlie has been well down on his form of last year and dropped a couple of marks he really should have taken. A couple of those, converted into goals at crucial times could have swung momentum. He needs to have a close look at this tape and pick up his game from last year.

Young Berry did not do a hell of a lot but I really like his enthusiasm and attack on the ball. The main problem for me is that he is not really a forward and is not really a threat up there. He is a midfielder who they are trying to get games into and whilst he is applying pressure he is not really adding anything offensively.

I have been one who has criticised the continual gifting of games to Rayner but I have to say I thought Rayner was very good last night. He covered a lot more ground than usual and for once was actually popping up in the backline doing things when he was playing in the midfield. I also observed him a few times also deliberately not going for the mark when the big guys were in there but rather position himself at the front of the contest to get the spill.

Going back to the middle I am not sure there is a more plain vanilla player in the competition than Lyons. He was our second leading disposal getter last night but was all but invisible. He never wins a big clearance, never gets a damaging disposal, never takes a big mark. He just blends into the background. He will move the ball along to the safe easy option, quickly scoop out a clearance to the nearest guy, make a tackle in the contest but he never makes a difference making play. When the momentum is going against us he is never one to step up and do something to get things going our way again. The things he does have value but I think when we need heavy lifting done that he needs to be moved out of the midfield. Another problem with him is that he can only play through the midfield and offers nothing elsewhere which presents problems in itself. I am not saying Lyons is a bad player or is not in fact a key element of the team when things are going our way I am just not sure he gives enough when they are not trending our way. When the A graders from Geelong were thrown into the midfield and were stepping up, Lyons was in there and doing nothing.

 

[dlanod]

Most coaches swing the changes to stem the flow.

I'm not sure Fagan did anything.

Our forward set up barely worked all night and he did nothing to change anything even if he swapped Andrews and McStay around or something.

There were a number of changes I could see:

• Martin replaced Oscar in the ruck.
• Rayner and McCarthy spent more time in the middle to try to get them more or re-involved.
• Match-ups got rotated in defense, which at least shut down Rohan.
• Hipwood moved right up the field, even into the defensive 50 frequently, playing almost as a wing.

I'm not saying they worked because they demonstrably did not as a whole, but there were plenty of changes.

 

[LIONS08]

This place is ridiculous after a loss. Teams can have an off night!!!! It doesn’t show that we are unable to change our game plan or our coaches don’t have a plan B. We were caught flat footed in the third last night and that lost us the game. Teams are able to get in rolls and be extremely difficult to stop. Look at our second quarter last week. This is a slight bump in the round. This year will be full of them, it’s unlike any season we have ever had. The boys will adjust and come out ready next week! Back them in!!! The last thing we need is this place full of constant negativity.

 

[dlanod]

The worst part about losing like that on a Thursday night is that it’s ruined the weekend before it starts.

I'm glad I had some great food and beers before getting to the stadium, because it really would've been a miserable evening if I was relying on that game.

 

[Tom14]

I think we just have to take this game, bury it and move on. Game was lost in the middle and in the ruck and it was a comprehensive belting. I can't think of a change to personnel that would have affected that.

Easily the worst we have played since Easter Thursday last year.

 

[lioninthesand]

I actually think the loss will serve us well.

We were cocky at times against the Crows and Port - look away hand passes, over possessing the ball, one too many handballs, not hitting someone it a better position. Just generally seemed a bit cocky. This was fine whilst winning - but we needed a bucket of cold water over the head, this will serve us well.

 

[Harris Specter]

I actually think the loss will serve us well.

We were cocky at times against the Crows and Port - look away hand passes, over possessing the ball, one too many handballs, not hitting someone it a better position. Just generally seemed a bit cocky. This was fine whilst winning - but we needed a bucket of cold water over the head, this will serve us well.

Honestly, I don't even think the team is putting 4 solid quarters together. We generally get through on one amazing quarter and coast through in a couple of other ones which is usually enough. I would like us to focus more on maintaining a strong position throughout the game, particularly more game time and holding strong in rampages like last night. I've never felt so flat after a loss, possibly because we should have absolutely buried them halfway through the 2nd quarter.

More so, this gives more fuel to the fact that we simply cannot play well away from home and/or on the big stage.

 

[Quigley]

This place is ridiculous after a loss. Teams can have an off night!!!! It doesn’t show that we are unable to change our game plan or our coaches don’t have a plan B. We were caught flat footed in the third last night and that lost us the game. Teams are able to get in rolls and be extremely difficult to stop. Look at our second quarter last week. This is a slight bump in the round. This year will be full of them, it’s unlike any season we have ever had. The boys will adjust and come out ready next week! Back them in!!! The last thing we need is this place full of constant negativity.

There is nothing wrong in recognising what we did not do well and where we need to improve. We need not to overreact but do need to learn from our mistakes and what we need to do to win next time.