Review Preliminary Final, 2020 - Brisbane Lions vs. Geelong

Who were your five best players against Geelong?


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I think the oiling up narrative is pretty disrespectful to the way Geelong played. They should have beaten us by 10 goals. The fact of the matter is that we played an awful game on saturday night. This wasn't a GWS game where we lost honorably, we lowered our colors and were beaten by a side clearly better than us.
The oiling up narrative is more about them being able to break tackles not about them beating us.
 

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Oct 31, 2013
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Interesting. I actually thought Lyons & Zorko had shockers. Lyons I'd cut some slack because I think he's been seriously underrated all year and has generally been the one who's carried the load / slack when Neale was tagged (for him to only get 9 brownlow votes for his year was criminal). The problem last night was we had no one to pick up the slack when Lyon had an average night. Zorko has just had an average year full stop, hope it was him battling with an injury.

Thought Zorko was our worst Sat night
 

Zhesty

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I feel like I really have to go through the pain with players to develop a strong connection to them. I feel a huge emotional connection to guys like Stef, Zorko, Lester and Rich and then even guys like Gardiner and Mcstay because they went through the tough times with us supporters.

I haven't felt the same connection to the younger brigade like Hugh, Berry, Starc, who came as we were starting to turn. When we beat Geelong at the end of 2019, it was watching the reaction of the older brigade that brought a tear to my eye. It's why I'd rather Lester keep his spot in the team next year even if we were better off balance wise with Payne.

As bizzare as it may sound, one positive out of the disappointment of the prelim loss for me is that it will not only make the younger boys more hungry but will also make me feel more of a connection to them as we go through that pain together. The pain will make the eventual success (fingers crossed) that much sweeter.
 
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Ralphy2017

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Re the "oiling up" of Hawkins and Selwood - I am really surprised the AFL has not addressed this. It is clearly against the spirit of the game and the oil would not serve any therepuetic purpose whatsoever. Time for Eddie to step up on this and raise the issue.
I think the oiling up narrative is pretty disrespectful to the way Geelong played. They should have beaten us by 10 goals. The fact of the matter is that we played an awful game on saturday night. This wasn't a GWS game where we lost honorably, we lowered our colors and were beaten by a side clearly better than us.
Agree we were beaten by a much better team, and the oiling is just one of those 1%, but I don't believe the oiling of players upper arms and shoulders is in the spirit of the game. It is done deliberately for advantage, there is no other explanation.
I would like to see next year, No oiling and No hands in the back at all, forget about keeping your space the good players get away with pushing players.
Less rotations get the players fatigued and hopefully it opens the game up a bit although the standard may drop slightly.
 

Ralphy2017

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I feel like I really have to go through the pain with players to develop a strong connection to them. I feel a huge emotional connection to guys like Stef, Zorko, Lester and Rich and then even guys like Gardiner and Mcstay because they went through the tough times with us supporters.

I haven't felt the same connection to the younger brigade like Hugh, Berry, Starc, who came as we were starting to turn. When we beat Geelong at the end of 2019, it was watching the reaction of the older brigade that brought a tear to my eye. It's why I'd rather Lester keep his spot in the team next year even if we were better off balance wise with Payne.

As bizzare as it may sound, one positive out of the disappointment of the prelim loss for me is that it will not only make the younger boys more hungry but will also make me feel more of a connection to them as we go through that pain together. The pain will make the eventual success (fingers crossed) that much sweeter.
great thing about this site everyone can post their opinion in a conciliatory fashion. Whilst I can understand aspects of your premise, the pain some of the longer term players have gone through, but keeping young guys out is not the way to continually develop. Providing the young guys are performing strongly in preseason I hope the club provides a vote of confidence to Payne and gives him first crack in 2021, instead of waiting for an injury. I hope they talk to Fullerton and Ballenden and Robertson, and Answerth and Witho and say Stefs, Birchalls and Robbo's positions are up for grabs.
 
Mar 27, 2006
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I don't think Fagan would ever tell Zorko (or any player for that matter) not to have surgery. That isn't like him at all, and I think the decision was his in the end. Either way, Zorko has been playing injured all season and it goes against Noble stating we won't play injured players.
My goodness you have a lot to say .
 

Zhesty

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great thing about this site everyone can post their opinion in a conciliatory fashion. Whilst I can understand aspects of your premise, the pain some of the longer term players have gone through, but keeping young guys out is not the way to continually develop.

Yeah I can't disagree with you. I can admit I would be a terrible list manager.
 

jackess

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We had 1 of the top 7 best players on the field according to the coaches

BRISBANE v GEELONG
10 Mitch Duncan (GEEL)
4 Brandan Parfitt (GEEL)
4 Lachie Neale (BL)
3 Sam Menegola (GEEL)
3 Jake Kolodjashnij (GEEL)
2 Jack Henry (GEEL)
2 Joel Selwood (GEEL)
1 Ryan Lester (BL)
1 Lincoln McCarthy (BL)
 

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NotQuiteJezza

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We need some of our young draftees to show more. Other top teams have depth and we seem to have a top 16 and then it drops off dramatically.
We need to bulk up in the off season and get some of our taller youngsters in the mix. Fullerton, Skinner, McFadyen and Ballenden need big training programs.
 
Jul 22, 2007
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Geez there's some amazing posts in here about a forward line that let us finish equal first on the ladder, and win a qualifying final against Richmond. Such a useless terrible bunch of disorganised no hopers.

It's been stated repeatedly by various players and officials over the last 2 years that we play a game style where we deliberately try not to kick to a "key" forward. That we don't care who gets the ball as long as someone does. That we are happy for forwards to "go missing" if they are contributing by opening up space, crashing packs, bringing the ball to the ground, crumbing, whatever their "role" may turn into that night.

Is it due to the personnel we have? Maybe. But that's what a game plan does... figures out how to play to your strengths and minimise your weaknesses. And it's been far from a disaster for the past 2 years despite the angst here.

Could it be improved? Of course. Will it be? Hopefully. Will it make the difference between winning and losing a GF? Maybe.

There is room for improvement across the entire team.

Our midfield has a nasty habit of just going missing in games despite the names that are in there. And that can be with or without ruck dominance - who were soundly spanked on Saturday night so there is yet another place for gains.

We put ourselves under pressure in that game. And we reverted to chaotic, disorganised bombing into the 50 when we finally got hands to the ball. To blame the forwards for our loss is like saying the painter should be blamed when a house falls down.

The midfield is ultimately the source of making the forwards look brilliant and the defense stingy. Until we get our mix right, until we find a way to operate at a high, skillfull, consistent level through the guts of the field we will continue to lose games to teams who pressure us.

We are 95% of the way there despite how this thread reads in places. Time will contribute to the solution, as will size. And I dare say there will be some tinkering in roles over the off season and maybe a new inclusion or 2. My guess that will happen more in the midfield than anywhere else.

Then let's see what Charlie, Hippy, Macca, Linc and whoever else can do when they actually get clean delivery instead of chaos.
 

T Rick

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Geez there's some amazing posts in here about a forward line that let us finish equal first on the ladder, and win a qualifying final against Richmond. Such a useless terrible bunch of disorganised no hopers.

It's been stated repeatedly by various players and officials over the last 2 years that we play a game style where we deliberately try not to kick to a "key" forward. That we don't care who gets the ball as long as someone does. That we are happy for forwards to "go missing" if they are contributing by opening up space, crashing packs, bringing the ball to the ground, crumbing, whatever their "role" may turn into that night.

Is it due to the personnel we have? Maybe. But that's what a game plan does... figures out how to play to your strengths and minimise your weaknesses. And it's been far from a disaster for the past 2 years despite the angst here.

Could it be improved? Of course. Will it be? Hopefully. Will it make the difference between winning and losing a GF? Maybe.

There is room for improvement across the entire team.

Our midfield has a nasty habit of just going missing in games despite the names that are in there. And that can be with or without ruck dominance - who were soundly spanked on Saturday night so there is yet another place for gains.

We put ourselves under pressure in that game. And we reverted to chaotic, disorganised bombing into the 50 when we finally got hands to the ball. To blame the forwards for our loss is like saying the painter should be blamed when a house falls down.

The midfield is ultimately the source of making the forwards look brilliant and the defense stingy. Until we get our mix right, until we find a way to operate at a high, skillfull, consistent level through the guts of the field we will continue to lose games to teams who pressure us.

We are 95% of the way there despite how this thread reads in places. Time will contribute to the solution, as will size. And I dare say there will be some tinkering in roles over the off season and maybe a new inclusion or 2. My guess that will happen more in the midfield than anywhere else.

Then let's see what Charlie, Hippy, Macca, Linc and whoever else can do when they actually get clean delivery instead of chaos.
Great post!
 
Oct 13, 2001
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Great post!

Incredible how much heat has been put on our forwards when it was our midfield/ onballers who got their arses handed to them on a platter.

Apart from some heroics from Lachie, our midfield barely fired a shot in anger.The centre square set up was totally dysfunctional from start to finish and we got smashed in the clearances in general and at ground level more particularly.

I'm still totally mystified at that centre square set up and how we didn't seem to make any adjustments at all to even attempt to win out of the centre. We did park CEY at the back of the square at one stage in an apparent attempt to block them up but it was all so reactionary. Like we were conceding and just trying to slow their easy takeaways.

Either Scott and his Midfield Assistant totally out maneuvered their counterparts on our side or our on ballers didn't follow instructions and /or had a bad night

Whatever, there was a disconnect there somewhere between Oscar/Stef and our midfield as a unit

Maybe that's why Berry and Lyons had their tiff.
 

youneverknow22

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In retrospect: I know a lot of players had awful games on saturday night, but something has to be done about the pre-finals bye. Why did we only play 1 game in the last 28 days? Why is it that the top 2 teams from this year were knocked out as a result of this extended break? I sort of wished we lost to Richmond now, because it's obvious that the extended break had a degree of effect on our form.
 
Agree we were beaten by a much better team, and the oiling is just one of those 1%, but I don't believe the oiling of players upper arms and shoulders is in the spirit of the game. It is done deliberately for advantage, there is no other explanation.
I would like to see next year, No oiling and No hands in the back at all, forget about keeping your space the good players get away with pushing players.
Less rotations get the players fatigued and hopefully it opens the game up a bit although the standard may drop slightly.

They also use stuff called gecko grip which makes their hands stickier - you sometimes see them rubbing their hands with it and putting a dab of it on their shorts for later. Unless it’s been recently banned. Really works well.
 

BangyBangy

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Incredible how much heat has been put on our forwards when it was our midfield/ onballers who got their arses handed to them on a platter.

Apart from some heroics from Lachie, our midfield barely fired a shot in anger.The centre square set up was totally dysfunctional from start to finish and we got smashed in the clearances in general and at ground level more particularly.

I'm still totally mystified at that centre square set up and how we didn't seem to make any adjustments at all to even attempt to win out of the centre. We did park CEY at the back of the square at one stage in an apparent attempt to block them up but it was all so reactionary. Like we were conceding and just trying to slow their easy takeaways.

Either Scott and his Midfield Assistant totally out maneuvered their counterparts on our side or our on ballers didn't follow instructions and /or had a bad night

Whatever, there was a disconnect there somewhere between Oscar/Stef and our midfield as a unit

Maybe that's why Berry and Lyons had their tiff.

I'll get around to making myself watch the game again at some point. But from the way I remember seeing it live, it wasn't even a coaching or structural problem we had. It was application, desire & desperation.

Neale had it, McCarthy had it, Charlie had it, but I don't remember many others. Harris, Payne & Rich were good too.

The way we attacked the game against Richmond as opposed to the Prelim was chalk & cheese. On a positive I guess, those are the things that can be easily fixed.
 

wantok

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Incredible how much heat has been put on our forwards when it was our midfield/ onballers who got their arses handed to them on a platter.

Apart from some heroics from Lachie, our midfield barely fired a shot in anger.The centre square set up was totally dysfunctional from start to finish and we got smashed in the clearances in general and at ground level more particularly.

I'm still totally mystified at that centre square set up and how we didn't seem to make any adjustments at all to even attempt to win out of the centre. We did park CEY at the back of the square at one stage in an apparent attempt to block them up but it was all so reactionary. Like we were conceding and just trying to slow their easy takeaways.

Either Scott and his Midfield Assistant totally out maneuvered their counterparts on our side or our on ballers didn't follow instructions and /or had a bad night

Whatever, there was a disconnect there somewhere between Oscar/Stef and our midfield as a unit

Maybe that's why Berry and Lyons had their tiff.
100% outcoached in the Midfield as well as outplayed. That combined with the questionable logic for the CEY selection and we were on the back foot from the get go. The Players and the Coaches both had a bad night.

On CPH1920 using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
We had 1 of the top 7 best players on the field according to the coaches

BRISBANE v GEELONG
10 Mitch Duncan (GEEL)
4 Brandan Parfitt (GEEL)
4 Lachie Neale (BL)
3 Sam Menegola (GEEL)
3 Jake Kolodjashnij (GEEL)
2 Jack Henry (GEEL)
2 Joel Selwood (GEEL)
1 Ryan Lester (BL)
1 Lincoln McCarthy (BL)
Interesting thing about this is that only one of the coaches gave (4) votes to Neale. So one of the coaches thought that either Lester or McCarthy was our best player.
 

davemc_lions

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Interesting thing about this is that only one of the coaches gave (4) votes to Neale. So one of the coaches thought that either Lester or McCarthy was our best player.
Say Scotty gave his vote to McCarthy.. Read article where Scott said he almost played him end of 2018 before he left cats.
 

T Rick

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Say Scotty gave his vote to McCarthy.. Read article where Scott said he almost played him end of 2018 before he left cats.
Linc played hard, physical finals footy and made his tackles stick. His body strength was telling - he has been a great pick up and been remarkably resilient considering where he was before he came to us. Would like to see him get more mid-field time in 2021.
 
Say Scotty gave his vote to McCarthy.. Read article where Scott said he almost played him end of 2018 before he left cats.
Yes, but that's not what I was talking about, and we aren't certain who gave Neale the 4.

Both coaches thought Duncan was the best player on the ground.
One coach (I suspect Scott given Fages doesn't usually give the 4 to one of ours in a comprehensive loss) gave Neale the 4, the other gave Parfitt the 4.
One coach (you suspect Scott, because he rates him overall) gave 1 to McCarthy, the other gave 1 to Lester.

If the above is right, then Scott thought we had 2 of the best 5 players on the field (Neale then McCarthy), and Fages thought our best on ground was Lester (behind 4 Geelong players).

I just find it interesting. If the above guesses are right, then in a year where there are a few people (not most, but a couple) on the trade thread suggesting Lester is done and ready for a delist, Fages thought he was our best on ground in a preliminary final. Which would indicate to me that chances of him being delisted are somewhere between zero and naught.

Alternative possibilities are that Fages thought McCarthy was our BOG, or if Fages gave Lachie the 4, that Scott thought Lester or McCarthy were our BOG.
 
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