Review Round 3, 2021 - Collingwood vs. Brisbane Lions

[OldLion]

Sounds weird, but really liked Fullartons game despite getting monstered in the ruck. Looked good around the ground and made a solid contribution.

He certainly kept going and is clearly very athletic. First ruck is not his position and he needs to live in the gym for a few years .. but he didn't drop his head and adjusted to the pace when things hotted up. Didn't see too many stand out skills but .. a much better option than Ballenden.

 

[martinson]

Watching some of the replay I thought Ballenden used his body a lot better in the ruck. Fullarton has talent but his natural instinct is clearly to avoid body contact. I’d be tempted to give Ballenden a few games in the second ruck position at Fullartons expense until McStay is back.

I just mentioned the same thing. Ballenden kept initiating body contact whereas Fullarton avoided it and actually would've been far better off just staying down and helping to shark Grundy.

Everyone said Ballenden was our worst player but he showed more than I expected off his last performance.

 

[Milux]

Some Collingwood posters blaming 3 things.
1. The roof was closed.
2. It wasn't at their home ground.
3. Umpires.

 

[jackess]

I just mentioned the same thing. Ballenden kept initiating body contact whereas Fullarton avoided it and actually would've been far better off just staying down and helping to shark Grundy.

Everyone said Ballenden was our worst player but he showed more than I expected off his last performance.

I also thought Ballenden was stiff not to get a few frees around the ground.

Fullarton and Ballenden are both C graders at best and I’m not confident either will be on a list in a few years but I’m not sure Fullarton is that far ahead and would be good to get a few games into Ballenden

 

[Dalions]

Watching some of the replay I thought Ballenden used his body a lot better in the ruck. Fullarton has talent but his natural instinct is clearly to avoid body contact. I’d be tempted to give Ballenden a few games in the second ruck position at Fullartons expense until McStay is back.

His work at ground level is faaaarrr superior to Ballenden.

 

[Quigley]

Really nice win but for me it was a game we should have won. Collingwood are not a good side. Personally I thought we played poorly and were lucky to get the win. We are still playing way too slowly and just are not moving the ball as we need to do.

On some of the players:

Adams - interesting how many people thought he was fantastic and Payne was ordinary. Both made a couple of howlers in the first half that cost goals. Overall though both were good and their direct opponents did not much all night. Adams improved as the game went on and was very good in the last quarter. Payne had a couple of poor kicks in the first but was otherwise rock solid with the ball and was actually more composed with ball in hand than Adams. Adams threw his body around late and was effective in neutralising quite a lot of contests in the second half.

Rich - BOG for the Lions. Great game and most of the good stuff from the Lions started with him. Got to contests defensively.

Robertson - looked ready for AFL football this time around. Played well both inside and outside and stood up physically a fair few times when he needed to. He does need to improve his running as he was found out a few times with his man running away from him. The other thing he needs to do is move the ball on quicker. Every time he got it last night the game ground to a halt and he let Collingwood recover. Historically he has had issues with his kicking and I think he was trying to be safe with the ball. Overall though you can't be other than very happy with his game last night.

Andrews - I thought was actually pretty good. He got a tough job on Cox who was actually getting some pretty good ball last night and he was doing well. He made a few good intercept marks. There has been a lot of talk about Moore being AA level this year but really Andrews looked just as good and I expect has conceded less goal.

Starcevich - was another who I thought was fairly ordinary in the first half but pulled his game together in the second and by the end was playing very well.

Cameron - did not look interested most of the time and only put in short efforts over the match. Another poor game from him and based on the first three weeks he is one I would be dropping if a message needed to be sent.

Berry - showed up Cameron big time with his effort. Looked more comfortable at this level than last year and worked his arse off all game. Got to better spots to receive this time around and was more dangerous as a result. Nice game from him.

Hipwood - worked hard and provided both a link and a goal scoring threat. I would still like him to be one clutching his marks more but he was good last night.

Fullarton - was out of his depth against Grundy and Cox. He worked hard around the ground but even there he was smashed by Grundy. With guys to come back in I would be dropping Fullarton and rucking Daniher.

Ah Chee - gave nothing up forward and was a liability there. Was moved back and did a few things defensively but was not a factor going forward. He is another I would be dropping.

 

[martinson]

I also thought Ballenden was stiff not to get a few frees around the ground.

Fullarton and Ballenden are both C graders at best and I’m not confident either will be on a list in a few years but I’m not sure Fullarton is that far ahead and would be good to get a few games into Ballenden

It's a hard one to judge so early in their careers .They both have skills but nowhere near a full package. Fullarton needs to work on his marking and strength in a contest. He actually got a fair bit of the ball last night . Ballenden likewise . He's a much better kick and not intimidated like he was in his first couple of games.

 

[Milux]

Can someone hurry up and edit the titanic song into the last 40 secs.

 

[jackess]

So our defenders struggled in the first half and then did better in the second when our mids got on top? Wonder if there’s a link there.

 

[martinson]

foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2021-brisbane-lachie-neale-brownlow-medal-back-injury-afl-injury-news-injury-list-chris-fagan/news-story/35c31e5c1a0c0473d3a35bf24722006f

 

[LionsMaw]

Some Collingwood posters blaming 3 things.
1. The roof was closed.
2. It wasn't at their home ground.
3. Umpires.

Apparently the roof being closed meant the temperature went up and it felt more like the game was being played in Qld therefore unfair advantage to the Lions.
Good teams are able to win ANYWHERE.
The umps might have made some bad calls but they are not the reason the pies lost. The pies lost because we wanted it more and were more focused. And because they choked.

 

[Elixuh]

Very interesting that Collingwood tapped out their interchanges sometime in the last quarter while we finished with 4 available to us.

I thought they had 1 left at around the 1.30min mark.

 

[Milux]

I thought they had 1 left at around the 1.30min mark.

Mihochek went off in the last minute.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2021-brisbane-lachie-neale-brownlow-medal-back-injury-afl-injury-news-injury-list-chris-fagan/news-story/35c31e5c1a0c0473d3a35bf24722006f

“It’s to do with my back. I had a scan and it wasn’t a great result. There’s a little bit in there but that’s something that I’ll deal with. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to really say too much, it wasn’t a great result on the scan,” Neale said.

That doesn't sound good at all

I think we might need to rest Neale for a couple of matches IMO right now and not risk him having a long-term injury in the latter stages of the season/finals where we most need him playing.

Plus, it can also give more experience to someone like Robertson for example who will only blossom from more game-day experience as a result and allow us to improve our midfield depth from Neale not playing a couple of matches.

 

[iBeng]

Carrying our midfield has done his back in

 

[Hollow Knight]

Obligatory Titanic edit.

 

[Elixuh]

foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2021-brisbane-lachie-neale-brownlow-medal-back-injury-afl-injury-news-injury-list-chris-fagan/news-story/35c31e5c1a0c0473d3a35bf24722006f

Robinson probably broke his back when he jumped on the pack at the end of the game.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

Obligatory Titanic edit.

 

[royboys4eva]

Basically have lost my voice. I was shouting and screaming so much during the game and when Bailey kicked that goal the Lions section in Level 3 erupted. I haven't seen scenes likes that for some time. My 9 year old son thought it was the greatest thing ever.

We probably should have won by a couple goals even though they led most of the night. Daniher missed two gettable goals. Charlie missed one in front and Lyons and McCluggage missed shots as well in the last qtr.

Superb win considering the week we have had and no Gardiner - Rayner - J.Berry - Big O and McStay. That said I don't believe Collingwood are much of a side.

Haven't had a chance to read others reviews as yet but I hope someone has mentioned what a superb underrated game Froggy Lester played. It might not have shown up on the tv but he was brilliant all night getting to contests and spoiling or tackling. He probably saved us a couple goals with his 50/50 efforts last night. He won't be on many best list players but I think he was our best.

The defence played well all night. Probably helped by the Pies slow ball movement going forward but Andrews took important marks - Adams was a colossus in second half and Payne and Starcevich played very underrated games.

Rich was excellent all night - if he can get his hands on the ball more than 20 times a game you know we will get good value for those kicks. Just have to be aware when teams target him defensively like Sydney did.

Really pleased and impressed with Dev Robertson. Did some real nice things. Mitchy and Birchall who I think were lucky to be in the side both played really good games. In fact probably best game Robbo has played since Round 1 last year. Loved the spray he gave Sidebottom as well.

McCluggage back to his Rolls Royce best. Again when he gets the ball 22+ times we should do well as a team. Little Berry was so enjoyable to watch. Ripped in caused some havoc and kicked a nice goal.

Neale looked to be really labouring in second half so I'm not surprised to hear he is really struggling with a back injury. He might need a few weeks out unfortunately.

The Lions chant as we left the stadium last night was sublime. All the way down the three levels all you could hear was LIONS LIONS LIONS. Pies fans were stunned and shattered it doesn't get any better.

 

[Back2Back2Back]

Some Collingwood posters blaming 3 things.
1. The roof was closed.
2. It wasn't at their home ground.
3. Umpires.

well considering the real fixture was to be at the Gabba I’m not sure why they’re so disappointed.

L O G I C
O
G
I
C

 

[Dalions]

Just watch over and over again.

 

[bungalow_bill]

Buckley looked broken in his press conference

Tube of super glue and he'll be right

 

[DashinD]

It’s mind blowing that Dev slipped to us. I reckon Dustys dominance had led to clubs wanting to draft xfactor/explosive mids when there is probably better natural ballwinners/footy smart options on the board. Unless you had say a top 5 pick to get the most elite of the dusty type, I’d go for the Dev type any day.

 

[cotter101]

I've watched the last 2 minutes half a dozen times already, Adams, Rich, Dev, Zac, Clugga, Lester, Starc all involved in great plays in the last 2 minutes.

Enjoy >

The boys reaction after Bailey kicked the goal reminded me just how driven and tight this playing group are. They’ll stop at nothing for the ultimate success.

There will be bumps along the way, but it’s all part of the ride.

 

[Lionheart182]

The way Lester was called to play on and had to handball quickly reminded me of the start of the final play in this:



Just had to go in both circumstances and we did. Some real similarities between the two endings.