Review Half yearly update

[luthor]

Our midfield doesn't run two ways and sucks. Lyons can't kick over a jam tin and Zorks is the most ill disciplined captain in the comp. Berry is OK at tackling but what else has he done for us?

Defence is a shambles. Andrews and Gardiner are in career worst form and Answerth's foot disposal is the most horrendous of any defender in the AFL. Except of course for Adams, who should never kick but only handball in case he totally stuffs it and cost us three goals per game. Rich is looking old and slow

Bailey is semi okay but basically can't tackle and probably should be dropped unless he pulls 3 or 4 goals per game out of his arse.

MC Stay should be kicking bags of goals at least every second game so he's basically useless and Joe is a big show pony.

Hippy has done nothing lately and Rayner hasn't lived up to anything like his potential. Charlie sulks too much. Linc is on thin ice.

Hey wait a minute!!!

What the hell are we doing on top of the ladder??

 

[ZoBlitz]

Doing fantastic obviously as we are the top team atm. However, would be good to see how many top 8 teams we have played in comparison to the top 5 teams on the ladder. Feels like we have played a lot of teams in the lower reaches of the ladder.

Looking at the results of the top 9 playing the top 9 sides (considering that Richmond could jump Collingwood next week as they have a game in hand):

Brisbane - 3-2 (haven't played Melbourne, Carlton, Richmond)
Melbourne - 2-3 (haven't played Brisbane, Geelong, Carlton)
Fremantle - 4-2 (haven't played Sydney, Richmond)
Carlton - 2-2 (haven't played Brisbane, Melbourne, Geelong, St. Kilda)
Geelong - 2-3 (haven't played Melbourne, Carlton, Richmond)
St. Kilda - 3-3 (haven't played Carlton, Sydney)
Sydney - 3-2 (haven't played Fremantle, St. Kilda, Collingwood)
Collingwood - 4-3 (haven't played St. Kilda, Sydney)
Richmond - 1-4 (haven't played Brisbane, Fremantle, Geelong)

Collated by hand and ignoring who plays who twice.

 

[Sanchez365]

Doing fantastic obviously as we are the top team atm. However, would be good to see how many top 8 teams we have played in comparison to the top 5 teams on the ladder. Feels like we have played a lot of teams in the lower reaches of the ladder.

Let's do the maths!

Brisbane (1st) 10w 3l
Top 4 Record - 0w 1l
5 - 8 Record - 3w 1l
9 - 14 Record - 3w 1l
Bottom 4 Record - 4w 0l

Melbourne (2nd) 10w 3l
Top 4 Record - 0w 1l
5 - 8 Record -. 1w 2l
9 - 14 Record - 6w 0l
Bottom 4 Record - 3w 0l

Fremantle (3rd) 10w 3l
Top 4 Record - 2w 0l
5 - 8 Record - 2w 2l
9 - 14 Record - 2w 1l
Bottom 4 Record - 4w 0l

Carlton (4th) 9w 3l
Top 4 Record - 0w 1l
5 - 8 Record - 1w 1l
9 - 14 Record - 5w 1l
Bottom 4 Record - 3w 0l

Geelong (5th) 8w 4l
Top 4 Record - 1w 1l
5 - 8 Record - 1w 2l
9 - 14 Record - 3w 1l
Bottom 4 Record - 3w 0l

St Kilda (6th) 8w-4l
Top 4 Record - 1w 2l
5 - 8 Record - 1w 1l
9 - 14 Record - 4w 1l
Bottom 4 Record - 2w 0l

Sydney (7th) 8w 4l
Top 4 Record - 1w 2l
5 - 8 Record - 1w 0l
9 - 14 Record - 3w 2l
Bottom 4 Record - 3w 0l

Collingwood (8th) 8w 5l
Top 4 Record - 3w 1l
5 - 8 Record - 2w 1l
9 - 14 Record - 2w 2l
Bottom 4 Record - 1w 1l

What does this tell us? Well, surprisingly there haven't been alot of top 4 matchups yet, most likely a situation due to the draw not matching them up yet.

Freo & Collingwood seem to be the inform teams of the first half of the season, however the Pies are also the only team in the top 8 to lose to a bottom 4 team (their lost to west coast).

St Kilda and Geelong seem to have mostly beaten up on bottom half of the ladder teams, but the surprising addition here is Melbourne, who's massive winning streak appears to have been mainly against bottom half of the ladder teams. Has it really been May going missing? Or have they just been beating rubbish teams.

Finally, our form is actually pretty good across the board. As we know the majority of our top 4 tests are coming and we have already played all the bottom 4 teams, but we have also played all the teams 4-8 for a 3w 2l record. So we will have to improve our form a little bit if we want to stay on top of the ladder, however our draw hasn't been as easy as some have suggested so far.

 

[tate13]

I think we’re a much better team than we’ve been in previous years. I think if we tidy up a few very fixable things, a spot in the grand final is wide open. It probably helps that this year there aren’t teams who have historically more experienced at contending (Richmond, wce, dogs, etc) - this year that’s us.

For me we’ve had 3 main tests - cats, swans and dockers.

I thought the swans win was as good as we’ve produced. If we can replicate that and finish top 2, we’re a massive show.

Flip side is we failed the cats and dockers test. That said, while we failed, I think we were in the matches for longer and fave more of a shout than we have in previous years.

We certainly need to fix a few things and I’m far from sold, but we go into the bye on top of the ladder. I’d have jumped at that at the start of the year.

Looking forward I think to finish top 2 we need to split our games against Melbourne and win one of saints or tigers away. Strong showings at the mcg will also help. Let’s see what happens.

 

[T Rick]

Just changing tack - does anyone know what our routine looks like for the players during the bye - when do they go on leave and return to training etc?

 

[mpal6]

Just changing tack - does anyone know what our routine looks like for the players during the bye - when do they go on leave and return to training etc?

Post match few were saying leave on Wednesday and return on Monday for the Thursday game.

 

[T Rick]

Post match few were saying leave on Wednesday and return on Monday for the Thursday game.

Just saw Danny Daly on Lions website - 4 days off and back for training next Sunday with main training session next Tuesday. Darcy has been in hospital since Sunday and will miss 4-5 weeks according to DD.

 

[McIvor]

Just saw Danny Daly on Lions website - 4 days off and back for training next Sunday with main training session next Tuesday. Darcy has been in hospital since Sunday and will miss 4-5 weeks according to DD.

Must admit, we were really surprised the club passed him fit with suspect ribs or lungs only to end up in a worst position.

The great thing for us is that I think we have really adequate replacements in Lester or Payne - not sure many other teams have such high calibre replacements.

 

[Tom14]

Must admit, we were really surprised the club passed him fit with suspect ribs or lungs only to end up in a worst position.

The great thing for us is that I think we have really adequate replacements in Lester or Payne - not sure many other teams have such high calibre replacements.

From what Danny Daly said this injury occurred in the third quarter of the saints game, and I don't think it was related to what led to him being subbed out last week.

 

[McIvor]

From what Danny Daly said this injury occurred in the third quarter of the saints game, and I don't think it was related to what led to him being subbed out last week.

Others would know better than me but has there ever been a player at the Lions that continuosly finds new ways of being injured every year? Darcy seems about the most unluckiest Lion I can recall with his injuries which is a shame as he really is a dependable guy down back.

 

[Gadzorks]

Others would know better than me but has there ever been a player at the Lions that continuosly finds new ways of being injured every year? Darcy seems about the most unluckiest Lion I can recall with his injuries which is a shame as he really is a dependable guy down back.

For me, the unluckiest was Justin Clark. Watching him sob his way through the retirement press announcement had me in tears. I can still get misty thinking about it.

His next career is awesome, but have 'flunked' out of the top two choices at 21 or 22. That's unlucky.

 

[Viceregal]

Others would know better than me but has there ever been a player at the Lions that continuosly finds new ways of being injured every year? Darcy seems about the most unluckiest Lion I can recall with his injuries which is a shame as he really is a dependable guy down back.

Josh Drummond?

 

[mattsmob]

Looking at the results of the top 9 playing the top 9 sides (considering that Richmond could jump Collingwood next week as they have a game in hand):

Brisbane - 3-2 (haven't played Melbourne, Carlton, Richmond)
Melbourne - 2-3 (haven't played Brisbane, Geelong, Carlton)
Fremantle - 4-2 (haven't played Sydney, Richmond)
Carlton - 2-2 (haven't played Brisbane, Melbourne, Geelong, St. Kilda)
Geelong - 2-3 (haven't played Melbourne, Carlton, Richmond)
St. Kilda - 3-3 (haven't played Carlton, Sydney)
Sydney - 3-2 (haven't played Fremantle, St. Kilda, Collingwood)
Collingwood - 4-3 (haven't played St. Kilda, Sydney)
Richmond - 1-4 (haven't played Brisbane, Fremantle, Geelong)

Collated by hand and ignoring who plays who twice.

Wow the top 8 is really tight this season, top 9 teams are 24-24 against each other, really could be anyone's year.

 

[jjami15]

Wow the top 8 is really tight this season, top 9 teams are 24-24 against each other, really could be anyone's year.

If Carlton, Saints, Swans and Geelong win at the end of that round there will be 7 teams either seperated by percentage or one win from the top. World
Record at that time of the season surely. L

 

[davemc_lions]

Wow the top 8 is really tight this season, top 9 teams are 24-24 against each other, really could be anyone's year.

Also teams been up and down so depends when you play them. Or if it rains and Freo plays

 

[POBT]

Others would know better than me but has there ever been a player at the Lions that continuosly finds new ways of being injured every year? Darcy seems about the most unluckiest Lion I can recall with his injuries which is a shame as he really is a dependable guy down back.

I reckon the unluckiest are the guys with talent whose bodies never allows them a chance. Someone like Cal Bartlett.

But, to your point, I can't recall a player who has had the sheer variety of injuries as Dizzy. And they always seem to come when he's hitting form - I thought he was playing really well on Saturday night after a few weeks of underperformance by his usual standards.

 

[ZoBlitz]

I reckon the unluckiest are the guys with talent whose bodies never allows them a chance. Someone like Cal Bartlett.

But, to your point, I can't recall a player who has had the sheer variety of injuries as Dizzy. And they always seem to come when he's hitting form - I thought he was playing really well on Saturday night after a few weeks of underperformance by his usual standards.

And I think he's the kind of guy who plays through a fair amount of niggles, perhaps more so than some other players too.

 

[Jeremiah001]

And I think he's the kind of guy who plays through a fair amount of niggles, perhaps more so than some other players too.

He was also getting banged up from his early days getting thrown in the deep end. I wonder if it catching up with him now. Tough bugger.

 

[Dalions]

Bit silly with Joe only ranked above average for goals when he has averaged more than any of them per games played. And if he had of played all games could have been sitting on around 39 goals with his game average which would have had him leading the Coleman.

 

[Davemonkey]

Bit silly with Joe only ranked above average for goals when he has averaged more than any of them per games played. And if he had of played all games could have been sitting on around 39 goals with his game average which would have had him leading the Coleman.

Tiny gold font on maroon background is not an easy read.

 

[Berrygood]

I think it's sad that so many on here only see the negatives. Sure we haven't been at our best ALL the time but when we have clicked we have played some really great football.

In a season where so many other clubs have improved so much, its not as easy as many on here expect it to be. Aside from North, the injury ravaged Eagles, Adelaide and possibly Essendon atm, it's probably the closest a season has been for a long time. There's a saying in America relating to the NFL, "Any Given Sunday", it suggests that any team can beat any other team at any time. This is where this season is at. I think it's a bit disrespectful to a lot of other clubs and more importantly to our players not to recognise that.

To be where we are, at this stage of the season, considering the improvement of other clubs and the closeness of the comp, we should be very pleased.

On individual form, if you've ever played any team sport for any length of time, you must know it's impossible for everyone to be at peak form for every minute of every game. Players have form slumps, players make errors, teams have form slumps, that's sport. To be able to keep fighting and win, keep fighting in a close loss, when we're not playing our best is something to be encouraged by.

I get a bit tired of the continual criticism of players. It's certainly OK to note that someone is down on form or had a shocker or is getting close to the end of their career, but to call them useless or a spud etc is just rude. Surely we can evaluate a player, a coach or the team etc without the personal attacks or derogatory statements.

Whoever wins the flag this year will have well and truly earnt and deserved it. I believe we are still right in the mix and good enough to do so.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Bit silly with Joe only ranked above average for goals when he has averaged more than any of them per games played. And if he had of played all games could have been sitting on around 39 goals with his game average which would have had him leading the Coleman.

I believe the ratings are based on what position the players are assigned as in the AFL stats system, so Joe ranks above average for goals for key forwards while Cameron and Bailey rank elite for general forwards. These rankings are based on average goals kicked as well, not totals, despite the confusing nature of the graphics and there's four players with better goal averages than Joe; Jeremy Cameron, Curnow, Tom Lynch and Mitch Lewis.

 

[T Rick]

I think it's sad that so many on here only see the negatives. Sure we haven't been at our best ALL the time but when we have clicked we have played some really great football.

In a season where so many other clubs have improved so much, its not as easy as many on here expect it to be. Aside from North, the injury ravaged Eagles, Adelaide and possibly Essendon atm, it's probably the closest a season has been for a long time. There's a saying in America relating to the NFL, "Any Given Sunday", it suggests that any team can beat any other team at any time. This is where this season is at. I think it's a bit disrespectful to a lot of other clubs and more importantly to our players not to recognise that.

To be where we are, at this stage of the season, considering the improvement of other clubs and the closeness of the comp, we should be very pleased.

On individual form, if you've ever played any team sport for any length of time, you must know it's impossible for everyone to be at peak form for every minute of every game. Players have form slumps, players make errors, teams have form slumps, that's sport. To be able to keep fighting and win, keep fighting in a close loss, when we're not playing our best is something to be encouraged by.

I get a bit tired of the continual criticism of players. It's certainly OK to note that someone is down on form or had a shocker or is getting close to the end of their career, but to call them useless or a spud etc is just rude. Surely we can evaluate a player, a coach or the team etc without the personal attacks or derogatory statements.

Whoever wins the flag this year will have well and truly earnt and deserved it. I believe we are still right in the mix and good enough to do so.

Well said Berrygood!

 

[lionshine]

I reckon the unluckiest are the guys with talent whose bodies never allows them a chance. Someone like Cal Bartlett.

But, to your point, I can't recall a player who has had the sheer variety of injuries as Dizzy. And they always seem to come when he's hitting form - I thought he was playing really well on Saturday night after a few weeks of underperformance by his usual standards.

Pat Garner comes to mind.

 

[Mighty Lions]

I know there used to be a poster on this board that would do the half yearly report but I believe that was how players were tracking etc from memory.

So with that in mind, and now that we have reached the bye, I thought a quick review of the first half as a whole is in order.

The good:

• the attack (or forward line), last night aside has been working well, as it should with the amount of talent up forward.
• Neale’s form. Back to Brownlow contention (would move to seriously ugly if he requests a trade at the end of the year).
• Daniher’a form. Before injury he was a legitimate chance of the Coleman and last night proved how much we need him in the team.
• Rayner’s form. Started slow and I was worried about his future, but over the last 4-6 weeks he’s shown what he’s capable of. If his fitness continues to build he has the ability to be in our top 3 players.
• Adams’ form was really good prior to him getting crook. Was in AA form for a while there.
• Kiddy and Starce look locks for the defensive end for the next 10 years hopefully.

The bad:

• lots of experienced players down on form compared to previous years - Lyons, Harris, Zorko, Rich, Gardiner, Robbo etc.
• Hipwood has come back slowly, but willing to cut him a bit of slack after a long lay off.
• Lack of midfield depth. It appears what we are seeing at the moment is really what we are going to get. It appears the only other options in the twos now are Terry and Matho?

The ugly:

• Again back to the midfield and the way teams have been able to get run ons against us in there. It looked like last night we made a conscious effort to avoid that which may have led to the issues between the connection with the forwards;
• Defensive transition. Even with the changes again last night there were still a couple of times where it was just to easy for the Saints (and teams all year) to transfer the ball from D50 to attack.

Looking forward:

• The last few weeks it definitely looked like we were a team in need of a bye. It looked like a few were carrying niggles;
• The older blokes like Zorko and Rich looked sore for a number of weeks now so maybe give them another test later in the year before finals;
• As I said last night we need to get Cam maxed out in the middle as much as we can, even if it’s just the centre bounces. For a so so midfield he offers it something we don’t otherwise have, someone who can break tackles and move the ball forward.
• At 10-3 and largely playing pretty average all year, besides a great game in Sydney, it is certainly a start you’d take if offered. I believe the competition as a whole is pretty average right now, but with that comes an opportunity to strike. We just need to find a way to sneak that second spot as I’d go into any game at the Gabba right now (bar against Melbourne), confident we’d have a reasonable chance of a result in a final against the other teams.
  
  Miss anything? Change anything? To harsh on some?

Interested to hear what expectation you had of Hipwood on his return from a full knee re-construction?