Review Round 22, 2025 - Brisbane Lions vs. Sydney

[Dalions]

Definitely out coached by a first year Coach last night.
I think we went in to the game expecting to play the Sydney team of last year with the slow kick mark game that they usually pull out but they brought a high speed, running and handball game that we just weren’t expecting and just never fully adjusted to.
It was pretty clear what they were trying to do right from the start of the game and it would have been addressed by the Coaching staff at quarter time but the players never adjusted.
The game just never looked like a Lions game last night , with the ball or without, with Starce being a late out it could have been the straw that broke the Camels back, we were winning the ball in the middle of the ground really well without Lachie, which was great but once it got out of there everything else broke down.
I don’t think Heeney would have had quite so much freedom in the forward half for them if Starce was in the team or even Noah for that matter.
Big 2 weeks coming up, unlike others I can’t see us with any chance of winning the Premiership from outside the top 4 this year because we haven’t shown anything that tells me that we can win 4 finals intensity games in a row, week after week.
Our best and only chance imo is to somehow squeeze into 4th and win first week of finals because we can’t seem to keep the intensity for any more than 1-2 games in a row and that won’t be good enough come finals especially if we finish in the bottom half.

 

[martinson]

Definitely out coached by a first year Coach last night.
I think we went in to the game expecting to play the Sydney team of last year with the slow kick mark game that they usually pull out but they brought a high speed, running and handball game that we just weren’t expecting and just never fully adjusted to.
It was pretty clear what they were trying to do right from the start of the game and it would have been addressed by the Coaching staff at quarter time but the players never adjusted.
The game just never looked like a Lions game last night , with the ball or without, with Starce being a late out it could have been the straw that broke the Camels back, we were winning the ball in the middle of the ground really well without Lachie, which was great but once it got out of there everything else broke down.
I don’t think Heeney would have had quite so much freedom in the forward half for them if Starce was in the team or even Noah for that matter.
Big 2 weeks coming up, unlike others I can’t see us with any chance of winning the Premiership from outside the top 4 this year because we haven’t shown anything that tells me that we can win 4 finals intensity games in a row, week after week.
Our best and only chance imo is to somehow squeeze into 4th and win first week of finals because we can’t seem to keep the intensity for any more than 1-2 games in a row and that won’t be good enough come finals especially if we finish in the bottom half.

They definitely went to work on us and exploited the positions where we were deficient on the field.

Some of Fort's ruckwork to the Ashcrofts was the best I've seen from us all year but we couldn't sustain it nor capitalise enough when we got it in deep.

We needed a key forward who could get his hands on the ball and some crumbers who knew what their job was.

Overall we showed that we can still play good enough footy to be winning games .

 

[irish]

Funny after a season defining win against the pies away we go down the plug hole to blow our season apart at home the very next week ! Dockers at home then flight to Brisbane to play a team we carnt beat at a ground we play lazy footy
Read the tea leaves people this loss was a disaster for our finals hopes, just don’t have the cattle to win it outside the top 4 this season that’s if we even make the 8

 

[Bosh Jootsma]

I’ve been saying this for years, it’s a crime that the clock starts when an umpire bounces/throws the ball into play.

Considering the fact umpires can make a mistake when doing so and having to recall it to repeat, it’s bizarre that an umpiring skill issue can eat into the time of the game.

It’s not the reason we lost, but imagine if that last bounce with 4s left was recalled. The second last one was outside the circle and probably should have been recalled.

 

[martinson]

You can only surmise that our inability to win games that we should be winning gets down to motivation ,effort and preparation to some degree .It's happened too often to be coincidental. Every team knows they're in with a shot against us. Something to address in the offseason.

By the time yesterday came around we were half banged up, the Swans are good on their day and they came with a gameplan we didn't handle.

 

[T Rick]

Rayner was way off last night.. some of his field kicking was pure filth. Had the odd good play but largely a poor display. We really need him to lift for us.

He was doing a lot of mobility work on his back in the warm up - I wouldn’t be surprised if he was playing hurt.

 

[T Rick]

Levi is an 18 year old in his first season .

… coming off a busted shoulder

 

[Nuggo]

What makes Charlie look bad is he not taking those few chances he is getting now. Next year if we have a fit and firing forward line he might get more chances and not have the same amount of pressure on him. As long as he taking his defender away from the forward fifty to create space for others then not a terrible option.

Tackling or slowing down runs from the backline was off last night. Not just a tackling issue but a system issue.

Young players need the experience. Keep playing them this year, get final experience into them.

Certainly not over yet.

 

[martinson]

He was doing a lot of mobility work on his back in the warm up - I wouldn’t be surprised if he was playing hurt.

Not making excuses but we had 3 or 4 guys out there who didn't look 100%.

Rayner wasn't right. Ah Chee isn't moving at all like we know he can for starters. Doedee is just going through the motions feeling his way trying to get through a game. I think we're scraping the barrel right now given the players who are permanently out.

It's been a tough season after being deep in finals for 6 years.

 

[CarterS]

Pressure was horrible we let them waltz through the middle!

 

[Clarkythelion]

If you've got 99 problems and a beach is one?

That has to be the comeback of the year - great one dlanod

 

[Clarkythelion]

Not necessarily the first time, but last night Fagan did seem disappointed but dropped just short of naming names.

In his half time 'door stop' interview he was asked about Heeney getting loose, his reply something like this, "well we had a plan and a player to pick him up before the game but that must have got lost in translation because they are not doing the job on the ground". **** seemed very frustrated with someone.

Then after the game in his press conference he made the point several time about not gathering the ball when it hit the ground in the forward line, he said too many guys were flying and no doing the work. I can only assume he met McLaughlin and Cameron, maybe Ah Chee. McLaughlin got the tactical sub, so I'm guessing he was one to blame and his defence does seem poor as it is in reserve grade. Charlie seems terribly out of form and just not getting opportunities. Levi was busting his ass in the midfield so he wasn't there to mop up. Fagan also mentioned out inaccuracy from set shots. While he seemed to give the backs the excuse of injuries he was guarded on Doedee but clearly said he wasn't very good on his first game back and mentioned the speed was too much for him at times.

The old boy was clearly angry about someone or a couple of players at least.

Starc and Lester probably back will sure up things in the backs - small forwards we are really lacking options.

 

[martinson]

Not necessarily the first time, but last night Fagan did seem disappointed but dropped just short of naming names.

In his half time 'door stop' interview he was asked about Heeney getting loose, his reply something like this, "well we had a plan and a player to pick him up before the game but that must have got lost in translation because they are not doing the job on the ground". **** seemed very frustrated with someone.

Then after the game in his press conference he made the point several time about not gathering the ball when it hit the ground in the forward line, he said too many guys were flying and no doing the work. I can only assume he met McLaughlin and Cameron, maybe Ah Chee. McLaughlin got the tactical sub, so I'm guessing he was one to blame and his defence does seem poor as it is in reserve grade. Charlie seems terribly out of form and just not getting opportunities. Levi was busting his ass in the midfield so he wasn't there to mop up. Fagan also mentioned out inaccuracy from set shots. While he seemed to give the backs the excuse of injuries he was guarded on Doedee but clearly said he wasn't very good on his first game back and mentioned the speed was too much for him at times.

The old boy was clearly angry about someone or a couple of players at least.

Starc and Lester probably back will sure up things in the backs - small forwards we are really lacking options.

One good thing was to see what the Ashcrofts could become over time. With Dunks getting on we need to be looking at another player or two who could do the grunt work over the next several years.

 

[Clarkythelion]

One good thing was to see what the Ashcrofts could become over time. With Dunks getting on we need to be looking at another player or two who could do the grunt work over the next several years.

I watched the reserve grade, Annabel is outstanding, with those Ashcroft boys our midfield will be strong for years. Annabel has hands just as quick, shoots it over his shoulders to players behind him in space that no one could possible see and just seems to have more time than those around him. He has better defence that both Ashcroft boys. I watched when Levi played VFL for us in the 1 game and go BOG, Annabel has played 3 and has been in our best players every game.

 

[Cockliff38]

Henry was never getting dropped after last week but pairing him and McLachlan in a forward line is poor selection

 

[mattsmob]

Henry was never getting dropped after last week but pairing him and McLachlan in a forward line is poor selection

More on McLachlan than Smith unfortunately, there’s shouldn’t be reason they can’t be selected together as they bring completely different skill sets and abilities however if McLachlan’s pressure and effort at ground level isn’t there then it makes the forward line stand out as too slow

 

[Sunny Land]

I see you're getting back to your best.

I've mentioned him once in 5 weeks.

And in the context of someone else's comment.

Find another target to pick on.

I see you still think its all about you.

 

[M Malice]

They absolutely carved us up on turnover, it felt like every time we went long to around our F50 meter arc it tuned over and the Swans burnt us. Fagan said they scored 8 goals 7 from turnover from their back half.

That area is a terrible place to turn it over which is why we usually work the ball around diagonally to get a deeper final entry or spot up a player who has found space, too much bombing it long to a bad area.

 

[mpal6]

Every player should have a simple target of at least 1 tackle per quarter - especially midfield and half forwards. Just show the desperation to get that single tackle in, flow on effect could be enormous based on where you lay the tackle.

 

[Sunny Land]

I’d like to see the stats for broken tackles

Tackling last night was unbelieveably bad. Never seen it like that for many seasons….. had nothing to do with Fagan’s coaching and to say it did is a joke but so predictable some would call him out as the blame every time we take a hit.

Not seen a opposition team run the ball away from us so easy as well. They made us look like old men.

As mentioned last week, Henry’s lack of speed and engine is a real wakness that opposition will use to their advantage all the time. If he plays next week, watch Freo use his position and run the ball past him time & time again.
Doedee is a long way away from being ready. I guess you needed to play him to know for sure…We now know.

Beecken deserves a chance if there is an opening this week in my opinion.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Not sure if we saw what Doedee had to offer. Even if we had Payne and Lester running around yesterday they would have been stranded with the speed it come in with. Our pressure up the field really let us down

 

[braddsey]

Tackling last night was unbelieveably bad. Never seen it like that for many seasons….. had nothing to do with Fagan’s coaching and to say it did is a joke but so predictable some would call him out as the blame every time we take a hit.

Not seen a opposition team run the ball away from us so easy as well. They made us look like old men.

As mentioned last week, Henry’s lack of speed and engine is a real wakness that opposition will use to their advantage all the time. If he plays next week, watch Freo use his position and run the ball past him time & time again.
Doedee is a long way away from being ready. I guess you needed to play him to know for sure…We now know.

Beecken deserves a chance if there is an opening this week in my opinion.

I think Fagan pretty much said in his presser that Doedee was in for this match only. He came in as the replacement for Lester, he looked like the game speed was a bit much for him at times (this is Fagan being respectful).

Lester will be back next week, Doedee will be back to the 2’s. Would rather have had Lester in, but Doedee has had 1 game at senior level now. He’ll be better next time, which hopefully isn’t necessary again in 2025.

 

[braddsey]

Not sure if we saw what Doedee had to offer. Even if we had Payne and Lester running around yesterday they would have been stranded with the speed it come in with. Our pressure up the field really let us down

If we had Lester (and Payne), we would have won. Heaney isn’t kicking 5 with those 2 in the team.

 

[mpal6]

I think Fagan pretty much said in his presser that Doedee was in for this match only. He came in as the replacement for Lester, he looked like the game speed was a bit much for him at times (this is Fagan being respectful).

Lester will be back next week, Doedee will be back to the 2’s. Would rather have had Lester in, but Doedee has had 1 game at senior level now. He’ll be better next time, which hopefully isn’t necessary again in 2025.

If we ever have to play a tall defender to cover Lester or Gardiner, hopefully we bring Joyce in rather than Doedee. Doedee needs a good preseason first before he gets another look.

 

[Happy_Neale]

If we had Lester (and Payne), we would have won. Heaney isn’t kicking 5 with those 2 in the team.

Starcevich surely would have picked up Heeney when resting forward