Review Qualifying Final, 2025 - Geelong vs. Brisbane Lions

[Tom14]

Crazy.

 

[PaddleFoot]

Forward line was woeful. Outside of Rayner little cameo massively helped out by the umpire no one up front did anything. Barely touched it. Cats defensive structure is elite. I honestly don’t think we can beat them with the D graders we have up there at the moment if they bring that to every game.

Indeed - when you have Stewart sitting back alone and snagging the odd goal , it was a miracle we didn't go down by a lot more.

Cats look primed. Their matchups were excellent and Dangerfield is just a luxury pick now. Cameron set the tone early by destroying Lester and throwing our backline out. We did well to settle but the weight of ball was overwhelming. The inclusing of Smith and OSullivan have been huge.

 

[Section 5]

Our defense held up as best they could considering the number of balls they had to defend during the night.
The Cats had 36 shots on goal with their 60 inside 50's that resulted in 15 marks inside 50.

The first quarter set the tone for the night, and the Cats should have been further ahead by quarter time.
When your two best midfielders only had 7 first quarter disposals between them you are going to struggle.

The Cats were good at cutting off our kick/run through the middle of the ground.
That created a lot of turnovers which resulted in quite a few goals being scored by the Cats.
That also went a long way to reduce our own scoring.
But that is a big part of our game and i don't expect a change in that area.
North and the Demons were quite good at doing that also.

Review and reset for next week. All is still in play for 2025.
Posters don't have the mindset that we will be better next year as it takes a lot to get to our present 2025 position.
We are in the now, not the future and i still believe our best is good enough.

I think with our available players it is time to go smaller in the forward line with someone that plays forward/mid.
Not the usual 3 forward talls Fagan prefers and so do i under normal circumstances.
But if the Lions players don't lower their eyes going into forward 50, we are in a little trouble.

Now i wait to get tickets to The Gabba v ?? along with registering for the GF Ballot this week.
A great time of the year that we have waited all season for so stay positive for another week.

 

[PaddleFoot]

Man I don’t know what to say and whatever I do so won’t be nice. Putrid. Rough game to watch live amongst opposition fans and getting absolutely smashed in every facet of the game. Did we win a single clearance or one on one?

I haven’t seen us play that bad in 10 years. Geelong were excellent, everything they did turned to gold because they wanted it more. The umpiring was absolutely abysmal and way more in favour of us than them. That Rayner trash in half time should have the lot of them sacked, that was embarrassing for us.

The only good players we had were Andrews, Dunkley and yes at least live, Fort. I don’t know how many times WAshcroft kicked it straight to Geelong. We haven’t played that bad in years and to do it in a final, yuck. The boys panicked, second guessed themselves and just lost all ability to be clean anywhere on the ground.

Maybe this year is a bridge too far, maybe it was the wake up call we needed, I don’t know but I think bringing in McKenna and Bruce is needed and probably anyone for Day. We were never in it. Our forward line should all be sacked, no pressure whatsoever and you can’t carry Gallop, Cameron and Day. My gosh, Day. I have nothing positive to say about his lack of effort, if I had tomatoes they would have been thrown. At least Gallop has the excuse that he’s a kid. There was a point where we got within like 2 and Day just stood and watched and then walked away when he could have at least pressured or did something but nope, just watched and walked away. Who the heck does that? This was Prior level bad against Hawthorn a couple of years back. Makes the bloke unpickable. Ah Chee and Cameron couldn’t even be bothered running.

That was deflating but if we can make a couple of needed changes, we can still win it but it will be very tough from here. I’m not writing us off though, not yet. Maybe the boys might have subconsciously switched off when we just couldn’t get in it knowing there is still next week. I expect us to come out breathing fire…or get smashed if we’ve understandably hit a wall at the wrong time.

10 years ? Let's not catastrophize too much. Demons have pants us regularly at the G over the years. And the Cats in 22 ..

 

[Perrip]

Isn't this what Doedee had ? They did a full reco on it

Yep. Injured it in March last year and didn't return to VFL till April this year

 

[Bucking Beads]

The Hipwood ACL is a dagger for next year IMO. Looks way too hard for us this year already anyway.. Losing Hippy for all of next year will be brutal. Despite him being a frustrating watch at times he's just so important to our structure.

 

[Section 5]

Just noticed the Hippy bad news.

Regarding Neale i hope the scans rule him out for the season.
Last time he did the calf nobody knew even the coach. This time he was in a lot of pain, so it has to be much worse.
Neal had 4 weeks off for rehab last time and it came back, so no real chance to be ready for the GF.

By ruling him out we can settle on a side playing hopefully for the next 3 weeks
That should give some confidence to Reville and Marshall going forward.

 

[notliondown]

Why should umpiring be different in finals?

That seems to be the main argument the umps had against the Rayner frees but surely consistency and getting players to stop doing dumb shit is the what they should be trying to accomplish

Or even the penalty for homophobic slurs you might ask?

 

[Full Wingspan]

Shattered for Hippy and Neale.

Notwithstanding this, it is still quite possible that we progress to a prelim and even a grand final with our decimated list.

From there, anything is possible.

At least some of our younger players will get some invaluable finals experience.

 

[DevRoboGun]

If Eric has actually played all year with the partial tear, why wouldn’t they consider letting him play a finals game if his calf is okay? Still our best option on one leg. Or is it a medical overrule I wonder

 

[Gadzorks]

.

It won’t heal, lack of blood supply to the area is the inherent issue in damaging the ligament. Either roll the dice and leave it as is or go full reco which would be most of next season (if not all) off the cards.

Son in law (soccer player) ruptured his acl this year. They aren't doing surgery, just strength training. Gave him a list of international level players who have done this same conservative approach and are still playing.

SIL doing great and back playing. All very weird.

 

[The Zork]

We hurt their feelings when we stole their premiership last year.

They will always be on the highlight reel of our premiership run. Rayners goal etched in history. They are taking some frustration out from that I’m sure.
It’s sorta the same how a lot of Brisbane supporters subconsciously harboured hurt feelings after Bailey Smith kicked that goal that sank us a few years back.

 

[braddsey]

When we played them in the Prelim last year we had momentum and belief and Daniher - Hipwood - Payne and Answerth. Tonight we had replacing them Day - Gallop - Gardiner ( who was solid). Add to last year we had a very inform Ah Chee who is currently not half the player he was 12 months ago.

Just too many players out or banged up. I would suggest Lachie is done for the year. Watching him live last night you could tell he wasn't even close to being 100% - more like 60%. Started on bench and played forward at one stage before getting injured. Went to ground a lot more than normal - which is often an indication of a player struggling with injury and strength.

Credit to Cats who were up for it and out worked us all over the ground. Really tore us apart on the spread from turnovers. Poor Froggy had his worst game in a long time. Cameron just dominated first qtr. But we kept him quiet after that.

Rayner goal was crazy. Everyone at the ground had no idea what happened and seeing replay after the game it was soft. The second free kick however has been paid all year and was stupid by Cats player.

You knew after HT they would get every 50/50 call and for most of the second half they did. But they were far too good for us and I think they deserve to be Premiership faves.

We need to get back home and reload. Hippy probably not ready to come back yet, but he was missed last night. Stewart did as he liked. McKenna I would bring in for some pace and X factor. Do we bring big O back and give Fort a rest. I thought Darcy looked tired in ruck last night - he has been good for us this year.

And finally I have said it several times this year and it brings me no joy but Charlie is very lucky to be in the side. After kicking first goal he had one more touch for match. Trying to play for free kicks too much and umps give him nothing anyway. Really worried what lies ahead for Cameron.

Pretty good summary.

Probably already been said, but Hippy won’t be back this season. Partial ACL tear.
Lachie doing his calf may not ge a bad thing for next week. I would never wish him out, but he looked about 60% all night (as you said). Forcing match committee hand to put him out, we go with the future midfield.

I’m pretty circumspect 12 hours on. 3 weeks ago before the Hawthorn game I was going to be satisfied with the season if we made finals. I’m still happy - it’s been a pretty good Premiership defence considering our challenges this season.

I’m backing us in to bounce back next week, but if we get rolled so be it.
The only concern if we win next week is facing the bloody Pies at the G in the prelim!

 

[braddsey]

Clearly beaten by a faster team. Speed did not allow us to waltz through the midfield and we fumbled through. Our ruck competed but were non dominant. Missed Payne his size and athleticism is invaluable in the back half. Forwards went missing and never on top to ask questions. Thank you Rayner for the break from the Geelong dominance.Coaches will make changes and we go again.

Honestly amongst all the vitriol over the Rayner free, we absolutely needed a circuit breaker. If Rayner grabbed it with a bit of gamesmanship so be it. He didn’t pay himself the free, he just read the moment better than his opponent. Apparently the umpire had warned them so he played for it… and then Guthrie fell for it too.
It’s 100% on the umpire for inserting himself into the game.

 

[martinson]

If Eric has actually played all year with the partial tear, why wouldn’t they consider letting him play a finals game if his calf is okay? Still our best option on one leg. Or is it a medical overrule I wonder

He's cooked on both issues.

Don't ask him to completely wreck himself.

 

[braddsey]

Couldn’t agree more with the midfield mix
Levi just not there in terms of defence or decision making
Even on the wing
Bruce or marshal has to come in for that spot
I would bring both in tbh
We missed Bruce’s penetration
It’s a shame Rayner didn’t get that snap from the pocket, beat two players with agility and strength just to get the shot
In my mind would have been goal of the year.
The forward line is a problem without hippy
I would say Bruce would have been handy in there
Also McKenna would be interesting
So I think we go in the same next week we deserve to get flogged , Fages has to be brave.
I’m not content with our mix at all.
too many times we look for the one two handballs in our team , reserve grade stuff.
sorry Levi has to work on his game in the seconds . His style atm is just not working in the middle or wing.
Not great work from Fages if I’m being honest.

Levi won’t play in the 2’s. He will have his first actual pre-season after this campaign ends. Plenty of time to watch tape and work on his game. He’s played 24 games as a first year player, coming off shoulder surgery. He’s had an amazing season.

 

[braddsey]

We lost. It happens. I was at the game, along with the regular Victorian fans and those who travelled from interstate and it was a tough night. Geelong supporters are insufferable and that rubbed salt into the wound.

BUT I’M NOT READY TO GIVE UP ON THESE LIONS

I thought Chris Fagan’s press conference after the game was FANTASTIC. He was honest, gracious about Geelong and most important of all, calm. Geelong were HOT last night and we were off our game. It happens and Fagan knows that. No need to panic. He was obviously disappointed, but he dug in and dug deep and exuded a positive focus about what we learned and what we can address for next week.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started watching the press conference, but I liked what I saw.

Looking forward to booking my tickets for the coming Preliminary Final against Collingwood in a couple of weeks.

Love the positivity 3KZ is Football. I’ll be in the prelim ticket queue beside you!

 

[Elixuh]

It’d be good if Neale can be fit and ready for preseason and have a full preseason rather than going further down the injury rabbit hole.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Sam Walker (NRL)

Partial tear returned in 4 weeks.

Fast forward 12months and he did a complete tear same knee.

40% chance of a full tear is what "NRL PHYSIO" stated

 

[Squizz89]

It’d be good if Neale can be fit and ready for preseason and have a full preseason rather than going further down the injury rabbit hole.

Yeah, you do hope these soft tissue injuries aren’t the beginning of the end for him, although at his age it very well may be. He’s been very durable over his career, at some point given how many extra games we (& he) has played over the last 5-6 years it may end up catching up with him at the back end.

 

[braddsey]

It was a rough night to watch, but the potting of our forward line is not the problem. Our midfield got destroyed last night, we had so many chances to move the ball but just weren't clean, Geelong hack kicked it forward and Dempsey just cheated forward all night and got the reward for it.

It was a concern when Neale was fumbling, Berry lost a marking contest to Dempsey, Bailey back to trying to break every tackle, Ashcroft kicking scrubber kicks that missed target inside 50 by 10m. Just wasn't our night.

Credit too Geelong, they brought the pressure. What was most concerning was we had clearly given up on the 4th, only a few goals off (somehow) and all the momentum but just didn't have any excitement at all. Fages will have a tough job getting their confidence back for next week.

We were sitting on the fence right on the wing (could smell the deep heat whenever a Geelong player got a massage).
Got a perfect view of the ball exiting out of the centre in Geelong advantage time and time again.

Also got a close up view if Dunks executing a couple of awesome spoils.

 

[Elixuh]

Yeah, you do hope these soft tissue injuries aren’t the beginning of the end for him, although at his age it very well may be. He’s been very durable over his career, at some point given how many extra games we (& he) has played over the last 5-6 years it may end up catching up with him at the back end.

I think we will need to start managing a couple of our guys through the season going forward with Neale being one. Hopefully our draw next year is a bit kinder. Making top 4 is kind of irrelevant if you hit finals with injuries to ~8 best 23 players.

 

[Pride of lions]

I love Charlie but he is a massive worry. He didn’t seem to want physical contact last night and couldn’t even lay a tackle. And 3 years left on his contract!

 

[M Malice]

Just got home form our quick trip to Melbourne.

What a sad game, Cats way too good, too clean, too much pressure, the scoreboard flattered us in the end, we were fumbly all night, looked lost on occasions and sore/tired.

I wont be watching the replay but Harris, Jaspa, Dunks, Will all looked good live at the ground.

It wouldn't have made any difference on the night but we really miss Hipwood's run up and down the ground getting to contests.

 

[pod17]

When we played them in the Prelim last year we had momentum and belief and Daniher - Hipwood - Payne and Answerth. Tonight we had replacing them Day - Gallop - Gardiner ( who was solid). Add to last year we had a very inform Ah Chee who is currently not half the player he was 12 months ago.

Just too many players out or banged up. I would suggest Lachie is done for the year. Watching him live last night you could tell he wasn't even close to being 100% - more like 60%. Started on bench and played forward at one stage before getting injured. Went to ground a lot more than normal - which is often an indication of a player struggling with injury and strength.

Credit to Cats who were up for it and out worked us all over the ground. Really tore us apart on the spread from turnovers. Poor Froggy had his worst game in a long time. Cameron just dominated first qtr. But we kept him quiet after that.

Rayner goal was crazy. Everyone at the ground had no idea what happened and seeing replay after the game it was soft. The second free kick however has been paid all year and was stupid by Cats player.

You knew after HT they would get every 50/50 call and for most of the second half they did. But they were far too good for us and I think they deserve to be Premiership faves.

We need to get back home and reload. Hippy probably not ready to come back yet, but he was missed last night. Stewart did as he liked. McKenna I would bring in for some pace and X factor. Do we bring big O back and give Fort a rest. I thought Darcy looked tired in ruck last night - he has been good for us this year.

And finally I have said it several times this year and it brings me no joy but Charlie is very lucky to be in the side. After kicking first goal he had one more touch for match. Trying to play for free kicks too much and umps give him nothing anyway. Really worried what lies ahead for Cameron.

Fantastic summary.

Gallop, L Ashcroft and Day all had nights they’d want to forget in their first finals.

I think we will need to start managing a couple of our guys through the season going forward with Neale being one. Hopefully our draw next year is a bit kinder. Making top 4 is kind of irrelevant if you hit finals with injuries to ~8 best 23 players.

Absolutely. We’ve actually done a remarkable job to finish top 4, with the injuries and our draw. Any side would have struggled to cover our injuries this year. Even the fact guys like Berry, Kai, Starce etc have missed chunks has taken away from our cohesion I feel.

Well documented but the Cats and Pies missed altogether after their flags, we have been up for a long time.

The quality of Coleman, Answerth, Payne, Linc, Hipwood (if he gets back), the injection of Allen and maybe Draper and the benefit of doing a full pre season will hold us in good stead for 2026.