Fatcat08
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OK....Ahem.....Is this mike on? Which button, the red one, what red one? Oh the one on the side. Ok got it, now where my glasses?
Sorry its been a while. I'm not entirely sure how this will end up but here goes nothing.
The tale of the Keaysmaster and the return of the hippy hippy shake!
I honeslty don't know what to make of the Crows this season. But then again that goes for a lot of teams, and perhaps most of the season as well. I came into the year fully expecting them to be fighting the kangas for the wooden spoon. But credit to them, they've been plucky and at least giving it a red hot crack. It also helps they've had a number of teams fighting them for the privilige.
But while they've been beating expectations, they still haven't been good. If you'd said at the end of last year they would be 3-5 with wins over the tigers, power and bulldogs so far you would probably have them finishing just below mid table at the end of the year. But appearances can be deceiving and the way their winning or better known now as their "Profile" (another s**t term Mike Whiting can add to his hate list), probably has them finishing ahead of the kangas and eagles, but not much better than that.
They still rank in the bottom 3rd in almost every meaningful metric with very few areas they can pin their flag to as a real area of strength. They do do a pretty good job of is having a real crack and sustaining effort, which funnily enough will take you a long way (i got that one from my friend titus). Unfortunately for them, the other areas they do have strengths in don't really match up well against the lions. 3rd and 4th least allowed opponent marks and kicks are great, but not against a team known for having low posessions counts and prefering to take territory. They've been ok at clearances but come up against the number one clearance side in the comp. Its not great reading
What does all this add up to. Well realistically it should be a strong and comfortable with for the lions. Now in past years here is where i've put the "but" in, "but" i just don't see it coming. Don't get me wrong i'm not dismissing the crows, but the reality of where both teams are at mean that anything less than a comfortable win would be on the outer edge of probable outcomes, not impossible but significantly less likely.
As the title suggests it would be remiss of me not to mention one of their main drivers (and probably symbolic of their general play this season) former lion Ben Keays. I'm not sure if you'd find too many lions fans who aren't absolutely wrapt for Keaysey. Having met him a few times, there aren't too many footy players i'd have more time for than Ben Keays. And while its a shame he had to go elsewhere to find his best football, sometimes in footy there's just guys in front of you who are just a little bit better and you just can't get past. The fact that he got the chance and has grabbed it with both hands is one of those great news stories you get from sport. Onya Keaysey
So what of the lions. Well I genuinely have a confidence in our ability to play the football we need to to just win games like this. In years past there was always the slight nagging thought before this type of game. But even with our key forward issues I just back our ability to do it better for longer and eventually wear teams down.
Speaking of key forwards, i know there's been some debate, but for mine, if hes good to go, hippy comes back into the team straight away this week. Sure there's the argument of easing him in via the vfl, but if i've got the choice of playing him on a brisbane suburban afl ground after a week of constant rain v the adelaide oval with a possible small shower i know what i'm picking.
Overall Lions to win by 52 and hippy to need a lengthy medical consult at Ashley and Martin after kicking a goal in his first game back
Sorry its been a while. I'm not entirely sure how this will end up but here goes nothing.
The tale of the Keaysmaster and the return of the hippy hippy shake!
I honeslty don't know what to make of the Crows this season. But then again that goes for a lot of teams, and perhaps most of the season as well. I came into the year fully expecting them to be fighting the kangas for the wooden spoon. But credit to them, they've been plucky and at least giving it a red hot crack. It also helps they've had a number of teams fighting them for the privilige.
But while they've been beating expectations, they still haven't been good. If you'd said at the end of last year they would be 3-5 with wins over the tigers, power and bulldogs so far you would probably have them finishing just below mid table at the end of the year. But appearances can be deceiving and the way their winning or better known now as their "Profile" (another s**t term Mike Whiting can add to his hate list), probably has them finishing ahead of the kangas and eagles, but not much better than that.
They still rank in the bottom 3rd in almost every meaningful metric with very few areas they can pin their flag to as a real area of strength. They do do a pretty good job of is having a real crack and sustaining effort, which funnily enough will take you a long way (i got that one from my friend titus). Unfortunately for them, the other areas they do have strengths in don't really match up well against the lions. 3rd and 4th least allowed opponent marks and kicks are great, but not against a team known for having low posessions counts and prefering to take territory. They've been ok at clearances but come up against the number one clearance side in the comp. Its not great reading
What does all this add up to. Well realistically it should be a strong and comfortable with for the lions. Now in past years here is where i've put the "but" in, "but" i just don't see it coming. Don't get me wrong i'm not dismissing the crows, but the reality of where both teams are at mean that anything less than a comfortable win would be on the outer edge of probable outcomes, not impossible but significantly less likely.
As the title suggests it would be remiss of me not to mention one of their main drivers (and probably symbolic of their general play this season) former lion Ben Keays. I'm not sure if you'd find too many lions fans who aren't absolutely wrapt for Keaysey. Having met him a few times, there aren't too many footy players i'd have more time for than Ben Keays. And while its a shame he had to go elsewhere to find his best football, sometimes in footy there's just guys in front of you who are just a little bit better and you just can't get past. The fact that he got the chance and has grabbed it with both hands is one of those great news stories you get from sport. Onya Keaysey
So what of the lions. Well I genuinely have a confidence in our ability to play the football we need to to just win games like this. In years past there was always the slight nagging thought before this type of game. But even with our key forward issues I just back our ability to do it better for longer and eventually wear teams down.
Speaking of key forwards, i know there's been some debate, but for mine, if hes good to go, hippy comes back into the team straight away this week. Sure there's the argument of easing him in via the vfl, but if i've got the choice of playing him on a brisbane suburban afl ground after a week of constant rain v the adelaide oval with a possible small shower i know what i'm picking.
Overall Lions to win by 52 and hippy to need a lengthy medical consult at Ashley and Martin after kicking a goal in his first game back
