Review Grand Final, 2023 - Collingwood vs. Brisbane Lions

[killerspud]

Messed up by not playing Gunston - you can't buy triple premiership poise in clutch moments - well you actually did and didn't play him?!?

Kiddy Coleman is a champ, second best on ground.

 

[M Malice]

Surely you ventured out of the CBD at some point? Lots to do all over the city

We just stuck around the city, not much spare time, landed 8.30am Friday morning, went to open training at the G then the Parade and footy precinct, lunch, went back to motel for a rest out to dinner... BTW San Telmo does the best carnivore I have ever eaten. Grand Final day went for a walk, brunch, longest kick(go Richy) and then to the ground, flew out 9.50pm last night.

 

[Lion_LegacyXL]

Melbourne CBD area reminded me of a third world country to be honest. Was very surprised.

Loads of homeless people in the CBD, it's sad to see. I've never seen that many in Brisbane, especially in prominent areas throughout the CBD.

 

[Voss the boss]

Yep as someone from Melbourne, I prefer to be out out a km or two, east Melbourne, Richmond, hawthorn, Fitzroy, Carlton, north Melbourne, south Melbourne, st Kilda, Collingwood, Albert park a much nicer feel to it.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

Have got a sinking feeling we might have to go backwards to go forwards.

I think we have had a bit of changing of the guard with wilmont and kiddy and Ashcroft
Another preseason should see us more confident down back
Obviously will comes back when ready.
Also I almost left out a gem in Fletcher
Could be a few more changes but hopefully not

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Fagan said in presser that Starc was moved onto Bobby Hill in 2nd half.

I think he kicked 3 1st half and 1 2nd half?

Who was on him 1st half?

Wilmot by watching parts of the 1st qtr.

 

[Cubs2Lions]

No one?

That’s not nice to say about Jack Gunston

 

[FromTheBoundaryLine]

Belated congrats to the Lions for an outstanding GF. Should be very proud of your boys. Good luck for the future.

 

[FFB1]

Was home by 7.30 last night, 8 hours earlier than I hoped to be. Pies were the better team so the result was probably the right one, but it still hurts.

 

[Saintsone]

Berry almost single handedly won us the final vs Melbourne last year with one of the great individual performances of all time but unfortunately has been fairly disappointing this season.

Where did he play that game, in the middle. Fagan now has him running up and down the wing protecting space. He needs to play as an inside mid

 

[dlanod]

Where did he play that game, in the middle. Fagan now has him running up and down the wing protecting space. He needs to play as an inside mid

He's pigeon holed at the moment because we lack those true runners. I'm actually hoping that if we do get Coffield we can move a half back to the wing and Berry into the middle - if his shoulders don't hold up they don't hold up, but I feel it's a necessary upgrade to two positions.

 

[Macca225]

Where did he play that game, in the middle. Fagan now has him running up and down the wing protecting space. He needs to play as an inside mid

Pretty sure he has shoulder issues that prevent him from playing full time mid

 

[Bucking Beads]

If I’ve learned anything from 2023 is our coaches and Rayner himself need to find a way for him to be touching the ball 20 times a game. His career is being wasted at the moment.

 

[Tassie4ever]

If I’ve learned anything from 2023 is our coaches and Rayner himself need to find a way for him to be touching the ball 20 times a game. His career is being wasted at the moment.

Simples- get much, much fitter.

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

 

[Squizz89]

I reckon today hurts even more in a different way to what it did after the game yesterday.

Reality sinks in today that it’s 6 months until the new season even starts, which takes us back to the start line with everyone else and then 12 months until finals even roll around, with no guarantees we even make them again.

Would hate being a player today. Sucks enough as supporters.

 

[matwt73]

Really disappointed about an opportunity missed. But overall really proud. We had a few guys who performed poorly, and a few more who were below their best but only lost by 4.

Most Importantly though I have long doubted the mental side of this team. They are not a team I have always 'trusted' to keep going when things went sideways. They flattered to decieve. Now I do trust them. Not just from yesterday but over the whole finals series.

There were multiple times yesterday when they could have packed up and thought they'd done enough, they didn't. Daniher had one round the corner kick smothered and missed a goal minutes later, but still came back to put us in with a shout. Charlie put aside early frustration to score three pivotal goals. Clugga who has had a major knock on his goal kicking got two including a set shot I would not have put money on 6 weeks ago. Starcevich was given a bath by hill most of the afternoon but still backed himself to take the mark and held it on the last one on one between them. That is a mental toughness I doubted they had.

And while I have seen some comments complaining about Fages match day coaching, about his inability or unwillingness to respond effectively, I would say there is another side to that coin too. If Fages has coached these players and instilled in them the skills and mentality to perform. Then him trusting his preparation and his plan and his players to deliver on it is fine for me.

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

No one?

Seriously though, one of his marks inside 50 (which he converted), there were four Collingwood players forward and only three Lions and no-one within I'd say 25 metres of Hill. Their forward half and midfield turnovers killed us.

 

[dlanod]

Seriously though, one of his marks inside 50 (which he converted), there were four Collingwood players forward and only three Lions and no-one within I'd say 25 metres of Hill. Their forward half and midfield turnovers killed us.

From memory he kicked two on Lester (including the one where he was on no one, he'd burnt Lester big time back into the 50), one on Starc, one on Coleman.

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

He didn't just fluff the first bounce, he murdered it

 

[Toffee Lion]

I reckon today hurts even more in a different way to what it did after the game yesterday.

Reality sinks in today that it’s 6 months until the new season even starts, which takes us back to the start line with everyone else and then 12 months until finals even roll around, with no guarantees we even make them again.

Would hate being a player today. Sucks enough as supporters.

It's okay for it to hurt, it's still so raw and with time the positives will come to the forefront. Cannot afford for the players to be too hung up with the loss though. Take the learnings and experience, improve and rebound into next year.

It'll feel even nicer when Number 8, Will Ashcroft, is called to collect his medal next year.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

While disappointed, I've reconciled the result. Only because I'd accepted it as a possible outcome. I thought if we played our best it would be enough. We didn't and nearly took it.

The reality is the GF is one game and anything can happen. There's always going to be a range of possible outcomes.

 

[Tom14]

I honestly was expected to get abused and was pleasantly surprised.

A pies fan told me that they wanted to strangle me with my lions scarf. Granted, she was about 45-50 and not very threatening and we had a laugh about it.

Had a couple of younger blokes behind me who spent a lot of time complaining about umpires and calling Zorko all sorts of names. I considered engaging in a dialogue with them about who is the worst person out on the field but thought better of it.

Pies fan base is so large it is going to contain more d1ckheads than others. They just happen to be pretty vocal on social media (and in the traditional media).

 

[Bucking Beads]

The scary thing is how this shapes our boys moving forward. They could be mentally beaten and start the season next year very slowly. Or they could come out firing and burn out early. A very challenging off season for the club imo

 

[Tom14]

I'm similarly accepting of the result as others on here have said, and happy with the season. If you think that only a flag season is a good one, you are going to have a lot of excess stress/frustration the vast majority of years.

What does concern me going forward is that while the actual game was super exciting and great for neutrals, both teams would have been pretty weak premiers. Geelong last year were far more impressive, as were the Dees in 2021 and Richmond in 19-20.

That might have been this group's best chance to pinch one with a talented but flawed list, and there's every chance that some other team takes a leap in the next few and becomes a genuine powerhouse.

So while I'm not as devastated as I thought I would be with the loss, I'm not super positive we'll be in a position to get back to the grand final again. No need to go mental and rebuild etc, but there's a good chance we'll look back at this as the high water mark for this group.

We've gone 1-3 in finals decided by less than a goal in the last 5 years which is unlucky but nothing you can do about it now.

 

[Gadzorks]

A group of people behind us were at their first game of Afl.

Asked insightful questions like what happens when it is kicked out of the white line.

And complained when we, and everyone in front of us, stood up and cheered.