- Dec 2, 2013
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Pardon my writing skills for this thread, but I thought it was time for a thread to be made to analyse and create a bit of in-depth discussion regarding our woeful start to this year as well as the last few years and the likely hood of it turning around. If it's any consolation at least this time I'll be able to get the font size right. (referring to the thread Round 1 2015 full strength team)
It's a question that has been running through my mind and likely many others for the last six weeks of football... Will we improve on our woeful start to the year? Or is this going to be our form line for the rest of the season? I figure the best way to predict the future is for us to go back in time. You might even say we're going back to the future.. But there's a good chance you won't.
In 2012, we had a solid start to the year, easily disposing of Melbourne by 41 points. The next week we played the Blues at the Gabba and were embarassed by 91. Up until round ten our only wins were against the demons and the teenage dirt-bags of GWS and GCS. So we were 3 and 7 and only with a a respectable percentage thanks to the 92 and 65 points wins against the young expansion teams. If this was a year where those sides are were as competitive as they are now then we should have been 1 and 9 with an incredibly low percentage. By the time the round 10 game against the top of the ladder eagles came around we really hadn't show anything and there was nothing to suggest that we would beat them. But as history shows, we did. From that point on-wards, we won 6 of our last 12, including another standout win against a top of the table side. (The Crows)
In 2013, we were the only undefeated side of the pre-season, creating more hype and hope than had been seen since 2010 after winning our first four off the back of signing of Fev. Our first game of the year was against a Western Bulldogs team expected to struggle, but the performance of both teams left a lot of supporters and onlookers scratching their heads as the Lions lost by 68 points. The Bulldogs were sharper and tougher, while the Lions looked stunned and a different team to whom had just won the pre-season competition quite convincingly. The Lions were expected to recover, but once again only found scratchy wins against lowly Melbourne and a still developing GC Suns outfit. Then comes Round 8 against a top of the table Essendon team not looking like slowing down. For the second year in a row, we turned up with more competitive vigor and effort than seen in all the previous rounds we'd played for the year combined. From that game we lost a few players, Justin Clarke was suspended as was Merrett. The next week we got touched up by Carlton in the first quarter and were absolutely dominated by Jarred Waite (oh god) but turned it on in the second quarter kicking 7 goals and pinching the lead. We couldn't keep that effort up for the rest of the game but it was a good sign that things might have been clicking enough to have an upward trajectory towards the second half of the year. In round 13, we once again found ourselves beating a top of the table team Geelong in a second half performance that had to be seen to be believed. We went on to win 7 of our last 11 and nearly pulled off another shock win against Geelong. (Poor cats fans would've been having heart palpitations from us)
In 2014, after a ridiculously eventful trade-period where we lost 5 of our young and developing players we looked set for a downward spiral. Which is exactly what we got. After a few heat warming performances against Hawthorn and Geelong we were quickly shown where we were at by Gold Coast 53, Port Adelaide 113 and Richmond by 43. I included Richmond because of how poorly we would've had to have been playing to lose by 7 goals to a side who were at one stage 3-10. While inexperience was often pointed out as the reason for this we once again saw a side just as young play near unrecognisably good football in the second half of the year. We didn't give a yelp in the first half. While Stef Martin has been suggested as a catalyst for this, the form of Hanley, Rockliff and Zorko exploded. Green got going after a slow start and as a collective group we started to gel. We beat North Melbourne, we pushed Richmond and gave Collingwood and Gold Coast an almighty touch up. Sure there were a few outliers, such as getting drowned by 80 points by freo in a monsoon and the 100 point belting by Adelaide. But you could see the game plan, players taking the risk to play on and the confidence rising within eachother.
We're now in 2015 and find ourselves in what I think is almost an identical situation to the last three years. I know most of you would be aware of the results and our form line and might have just lost a few minutes of your lives that you'll never get back thanks to what I've just rambled on about, but I think these results should give us a huge amount of confidence that what we're dishing up now is not what we will be dishing up for the rest of the year. It doesn't feel like we're even close to turning a corner, but neither did it last year when we copped a hiding from North last year just to turn around and beat a Carlton side coming into form and then go on to beat North only 5 weeks later.
It's a question that has been running through my mind and likely many others for the last six weeks of football... Will we improve on our woeful start to the year? Or is this going to be our form line for the rest of the season? I figure the best way to predict the future is for us to go back in time. You might even say we're going back to the future.. But there's a good chance you won't.
In 2012, we had a solid start to the year, easily disposing of Melbourne by 41 points. The next week we played the Blues at the Gabba and were embarassed by 91. Up until round ten our only wins were against the demons and the teenage dirt-bags of GWS and GCS. So we were 3 and 7 and only with a a respectable percentage thanks to the 92 and 65 points wins against the young expansion teams. If this was a year where those sides are were as competitive as they are now then we should have been 1 and 9 with an incredibly low percentage. By the time the round 10 game against the top of the ladder eagles came around we really hadn't show anything and there was nothing to suggest that we would beat them. But as history shows, we did. From that point on-wards, we won 6 of our last 12, including another standout win against a top of the table side. (The Crows)
In 2013, we were the only undefeated side of the pre-season, creating more hype and hope than had been seen since 2010 after winning our first four off the back of signing of Fev. Our first game of the year was against a Western Bulldogs team expected to struggle, but the performance of both teams left a lot of supporters and onlookers scratching their heads as the Lions lost by 68 points. The Bulldogs were sharper and tougher, while the Lions looked stunned and a different team to whom had just won the pre-season competition quite convincingly. The Lions were expected to recover, but once again only found scratchy wins against lowly Melbourne and a still developing GC Suns outfit. Then comes Round 8 against a top of the table Essendon team not looking like slowing down. For the second year in a row, we turned up with more competitive vigor and effort than seen in all the previous rounds we'd played for the year combined. From that game we lost a few players, Justin Clarke was suspended as was Merrett. The next week we got touched up by Carlton in the first quarter and were absolutely dominated by Jarred Waite (oh god) but turned it on in the second quarter kicking 7 goals and pinching the lead. We couldn't keep that effort up for the rest of the game but it was a good sign that things might have been clicking enough to have an upward trajectory towards the second half of the year. In round 13, we once again found ourselves beating a top of the table team Geelong in a second half performance that had to be seen to be believed. We went on to win 7 of our last 11 and nearly pulled off another shock win against Geelong. (Poor cats fans would've been having heart palpitations from us)
In 2014, after a ridiculously eventful trade-period where we lost 5 of our young and developing players we looked set for a downward spiral. Which is exactly what we got. After a few heat warming performances against Hawthorn and Geelong we were quickly shown where we were at by Gold Coast 53, Port Adelaide 113 and Richmond by 43. I included Richmond because of how poorly we would've had to have been playing to lose by 7 goals to a side who were at one stage 3-10. While inexperience was often pointed out as the reason for this we once again saw a side just as young play near unrecognisably good football in the second half of the year. We didn't give a yelp in the first half. While Stef Martin has been suggested as a catalyst for this, the form of Hanley, Rockliff and Zorko exploded. Green got going after a slow start and as a collective group we started to gel. We beat North Melbourne, we pushed Richmond and gave Collingwood and Gold Coast an almighty touch up. Sure there were a few outliers, such as getting drowned by 80 points by freo in a monsoon and the 100 point belting by Adelaide. But you could see the game plan, players taking the risk to play on and the confidence rising within eachother.
We're now in 2015 and find ourselves in what I think is almost an identical situation to the last three years. I know most of you would be aware of the results and our form line and might have just lost a few minutes of your lives that you'll never get back thanks to what I've just rambled on about, but I think these results should give us a huge amount of confidence that what we're dishing up now is not what we will be dishing up for the rest of the year. It doesn't feel like we're even close to turning a corner, but neither did it last year when we copped a hiding from North last year just to turn around and beat a Carlton side coming into form and then go on to beat North only 5 weeks later.
