Preview Lions 2019 Discussion

[dropbear101]

hmm lions 2019
keep on developing I think 10 wins not quite top eight yet similar to dees in 2017
you have young talent on every line full forward hipwood and Cameron, half Rayner, mid Neale, cluggers, berry backs witherdon, andrews etc
compare that to the winning teams of last few years I actually think once developed that's more A grade talent.
Richmond only had 4 As in cotchin, martin, riewolt, rance but surrounded by a lot of very competent campaigners
you already have a lot of campaigners mitch robinson springs to mind so I think once those player develop into match winners which can happen even within a season which I remember fyfe doing in 2011 and made everyone sit up and go wow Brisbane will improve in a rush.

 

[Berrygood]

A lot to look fwd to in 2019. I dont see a huge jump up the ladder and i see us winning 7-9 games for the year. I see us as still capable of a shocker or 2, more competitive with the top teams and an even chance of beating the mid tier. We came out even in the trade period when it comes to list strength so improvement will come down to the youth stepping up. We will expect improvement from clugg, berry, withers, rayner, bailey n starc, and rightly so. Cox, allison, lyons, hinge, skinner, payne, etc need to push for selection every week and make the best of their chance when they get it. If they can become solid reliable depth it wont be long till they become regular first graders.

My hopes for the year are, we have another good year injury wise, like the last cpl of yrs. Our medical, strength n conditioning staff have been exceptional. I hope adams and mccarthy can stay fit and contribute. I hope by 3 quarters through the season the reliance of hodge on field has minimized. My biggest hope is that young cox gets a run of playing time in the firsts with hodge to learn from. This would be a huge benefit for him and the team long term. I dont care if he has a few clangers, the more this kid plays in the firsts the better he will get.

We now seem to have the talent at the club to take us fwd for many years. This year i see as a consolidation year, get our game plan down pat, get the right pieces in the right place, get a bit more from every player and hello finals 2020.

 

[Tom14]

Interesting article up on afl.com.au about where to next for us: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-10-27/why-the-lions-are-suddenly-relevant-again

THIS is the story of Eric and Lachie, the key men in Brisbane trying to transform promise into productivity in 2019.

Chris Fagan's Lions are suddenly relevant again after a significant period of hibernation, and barely a week separated from a successful NAB AFL Trade Period raid.

Lachie Neale's arrival makes Dayne Beams' departure easier to take – particularly given they snared two first-round picks from Collingwood as part of the latter deal – on top of separately luring Marcus Adams and Lincoln McCarthy.

Don't be fooled by the five-win tally, which on its own suggests there haven't been many gains made in recent years.

Several key performance indicators moved in the right direction in 2018, including two in the graph below, and they were involved in as many games decided by 10 points or fewer as the previous three seasons combined.

The next step is winning those matches, after losing five of the six in that scenario this year.

 

[scott_the_man]

Good comparison between Neale and Beams in that article. Neale clearly the better contested player, wins more clearances and applies more pressure. Beams does a bit more damage with ball in hand.

I like the idea of Neale feeding it out to the likes of McCluggage to do the damage on the outside.

 

[SizeMatters]

I think Neale has a huge potential to be more damaging now that he is out of the Ross Lyon coached team. Has the tools to be a bit like Zorko IMO. Has great agility, pace is great for an inside mid and can kick a goal. Just needs an opportunity to show it more. Fagan ill allow him that opportunity.

 

[CarterS]

Lions just posted on Facebook that we have a Saturday night game vs West coast at home in round 1

 

[Surly Boy]

Herald Sun has it as well. Still Carlton v Richmond first game of 2019.... #sigh

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/...2a9d556c3f5769d57e32b87282e&memtype=anonymous

 

[a mayes ing]

Lions just posted on Facebook that we have a Saturday night game vs West coast at home in round 1

It doesn't feel like a very generous offer for us, up against the premiers first off. Younger sides need confidence up first and it would be hard to see a win against them.

On the flip side we had Saint kilda round 1 last year and we got them before they knew they were s**t

 

[Gadzorks]

F me. Game 1 us v west coast. How is that a good first game?? Yes we have to play them at some time during the season but our you guys don’t need a belting by the reigning premiers first up.

Do the Afl even care if we don’t get members/people showing up to games??? How on earth can we sell playing against west coast to the average qld punter that just wants a good day out.?

 

[Lazza16]

F me. Game 1 us v west coast. How is that a good first game?? Yes we have to play them at some time during the season but our you guys don’t need a belting by the reigning premiers first up.

Do the Afl even care if we don’t get members/people showing up to games??? How on earth can we sell playing against west coast to the average qld punter that just wants a good day out.?

We'll kick their arses.

 

[bungalow_bill]

The players will be pumped up for this one. If they can take it up to the premiers and come within a few goals it'll set them up well for the season.

 

[Lazza16]

The players will be pumped up for this one. If they can take it up to the premiers and come within a few goals it'll set them up well for the season.

And if we win....the other side's will not be happy heading to the Gabba.

 

[winged1]

F me. Game 1 us v west coast. How is that a good first game?? Yes we have to play them at some time during the season but our you guys don’t need a belting by the reigning premiers first up.

Do the Afl even care if we don’t get members/people showing up to games??? How on earth can we sell playing against west coast to the average qld punter that just wants a good day out.?

Remember it is still going to be hot and humid.

 

[Gabbattoir]

Yeah I like this fixture. Round one is when the unusual results happen. It’s when I would want to play the reigning champs and especially at home. Tinkered game plans, teams settling in, first game anxiety ect. Yeah ok we might get blown away but we might just get a sneaky upset in and set us up.

 

[Gadzorks]

Remember it is still going to be hot and humid.

Which definitely helps us if we are match ready and have managed all of the preseason games.

We haven’t started a season with a few wins for a long time and I have this dream two wins in the first month then building instead of the season seeming to start after the bye. In a young group confidence is everything and yes we can put up a good fight but I cannot see us beating this years premiers.

Also pre-season and game one is prime marketing time where we can sell hope and use early season wins to bring swinging sports fans through the gate and buying memberships. Can’t see too many of them saying ‘Lions are a real chance in this game. Might get along to see how they are going to shape up this year.’

 

[chopperduck]

Getting the premiers round 1, get it out of the way early, and should be a decent turn out. Not a bad result for the club. Waiting for the rest of the draw though.

 

[Brett C]

F me. Game 1 us v west coast. How is that a good first game?? Yes we have to play them at some time during the season but our you guys don’t need a belting by the reigning premiers first up.

Do the Afl even care if we don’t get members/people showing up to games??? How on earth can we sell playing against west coast to the average qld punter that just wants a good day out.?

how negative could you be!! If the team can’t get up to play last years premiers then why bother.

Wil be great to that as an opener to see where we stand, will be a big crowd.

Last years home games showed the AFL giving us some decent opposition and attendance was up. Will the style of football we play and improvement across the list that will continue.

 

[Viceregal]

Iirc there was some talk about us getting either some Friday night games or more national FTA games due to the attractiveness of our playing style ... wonder if that will translate into something actual in the fixture...

 

[Berrygood]

Best time to play the premiers is first up i think. A later start to the preseason for the eagles, still no gaff, no la cras, hickey still fitting in to their ruck set up. The grand final hangover may kick in, a bit of early season laziness.

We on the other hand will have a full preseason of what sounds like another high impact, high intensity training period. We must have nearly the full list fit and ready to train. The motivation of knowing its the premiers first up to train harder. There is competition for positions. So we should be fit, hard and hungry to play them at home, infront of a big crowd. They only beat us by 30 odd points on their run home to the finals this year, next year i think we are a chance of pushing the premiers to the wire if not cause an upset.

 

[BangyBangy]

He has in fact featured in our most recent win in a final......and kicked a bomb in the last quarter

Who could ever forget THAT win

They didn't show it in that clip but I remember Vossy & the rest of the guys in the box going apeshit when big guns kicked that last goal. Was a great memory. We haven't had a whole lot of them over the last fifteen years, but the ones we have had have been pretty special. I might watch the miracle on grass highlights tonight now.

 

[BangyBangy]

Best time to play the premiers is first up i think. A later start to the preseason for the eagles, still no gaff, no la cras, hickey still fitting in to their ruck set up. The grand final hangover may kick in, a bit of early season laziness.

We on the other hand will have a full preseason of what sounds like another high impact, high intensity training period. We must have nearly the full list fit and ready to train. The motivation of knowing its the premiers first up to train harder. There is competition for positions. So we should be fit, hard and hungry to play them at home, infront of a big crowd. They only beat us by 30 odd points on their run home to the finals this year, next year i think we are a chance of pushing the premiers to the wire if not cause an upset.

Agree, you couldn't get a better time to play the premiers IMO. I was thinking that the playing list changes that we have might be a bit of a negative in terms of team cohesion, but they have lost their ruck too, so that is a bit of a leveler.

 

[luthor]

I don't mind this idea.

Much better than an away game against a good side.

Be interesting to see what Round 2 brings.

 

[Bjorn Again]

Lions just posted on Facebook that we have a Saturday night game vs West coast at home in round 1

West Coast Feebles again huh? Bring 'em on!

 

[Clarkythelion]

For the non-Queenslanders let me give you the lay of the land. Aussies Rules is the 3rd football code in Brisbane behind Rugby League and Rugby Union. Crowds move easily between which ever team is winning, the Broncos, the Reds or the Lions. Yes we have some rusted on barnacles but Qlder's love to watch winning teams. The Reds are re-building, a bit like the Lions and are not yet holding their crowds but have a season of promos. The Broncos are in a bit of chaos, their coach doesn't know if he will be there or not swapping to South Sydney and possibly taking some of the brightest juniors with the South Sydney coach coming to Brisbane.

Playing last year's Premiers in a 'block buster' at the Gabba is the perfect marketing opportunity for the AFL and the Lions to get a jump on the others, I think we can win jumping them with a premiership hangover or we can go close. If we can get 26,000 or 27,000 to this first Saturday night game of the Season and play well it can really set the club up for a profitable season and swing some supporters back. If we market the younger players now and the excitement they bring we really are looking at building significant momentum.

 

[Gabbattoir]

I like this one first up for all the reasons all ready mentioned but I will be pissed if the follow up game is the Tigers at the G for example. I hope they take it easy on us second round.