Section 5
Norm Smith Medallist
- Nov 26, 2018
- 6,001
- 9,157
- AFL Club
- Brisbane Lions
Lions v Port @ Adelaide Oval Saturday March 18th @ 3.35 PM Brisbane Time
With only 9 days to go to our round 1 clash the season is finally upon us.
We have no exposed premiership form for 2023 to refer to so here we go.
Last 5 Meetings
Lions 5 wins to Port 0 - Note 4 games were at The Gabba
Last encounter was Round 1 at The Gabba, Lions 11-14-80 to Port 10-9-69.
Betting Odds @ 9/3/23
Tab - Lions $1.80 Port $ 2.00
Ladbrokes Lions $1.98 Port $1.85
Round 1 Records Home Team and Away Team
Ports round 1 record for a home ground game - Won 5 of 5 since & including year 2009
Lions round 1 record away since we became relevant in 2019 - Lost 1 from 1 (2020 Hawks)
Home @ Away wins in 2022
Lions 15 wins, position 6th but made the PF
Port 10 wins, position 11th.
A reminder Port finished the H&A season 1st in 2020, 2nd in 2021 before dropping to 11th last year after a 0-5 start.
List changes for 2023
Lions in’s - Dunkley, Gunston, Ashcroft, McKenna, Fletcher, McDowell-White, Brain, Joyce
Lions out - McStay, M. Robinson, E Smith, Uosis, T. Berry, Cox, Mcfadyen,
Port in’s - Horne-Francis, Junior Rioli, Barkla, K Marshall, McCallum, Evans, Scully
Port out - Amon, M Frederick, Gray, Mayes, Motlop, Skinner, T Schofield
General Comment
A trip to the Port board would have us thinking we are certainties to win this game. Hopefully they are correct.
Round 1 is a pressure game for all teams, so winning away won’t be an easy task for the Lions.
On paper the Lions have a better team than in 2022. Not sure we can say the same about Port.
Our new look midfield should get the better of Ports.
Lions forwards have more scoring potential than Port.
Being scored against has been a problem for the Lions over recent years.
Most believe it was our overall defense rather than just our 7 defense players. But they do need to take the blame also.
We shall find out soon enough with the addition of Dunkley and Ashcroft hopefully applying more up field pressure, as well as getting back in defense.
We did not lose a best 22 midfielder in the offseason so that will help with midfield depth through 2023.
The Lions other issue has been the wing with only Berry last year up to the task with 23 games mostly wing.
The positive is we got some games into some younger guys.
Who the Lions settle on playing wing & wing relief will be interesting.
Lions appear to have better overall quality players than Port, but they will need to produce the goods as a team in round 1 and throughout 2023.
I see one of the keys to winning the game is Big O who most likely will be up against Lycett.
Big O did a lot of extra running on his own early in preseason training. Not rehab related as far as i could tell.
Add that to the extra running all the midfield did preseason he should be at his fittest since joining the Lions. He also looks a bigger unit to me.
However, Big O’s TOG yearly average has only exceeded 80% once in his 5 years at the Lions.
His best being 82.6% in 2021. Hopefully he can get to 84% this year.
Should Rayner be selected in defense Big O needs to get back to help out, and not worry too much about going forward.
In my team below, I much prefer our bottom 4 players McKenna, Wilmot, Robertson and whoever is named TS ability compared to whoever Port will name.
As they say you are only as good as your weakest links.
Lions have 3 tough matches Demons, Dogs & Pies after round one, so a win will take a bit of pressure off everyone.
If we keep in touch early, I see us slowly getting the upper hand with a 20+point win.
The Lions should be able to select a good side for round 1 baring any training mishaps.
My team for round 1, assuming Gardiner, Ah Chee are not available, also Zorko (Whiting report). Hopefully Berry is okay.
FB: Starcevich - Andrews - Rayner
HB: Rich - Payne - Coleman
C: Wilmot - McCluggage (m/w) - Berry
Foll: McInerney - Neale - Dunkley (m/f)
HF: Bailey (f/m) - Hipwood - Daniher (r)
FF: McCarthy - Gunston - Cameron
IC: Ashcroft (m/w) - Lyons (m) - Dev Robertson (w/m) - McKenna (d)
TS: Fullarton
With only 9 days to go to our round 1 clash the season is finally upon us.
We have no exposed premiership form for 2023 to refer to so here we go.
Last 5 Meetings
Lions 5 wins to Port 0 - Note 4 games were at The Gabba
Last encounter was Round 1 at The Gabba, Lions 11-14-80 to Port 10-9-69.
Betting Odds @ 9/3/23
Tab - Lions $1.80 Port $ 2.00
Ladbrokes Lions $1.98 Port $1.85
Round 1 Records Home Team and Away Team
Ports round 1 record for a home ground game - Won 5 of 5 since & including year 2009
Lions round 1 record away since we became relevant in 2019 - Lost 1 from 1 (2020 Hawks)
Home @ Away wins in 2022
Lions 15 wins, position 6th but made the PF
Port 10 wins, position 11th.
A reminder Port finished the H&A season 1st in 2020, 2nd in 2021 before dropping to 11th last year after a 0-5 start.
List changes for 2023
Lions in’s - Dunkley, Gunston, Ashcroft, McKenna, Fletcher, McDowell-White, Brain, Joyce
Lions out - McStay, M. Robinson, E Smith, Uosis, T. Berry, Cox, Mcfadyen,
Port in’s - Horne-Francis, Junior Rioli, Barkla, K Marshall, McCallum, Evans, Scully
Port out - Amon, M Frederick, Gray, Mayes, Motlop, Skinner, T Schofield
General Comment
A trip to the Port board would have us thinking we are certainties to win this game. Hopefully they are correct.
Round 1 is a pressure game for all teams, so winning away won’t be an easy task for the Lions.
On paper the Lions have a better team than in 2022. Not sure we can say the same about Port.
Our new look midfield should get the better of Ports.
Lions forwards have more scoring potential than Port.
Being scored against has been a problem for the Lions over recent years.
Most believe it was our overall defense rather than just our 7 defense players. But they do need to take the blame also.
We shall find out soon enough with the addition of Dunkley and Ashcroft hopefully applying more up field pressure, as well as getting back in defense.
We did not lose a best 22 midfielder in the offseason so that will help with midfield depth through 2023.
The Lions other issue has been the wing with only Berry last year up to the task with 23 games mostly wing.
The positive is we got some games into some younger guys.
Who the Lions settle on playing wing & wing relief will be interesting.
Lions appear to have better overall quality players than Port, but they will need to produce the goods as a team in round 1 and throughout 2023.
I see one of the keys to winning the game is Big O who most likely will be up against Lycett.
Big O did a lot of extra running on his own early in preseason training. Not rehab related as far as i could tell.
Add that to the extra running all the midfield did preseason he should be at his fittest since joining the Lions. He also looks a bigger unit to me.
However, Big O’s TOG yearly average has only exceeded 80% once in his 5 years at the Lions.
His best being 82.6% in 2021. Hopefully he can get to 84% this year.
Should Rayner be selected in defense Big O needs to get back to help out, and not worry too much about going forward.
In my team below, I much prefer our bottom 4 players McKenna, Wilmot, Robertson and whoever is named TS ability compared to whoever Port will name.
As they say you are only as good as your weakest links.
Lions have 3 tough matches Demons, Dogs & Pies after round one, so a win will take a bit of pressure off everyone.
If we keep in touch early, I see us slowly getting the upper hand with a 20+point win.
The Lions should be able to select a good side for round 1 baring any training mishaps.
My team for round 1, assuming Gardiner, Ah Chee are not available, also Zorko (Whiting report). Hopefully Berry is okay.
FB: Starcevich - Andrews - Rayner
HB: Rich - Payne - Coleman
C: Wilmot - McCluggage (m/w) - Berry
Foll: McInerney - Neale - Dunkley (m/f)
HF: Bailey (f/m) - Hipwood - Daniher (r)
FF: McCarthy - Gunston - Cameron
IC: Ashcroft (m/w) - Lyons (m) - Dev Robertson (w/m) - McKenna (d)
TS: Fullarton
