Preview PREVIEW Lions Vs Cats Round 3

[BrizzyBandit]

SUNDAY 4:40PM at Skilled Stadium
Lions Vs Cats

8 day break for the lads




The life of a fan can be hard sometimes. The season started and my 2016 expectations were where they should be for a supporter of the youngest team in the competition.... low.

The first round finally arrived and we made the longest trip in footy and took on last years grand finalists at Subiaco. I was already making excuses with friends to reduce the "heart hurt" I knew was coming. I just hoped we showed a glimmer.

We lost.... But we were good!
We kicked 102 points, Schache looked strong and kicked 2. Our recruits Walker and Bell looked immense and Bastinac looked better than Aish ever did in the middle. We saw some vintage Daniel Rich personified by his 55m goal on the run and Christensen played the best game I've seen him play......But most importantly a game style I would have killed for last year.

The "soul saving" expectations I'd so carefully managed for 6 months went rampant. I couldn't wait for our home game against North. I got cocky with my mates and talked trash..... I got brash.... Obnoxious.....I placed lots of beer slab bets for Brisbane to beat North. *sigh*

As I review round 3..... I can tell you I've kicked my "expectations" in the knackers and put them humbly back in their box.

Quite frankly I'm frightened this weekend. We are playing the mighty Cats at their first home game for 2016. They are coming off a shock loss and will be wanting to tear their next opponent apart. Us. The Lions.

I think the Cats are genuine premiership contenders and the Lions..... Are not.

We have two All Australians on our list.
Both are ruled out due to injury.
Geelong have 7. All are playing.

Rich at his best..... Is one of the best in the league.....and a game winner..... But when tagged almost non existent. It's a "no brainer" for opposition coaches. Rich will carry a heavy tag from a Taylor Hunt type player.

Sooooo what are the mini battles we should look for to keep this game interesting....
I'll list them in no set order:

- Josh Walker playing against his old team. It will be intriguing to watch how he performs against the likes of Lonergan and Harry Taylor. A true test for him.

- Likewise how our young gun Schache handles some of AFL's best backmen. Something tells me he'll still take 3 or 4 contested marks.... and continue to build hope. If he could kick 3 or 4 I'll be battling my expectations again.

- Dan Merrett on Tom Hawkins. Can Dan still beat the gorilla's without giving away a bunch of free kicks inside the oppositions forward 50. I hope so... Cause he's our only option. If I were Close I'd be considering a switch to the backline.

- Who will play on Dangerfield? Will we play a hard tag on him? Robinson to him perhaps.

- Which leads me to our midfield. We've heard it's the one area of the ground we have right. With Rocky out and Beams still a week or two away..... How are Bastinac, Rich, Robinson, Lester, Zorko, and Hanley going to handle the likes of Selwood, Duncan, Dangerfield, Caddy, Bartel and Guthrie? Out run Danger?? Better skills that Bartel or Selwood?

- One Lion I'll be watching very closely is Claye Beams. Can he back up his strong outing against North? We desperately need a classy ball user coming off the backline who can occasionally kick long goals pushing forward. He'll be tasked with a huge job on stopping a Motlop, Menzel or resting Bartel type player. Is his defense upto the challenge?

One area of the ground we should do well at is the Ruck. Steph has played the top 2 Ruckman in the last two weeks. Time to shine Steph.... Zach Smith should be a walk in the park compared to Goldstein and NicNat.

It's a short review.... But it's a game with an almost certain outcome. Locked away in the recesses of my heart I hear a voice screaming we're a chance..... But I just don't think we are. Geelong by 45 would be a good outcome.

 

[wattoxi]

Schache to kick 4 then i wouldn't care for the result. Unless we win.

 

[Elixuh]

If we have too many outs this could be one of those "avert your eyes kids don't watch!" matches.

Dangerfield and Selwood together are just deadly. Will be a tough task but as long as we see improvement and an adherence to the game plan, i'll come away fairly happy.

Seeing Schache take some more contested marks will be a bonus.

 

[BRAB]

Good preview mate.

This game has the potential to get really ugly. But it'll be a decent learning experience for our defensive line.

We've actually gone alright in terms of scoring so far this year, averaging 90-odd, with poor kicking in the north game. It'll be interesting how the run and gun goes this week.

Danger+Selwood is dangerous, but if we can counterpunch strong and hit a score of 80 I'd be pretty happy with that.

More then likely to be a 100-40 score line in my opinion, we just won't have the penetration or consistency of disposal to do any decent damage to this Geelong side.

If Stef monsters them and our B graders have really good games then I could see maybe a closer game, say 110-80 sort of thing.

 

[Eons]

Geelong are beatable. They have many stars but they have a lot of a average players too. Don't think it will we a walkover.

 

[Panthera]

SUNDAY 4:40PM at Skilled Stadium
Lions Vs Cats

8 day break for the lads




The life of a fan can be hard sometimes. The season started and my 2016 expectations were where they should be for a supporter of the youngest team in the competition.... low.

The first round finally arrived and we made the longest trip in footy and took on last years grand finalists at Subiaco. I was already making excuses with friends to reduce the "heart hurt" I knew was coming. I just hoped we showed a glimmer.

We lost.... But we were good!
We kicked 102 points, Schache looked strong and kicked 2. Our recruits Walker and Bell looked immense and Bastinac looked better than Aish ever did in the middle. We saw some vintage Daniel Rich personified by his 55m goal on the run.... But most importantly a game style I would have killed for last year.

The "soul saving" expectations I'd so carefully managed for 6 months went rampant. I couldn't wait for our home game against North. I got cocky with my mates and talked trash..... I got brash.... Obnoxious.....I placed lots of beer slab bets for Brisbane to beat North. *sigh*

As I review round 3..... I can tell you I've kicked my "expectations" in the knackers and put them humbly back in their box.

Quite frankly I'm frightened this weekend. We are playing the mighty Cats at their first home game for 2016. They are coming off a shock loss and will be wanting to tear their next opponent apart. Us. The Lions.

I think the Cats are genuine premiership contenders and the Lions..... Are not.

We have two All Australians on our list.
Both are ruled out due to injury.
Geelong have 7. All are playing.

Rich at his best..... Is one of the best in the league.....and a game winner..... But when tagged almost non existent. It's a "no brainer" for opposition coaches. Rich will carry a heavy tag from a Taylor Hunt type player.

Sooooo what are the mini battles we should look for to keep this game interesting....
I'll list them in no set order:

- Josh Walker playing against his old team. It will be intriguing to watch how he performs against the likes of Lonergan and Harry Taylor. A true test for him.

- Likewise how our young gun Schache handles some of AFL's best backmen. Something tells me he'll still take 3 or 4 contested marks.... and continue to build hope. If he could kick 3 or 4 I'll be battling my expectations again.

- Dan Merrett on Tom Hawkins. Can Dan still beat the gorilla's without giving away a bunch of free kicks inside the oppositions forward 50. I hope so... Cause he's our only option. If I were Close I'd be considering a switch to the backline.

- Who will play on Dangerfield? Will we play a hard tag on him? Robinson to him perhaps.

- Which leads me to our midfield. We've heard it's the one area of the ground we have right. With Rocky out and Beams still a week or two away..... How are Bastinac, Rich, Robinson, Lester, Zorko, and Hanley going to handle the likes of Selwood, Duncan, Dangerfield, Caddy, Bartel and Guthrie? Out run Danger?? Better skills that Bartel or Selwood?

- One Lion I'll be watching very closely is Claye Beams. Can he back up his strong outing against North? We desperately need a classy ball user coming off the backline who can occasionally kick long goals pushing forward. He'll be tasked with a huge job on stopping a Motlop, Menzel or resting Bartel type player. Is his defense upto the challenge?

One area of the ground we should do well at is the Ruck. Steph has played the top 2 Ruckman in the last two weeks. Time to shine Steph.... Zach Smith should be a walk in the park compared to Goldstein and NicNat.

It's a short review.... But it's a game with an almost certain outcome. Locked away in the recesses of my heart I hear a voice screaming we're a chance..... But I just don't think we are. Geelong by 45 would be a good outcome.

If Rockliff, Beams and Rich all played - I'd give us a red hot chance. Against GWS, the Cats were mauled in every single midfield category with supposedly a great midfield. I don't see them being a genuine flag contender.

Clearances 23 - 39
Inside 50's 56 - 48
Contested possessions 148 - 126
Tackles 57 - 50
Hit outs 41 - 28

After Danger and Selwood; I feel they drop off quickly in the middle. Motlop and Blicavs probably next, then a host of C-graders in Guthrie, Caddy and Duncan. Zac Smith is not much chop overall, has some amazing bursts...but over a season, OK at best.

They'll beat us, mainly b/c they have the ends of the ground covered and we don't.

A defence that includes Harry Taylor, Lonergan, Henderson and Enright will dominate our young keys and whilst Hawkins, Stanley and Bartel will keep our defenders busy.

Only hope we have is to run and gun at every opportunity with the likes of Hanley, Zorko, Christensen, Green and Taylor and hope to put some early scoreboard pressure on this week.

At least the weather report seems nice; 17 and windy

 

[BrizzyBandit]

If Rockliff, Beams and Rich all played - I'd give us a red hot chance. Against GWS, the Cats were mauled in every single midfield category with supposedly a great midfield. I don't see them being a genuine flag contender.

Clearances 23 - 39
Inside 50's 56 - 48
Contested possessions 148 - 126
Tackles 57 - 50
Hit outs 41 - 28

After Danger and Selwood; I feel they drop off quickly in the middle. Motlop and Blicavs probably next, then a host of C-graders in Guthrie, Caddy and Duncan. Zac Smith is not much chop overall, has some amazing bursts...but over a season, OK at best.

They'll beat us, mainly b/c they have the ends of the ground covered and we don't.

A defence that includes Harry Taylor, Lonergan, Henderson and Enright will dominate our young keys and whilst Hawkins, Stanley and Bartel will keep our defenders busy.

Only hope we have is to run and gun at every opportunity with the likes of Hanley, Zorko, Christensen, Green and Taylor and hope to put some early scoreboard pressure on this week.

At least the weather report seems nice; 17 and windy

I wouldn't say Caddie or Gutherie or Duncan are C graders... Far from it. They were poor against GWS.... But they'll be savage against us for it. Hope I'm wrong

 

[Panthera]

I wouldn't say Caddie or Gutherie or Duncan are C graders... Far from it. They were poor against GWS.... But they'll be savage against us for it. Hope I'm wrong

Well they are nowhere near A-Graders so if we had the likes of Robinson, Bastinac and Zorko go up against them I'd back our boys in.

The main difference is that they have Dangerfield and Selwood as their 1-2 punch and our best 1-2 punch is working on their rehab

 

[Matt_BL]

Yeah... Caddy, Duncan and Guthrie are all very good players, but with Dangerfield and Selwood now they probably aren't going to dominate the headlines for the teams performance.

We're probably paying the price a bit with the lack of match preparation through all these soft tissue injuries, unfortunately no one could control the weather in Mackay but the AFL could have done far better with alternative arrangements.

We've been beaten by around 30 in contested possession the last 2 weeks which is a smashing and probably a regression in that area from last year. Our clearences though are around #4-#8 in the league with centre and stoppages, so it'd indicate it's around the ground in general play and in the air we're getting beaten badly. Cats haven't faired much better last week so we'd aim to break even in the contest it could give us some more opportunities going forward.

 

[acuguy]

I am going to Skilled stadium to watch this one with my Geelong mad father. Looking forward to getting to Melbourne on Saturday to watch the Crows vs Tiggies at Etihad and then getting on the supporters bus on Sunday and heading down the highway to Geelong.

I just want to see us be very competitive and kick some sausage rolls!!!

 

[dlanod]

I want to see a hard tag on Danger at all times!

...mainly for the benefit of my fantasy team.

 

[Ceebee]

A great preview.
Going to be a pretty tough day for our boys.
Same old story. sadly.

 

[MSB ROYS]

I am pessimistic but hope to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Wounded Lion]

All I hope is that we don't make their average players look great.

Happy for Selwood, Dangerfield & Motlop to have a field day but if Darcy Lang has 30+ touches I'll be pretty cross.

 

[chopperduck]

Will be a tough one. If we can be tidy with our ball movement i think we will put up a good fight. Sloppy and turn it over easy and we will be put to the sword down there.

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

I fear that some of our younger players will be scarred by what is going to happen. Geelong by way, way too many. If we keep the margin to under 60 that will be an achievement.

 

[BillyMayesHere]

I am hoping our quick ball movement from the back half, which has been good at times for us the past two weeks, will cause some trouble for them. I feel Geelong, with the exception of a couple guys like Danger, are a slower side.

The other positive here is that Geelong don't run with a particularly tall forward-line, they run with just Hawkins and the resting ruck, which will suit our undersized back line down to the ground.

The past two weeks we've been punished by two big forward-lines in North (Waite, Petrie and Brown) and West Coast (Kennedy, Darling and Lycett/Natanui) who have bigger set ups than most clubs which exposed our young backline.

 

[Kevvo]

I think Geelong will score heavily but I reckon that we can too. They certainly aren't the best two-way running midfield in the league, and the Giants showed they could be exposed by quick ball movement on the counter. Rocky and Rich being out will hurt us, but we still have the likes of Zorko, Hanley, Taylor, Cutler etc to run and get it moving quickly. Also, I reckon Schache and Walker might trouble their defence, which really didn't cope well with the height or strength of Patton and Lobb.

It's hard to see a win, but I'm hoping for more encouraging signs. If anything, our absences might encourage the likes of Cutler, Beams and McStay to take a bit more responsibility for our ball movement. In the longer term, that will pay dividends.

 

[dlanod]

Cutler is definitely one that I think has come on really well this year.

Last year it felt like he was getting a game on talent rather than knowing his role in the team. This year it feels like that he's both playing a role and also using his skills, i.e. that longish flat kick, more appropriately.

 

[carnthemlions]

I think Geelong will score heavily but I reckon that we can too. They certainly aren't the best two-way running midfield in the league, and the Giants showed they could be exposed by quick ball movement on the counter. Rocky and Rich being out will hurt us, but we still have the likes of Zorko, Hanley, Taylor, Cutler etc to run and get it moving quickly. Also, I reckon Schache and Walker might trouble their defence, which really didn't cope well with the height or strength of Patton and Lobb.

It's hard to see a win, but I'm hoping for more encouraging signs. If anything, our absences might encourage the likes of Cutler, Beams and McStay to take a bit more responsibility for our ball movement. In the longer term, that will pay dividends.

Could end up a bit like the West Coast game but closer. GWS cut them up coming out of defence on the weekend, Geelong would have to be one of the slowest teams in the comp at both ends of the ground. Too tall, too slow and too old.

 

[lioninthesand]

I am strangely optimistic going in, don't think we will get the win, but I am expecting something similar to the kangaroos game - I think Geelong are overrated, and that we will win 2 1/4's of the game and surprise a few, but lose by a healthy margin in end.

Oh and let the injury curse for 2016 begin, another year defined by injury coming up. We just cannot catch a break.

 

[Keystone agony]

Is Richy getting up? I assume as its a sunday game that you wont travel till saturday

 

[snooplions]

Is Richy getting up? I assume as its a sunday game that you wont travel till saturday

Was 50/50 yesterday. Probably less likely than that though.

 

[Elixuh]

Cutler is definitely one that I think has come on really well this year.

Last year it felt like he was getting a game on talent rather than knowing his role in the team. This year it feels like that he's both playing a role and also using his skills, i.e. that longish flat kick, more appropriately.

Similar to ChopperDucks post yesterday about Taylor, I think there are a few that will really benefit from our current gamestyle compared with the possession footy we were playing last year. Cutler is another of them.

 

[CarterS]

Rich is crucial to our team. Crucial for clearances and Inside 50s. Big loss (if he's out).

Will need Zorko, Hanley, Taylor and Bundy to keep up their good form and provide us with some good Inside 50s! They are great outside runners but the problem I can see is that we will really struggle with the clearances and getting the ball to them.

Rich, Robinson, Martin and Rockliff are our clearance leaders - seriously need someone to step up this week if 3/4 will be out. Would love to see Bell/Bastinac fill this role. It is worrying though, we will seriously struggle to get first use of the pill.