Preview Rd 13: Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions

[POBT]

Date:
Saturday, 23 June 2012

Time:

1.40pm local time

Venue:

Etihad Stadium

Ticket Info:

Here

TV and Radio Coverage:

All areas: Live on FoxFooty from 1.30pm
Queensland: Live on 7mate from 1.30pm

Social Media:

TBA

Last time they met:

Dogs by 78 (Rd 2, 2011)

Betting Odds

Dogs $1.38: Brisbane $3.00

Weather Report

Min 8 Max 13 Shower or two.

 

[POBT]

Preview by PertRoosOsborne

As I was sipping on a glass of red and listening to some reggae the other day I meditated upon the Rastafarian Lion of Brisvegas and during those soulful and blissful moments these words came to me……
(When reading the below think UB40 Red, Red Wine)
Brisbane LionsYou’re doing in my head
Please make me forget that I
Now see you so low

Brisbane Lions, it's up to you
I am going to feel so low until we’ve won
Memories of 01-03 still glow
Memories of 01-03 still glow
I have sworn When drinking wine Or a brew That you’d be ahead But I was wrong
Now I findBeating the doggies will make me forget
Brisbane LionsStay close to themDon't let me be alone With this hope in my heart
My true, true heart
I have sworn When drinking wine Or a brew That you’d be ahead But I was wrong
Now I findBeating the doggies will make me forget

Brisbane Lions
Stay close to themDon't let me be alone With this hope in my heartMy true, true heart

Thank you for that self indulgence….

Ok…..

We dangle at the precipice of round thirteen with four wins on the board and a ravenous desire; which be far stronger than Bruce’s desire for Cyril, to better last year’s performance with a win against the bulldogs.

So I ask you punk…..are you feeling lucky?

If the truth be known I get to see jack all of the Lions play as I don’t have foxsmells, I live provincially and have commitments far more important than the luxury of plonking my arse on a $30 seat for a few hours to watch the flaccid football that we play down here in Mexico.

Therefore it is unfair of me to offer any suggestions on who should come on in or who should go out of the team or who should play where and on whom; I will leave that to you.

So in the broader context….we have lost to all the teams that I have expected us to (except norf) and beaten all the teams that I have expected us to (except eagles)….so to have four wins at this stage of the season is par as far as I can see.

My assessment of this year’s performance has this weeks game is a benchmark game.

In my opinion a loss to the bulldogs will move us to the wrong side of the ledger, whilst a win would put a smile on your brother and everyone can get together to love one another.

I am going to keep it simple….to win the game we need to win the basics….

First and hardest to the contest
Intense collective pressure when they have the ball
Maintain discipline in the game plan
Keep our noses over the ball
Communicate with your team mates
Protect your team mates
Reduce skill errors
Run run run

As the great man said football is pretty simple….either they have the ball, we have the ball or it is in dispute……..

JUST DO SOMETHING!!


** Sorry for the lame preview

***Peter Tosh is my preferred reggae artist……

 

[POBT]

Thanks to PRO for a great preview. Pass the dutchie on the left hand side.

 

[Ironmonger]

***Peter Tosh is my preferred reggae artist……

I'm a Toots and the Maytals man, myself.

Good preview.

 

[POBT]

Somewhere down south, Luke Dalhaus's hair is very excited.

 

[knaf]

JUST DO SOMETHING!!

Thanks for the reminder of the great John Kennedy Snr PRO. When I used to be a manager I often used that line at the end of staff meetings.

Having invested my hard earned in Foxsmell this year, I think you might be doing better with you cash in the bank. But having watched most games this year I dont think our problem is trying to do something. Endeavour is OK, execution is the problem. We have developed an almost Richmond-like ability to miss the target with the hand ball when under pressure.

Come on LIONS get your heads into the right space and we can win this one!

 

[harvester]

been looking forward to this game. Doggies humbled us last year by nearly 80 pts, but without hall, and their biggest knob, minson in the poo, I hope to put we cracker up their date.
GO LIONS !!!!!!

 

[LION UP]

Dahlhaus' hair isn't the only thing excited. That kid is a dynamo and we will need a speedy with tank to keep up with him. Skills pretty handy as well. Don't see him in too many turnovers but he pounces on the oppositions.

 

[3KZ is Football]

I'm a Toots and the Maytals man, myself.

Good preview.

Enjoy the original and two very good covers.







Back to the football:
Recent Results - Brisbane Lions v Footscray

2011 Rd 2.​

Etihad Stadium​

​

Footscray​

by 78 points​

2010 Rd. 12

Etihad Stadium​

​

Footscray​

by 65 points​

2010 Rd. 4

Gabba​

​

Brisbane Lions​

by 22 points​

2009 rd. 24

MCG​

​

Footscray​

by 51 points​

2009 Rd. 20​

Gabba​

​

Footscray​

by 18 points​

​

Footscray are not a side that we have matched up well against over the last few years, particularly when we come to Melbourne. I have been to all of the Melbourne games listed above and we were "smacked" in each. The common denominator in each loss was an inability to get first use of the ball at stoppages and a lack of run. If we don't turn this around, another hiding for Brisbane is looming.​

 

[Ironmonger]

The Bulldogs are one of the most over-possessing teams in the league. They're great at winning the ball but not so great at turning that into goals.

We can pretty much guarantee that they'll have the pill a lot more than we will on Saturday, which is further going to test our fitness.

The more I think about this game the more I come back to the six day double roadtrip. Just a totally unnecessary scheduling stuff-up by the AFL. No reason at all why this game couldn't have been played on Sunday instead of Kangaroos-Adelaide.

So normally I'd be pretty bullish about our chances against a Doggies side that relies heavily on very young players, even more than we do. But unfortunately I think we'll just run out of puff chasing them around Etihad.

 

[GingerGreatness]

With the Fitzroy logo emblazened on each of their chests, I'm hoping our boys will walk extra tall, hit extra hard and not take a backward step.

Black to come back.

Lions by 20.

 

[Cousin Jed]

We must avoid getting flogged. We all know the dogs had the wood on us under Eade but losing comfortably to average sides can't be tolerated. Especially after the west coast win

 

[jackess]

Dogs used to have the wood on the Lions because they used to be so much more faster. I'm not sure if that's true anymore.

 

[Caiphus]

I think the dogs will be emotionally spent this week. Perfect time to play them, they have already had their win for Charlie Sutton. Time to beat the Etihad hoodoo. Ace and Browny with 5 each.

 

[Fatcat08]

I'm just thanking the stars that the AFL hasn't brought in a mid-season draft! Have a recurring nightmare of Nathan Eagleton coming out of retirement in the second half of this year to play two good games, coincidently against the lions and carving us up. Geez he must have have loved looking at the draw and seeing the dogs up against brisbane twice in one season and pencilling himself in for some brownlow votes. His career tally would probably be all against the lions.

Will be interesting to see team changes for this match. Can see us freshening up given the 6 day break. Bewick should play a full game. For mine he's not a great sub. His strength is endurance, not short burst impact, however I don't think Green should be the sub either as I think we need his speed and forward pressure for this game. Having said that I don't think we can afford for both him and Polec to be playing full games given their fitness levels at the moment so that will be an interesting one. McGrath and Black will come back in pending fitness, and I can't see Harwood holding his spot. Apart from that change I think McKeever would be the one most would say should make way however last week the bulldogs played Jones, Cordy, Roughhead and Minson in the one team. Thats 3 guys 200cm and over and another at 197cm. That is a lot of tall timber and while they are all still a little off being true forwards that sort of height will worry us especially if Rog still plays up forward and McKeever were to go out.

Personally I think this is an ideal game to bring in Lisle and switch Merrett down back. The dogs are light on for talls down back at the moment with Williams out. If Hargrave doesn't get up then they have the dilemma of who Lake goes to. The other tall will be left being marked by Austin who has been elevated off their rookie list. After that they are pretty short and will be a good opportunity for Ace to take a few grabs if our midfield can get it in there enough. Lisle also can take the second ruck duties instead of Rog. If we don't bring in Lisle then it should be Billy who comes in. Not that Hudson necessarily needs the help in this game in particular but having the extra tall means we can take advantage of their lack of height down back and maybe force them into a change.

Polks should get the role on Murphy and try to make him accountable. Murph was great last week and is damaging by foot. He supplies a lot of run off their half back line and will need to be watched.

This should be a good game for our rebounding defenders as the dogs lack the forward pressure that guys like Rioli and Puopolo harassed us with last week. Dalhaus can, however they will need his run and carry through the midfield. The rest of their smaller forwards are more midfielders playing as forwards rather than the traditional small forward, although Giansiracusa always poses a threat. Their mids, like ours are fairly solid in tight but they do lack a little spread. Not quite as much as us but less than the top teams. Boyd is in his usual great form, however Cross is a little down at the moment, but as hard at it as they come. With Griffin providing the run and Wallis and Libba there as well they still pose a formidable threat in the middle. They certainly have their share of hard nuts in there with Picken in there too.

Personally I don't think its worth tagging Boyd, those really top inside mids will always find the ball. Griffen is the one I would be looking to shut down with Raines, his outside run is crucial for them and Raines has the endurance (if not quite the pace) to go with him the whole game. As mentioned before Murphy is the other one that I would be playing a defensive role on given his run off the backline.

Overall looking at this game its certainly very winnable. The dogs like us have a some good up and coming young players still light on experience, mixed with a few guns and a fair chunk of solid citizens. They probably have a few more core players with a bit more experience but lack a lot of stars.

The fact that its at Etihad doesn't really help our cause but lets hope that the boys can do the heritage guernsey proud and head into the hall of fame function with something to really celebrate.

lions by 14

 

[Hollow Knight]

Minson reportedly suspended for a week by the Doggies for his potty mouth.

That'll help.

 

[Fatcat08]

Certainly will, that will mean Cordy and Roughead will share the ruck duties with the other in the fwd line.

Unless they bring in another tall we can probably get away with Maguire and Patfull in the backline and add another bring McGrath straight back in for McKeever. Only person I could think that they would bring in is Grant but he's not significantly tall really, Lester could probably go to him if he's not used in the middle.

Big question is will we try to freshen the squad up with some changes? If so who gets a rest?

 

[Quigley]

This will be a match up of the top two Rising Star prospects I think. Wallis v Golby. Everything else is incidental

Personally I really hope Harwood is not dropped. He did an excellent job defensively against Hawthorn and looked very composed. He does not have much experience as a defensive player but stood up well and did his job nicely. I would move him back into the midfield given the Bulldogs strength is in the clearances and lets be frank there is no way he hell that Lester should have been playing in there instead of Harwood last week.

McKeever was another who I thought was very strong defensively. Against the Bulldogs who like to stack their forward line with talls (expect Campbell to come in for Minson given he was BOG I think in the VFL on the weekend and can ruck and play forward) McKeever has the height and athleticism to cover most of them.

My changes:

Out: Lester, Bewick, Polkinghorne
In: Black, McGrath, Docherty

Docherty is coming off two very good games and I am sure the coaching staff would like to get him some experience even if it is off the bench. We are slowly getting more skills into our side and he would continue to add to that. The backline did not function as well without McGrath last week and he should come straight back in.

The strength of the Bulldogs is in the clearances and if we can hold them there it will go a long way to us winning the game. Black should help in that regard but having guys like Harwood, Green, Zorko, Rockliff play onball instead of Polkinghorne and Lester would help. Polkinghorne again simply did not get his hands on the ball enough and was not that good defensively. Lester is progressing pretty well but he is not exactly demanding selection. I am not sure what the long term plan is with him and personally he would be one I would drop to have a look at someone else. Voss loves both Polkinghorne and Lester so it would not surprise me if both kept their spots but really they should have been in the last 4 selected each week and if we are not winning they should be the ones we look at when trying to get a look at others who might give us a better chance of winning. Both have been given a really good run of games whilst others who have been just as deserving as been in and out of the side. Bewick has struggled to impact at AFL level.

 

[Baby_Jenks]

Gazing into my crystal ball and mystical belly button of lint I'm predicting,
Outs; Lester, Polec, Cornelius, Harwood
Ins; Black, McGrath, Longer, Karnezis
and with Bewick and Green to swap colourful vests.
I hope my belly button is wrong because I really want Harwood and Cornelius to lock down the inside mid and FF spots for the next 10+ years.

 

[Toffee Lion]

Would love to see Docherty and Beams in the side, especially off form.

Very, VERY winnable game.

Lions by 25 and Zorko to get 30 touches + 3 goals!

 

[Bucking Beads]

This is a must win game IMO.

 

[Fatcat08]

Quigley, interesting to hear your thoughts on Harwood's game as I had a bit of a different view on it so is good to hear an alternative. May have to re-watch some of the game. I thought he was ok in the game but when defending one on one when the ball was on the deck he went to ground far too easily on a number of occasions. Was probably first instinct for him in the middle to go in and get the ball but defensively in the wet he would have been better served putting pressure on the ball while remaining upright. (note this issue wasn't restricted just to Harwood, was a theme for us the whole match)

Think Lester is still best served down back but can understand them wanting to try him in the middle, he's a nice size for pinch hitting in there. Whether that sort of experimentation is best done in the reserves is probably an argument you could make. I think when banfield comes back Zorko will start to spend more time up the ground as well.

 

[Haso]

Great preview PRO, although I prefer The Police myself.

Like most here, I think that this game is winnable, but certain basic aspects of play that we have been building and excelling at need to be done right, namely tackling and contested ball. I agree with Quigley that their clearances are great, so keeping our tackling pressure up and contesting hard in 50-50s will go a long way to winning the game. If we can make them work hard for their own ball, they should tire out just as quick;ly as we do.

Minson out is a bonus, but how much of a bonus depends on who rucks for us. It would be great if Huddo was chosen to make the trip down, to really show them what a retiree could do, but I'm thinking that maybe the selectors will go with Billy for the second trip down to Melbourne in 6 days to keep the tall guys fresh.

If Black and Ash come back in, their injection of experience and skill should have an immediate impact on our play.

 

[Quigley]

Quigley, interesting to hear your thoughts on Harwood's game as I had a bit of a different view on it so is good to hear an alternative. May have to re-watch some of the game. I thought he was ok in the game but when defending one on one when the ball was on the deck he went to ground far too easily on a number of occasions. Was probably first instinct for him in the middle to go in and get the ball but defensively in the wet he would have been better served putting pressure on the ball while remaining upright. (note this issue wasn't restricted just to Harwood, was a theme for us the whole match)

Think Lester is still best served down back but can understand them wanting to try him in the middle, he's a nice size for pinch hitting in there. Whether that sort of experimentation is best done in the reserves is probably an argument you could make. I think when banfield comes back Zorko will start to spend more time up the ground as well.

I thought Harwood punched very well and generally positioned himself very smartly with the ball coming in. He was not troubled with the ball in the air or on the ground and did not panic when he got the ball. I also thought he gave us a physically strong presence at the back which we are occasionally missing in our smalls. He might have left his feet a few time (I don't really recall to tell the truth) but I thought it was a solid outing for someone playing his first game down back at AFL level. Especially against a team who like Hawthorn who were dominating the inside 50s for quite a bit of the time.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Gazing into my crystal ball and mystical belly button of lint I'm predicting,
Outs; Lester, Polec, Cornelius, Harwood
Ins; Black, McGrath, Longer, Karnezis

Wouldn't hold your breath with Longer. Tweaked his hammy in the reserves.