BRAB
Biggest Victim on this Site
- Oct 20, 2014
- 32,966
- 63,391
- AFL Club
- Brisbane Lions
Time: 7:05pm (4 Hours after the women's game concludes)
Location: Metricon Stadium (Far less dangerous than the Gabba turf)
The Sun rises on a new season.
New Coach, new hope. Seems like it isn't the first time this has happened in a while but somehow this feels different, maybe it's the success at the women's team, maybe it's our draft, but something feels different this time.
Maybe I'm just willing it. Things are going to be better this season though, maybe not in direct results, but in the direction of the club at least. What we saw in the preseason may be a fair indication of where our game plan is going and that can only be exciting as a Lions fan.
Our first test comes against our cross town friends the Gold Coast Suns. After heading into the off season in a shambles, the Gold Coast have come out of it smelling pretty, re-signing all their major players sans Steven May coming into round 1 and getting some slick new facilities. Losing Day to an injury early hurt but they finally look like they might be on the up, with many predicting them to have a very productive season.
Defence:
It was the most glaring stat from last season, enjoy a graph to demonstrate.
I shouldn't even have to clarify what dot we are if you watched last season, but we're the one on the top right. This emphasises that our poor defence last season was predicated not just on our back 6 which is an important realisation for the club which has formed the new basis for our 2017 gameplan.
Gameplan:
It's hard to define before round 1, but I think we can expect more from what we saw from the Bulldogs game in the JLT series. Play in front of your man in the back 6, high emphasis on holding onto the ball, high emphasis on the switch.
I think our young cubs will come apart at points during the season due to the increased pressure of an AFL game but I think it's a solid foundation. It's confidence building for a start, and we look structured when we do it. Structure is nice and also a foreign concept to us, so it'll be nice to see that.
I also noticed our second efforts were much improved during the JLT. A trend I hope continues.
Who to Watch?
Harris Andrews:
Harris Andrews will be huge this season. He will have a huge test this weekend and will more then likely cop Tom Lynch as his opponent this week. Tough ask for him for sure. What I think we'll see this year is that Harris will continue to outdo any expectations the pundits put on him. As such;
Harris will give Tom Lynch an absolute bath on Saturday. Will restrict him to 2 goals.
Dayne Beams
Still our best player by a long way. Also the captain now. Expecting big things from him all season. If we are competitive on Saturday he will be a large reason why.
Michael Close
Leemas says he will score 40+ this years and I am choosing to back him in. Let's start with 4 for Closey on the weekend hey?
Oppo Watch
Pearce Hanley:
This sort of hurts. We know how good he can be in Qclashes. I think Pearce is the only one who really gets fired up by them to be honest. I'd put money on him getting 30+ disposals, it's almost a given.
Steven May:
His goal for the game will be to get through it without murdering one of our players. I only give him a 20% chance of doing that.
Final Thoughts:
I am too cowardly to make a best 22 prediction. I still feel it genuinely is up in the air and am looking forward to team announcements shortly.
This game is really important for us, an early win sets us up with some confidence going into a softer opening month. Some confidence for the boys early in both themselves and the gameplan would be huge and as such, a win would be worth so much more than 4 points. Without Jack Frost it is going to be hard, and ultimately I think that's where we are going to lose this game.
Suns by 25.
BRAB to be sad.
AFL Womens to win by 15 points.
Go lions, bring on 2017!
Location: Metricon Stadium (Far less dangerous than the Gabba turf)
The Sun rises on a new season.
New Coach, new hope. Seems like it isn't the first time this has happened in a while but somehow this feels different, maybe it's the success at the women's team, maybe it's our draft, but something feels different this time.
Maybe I'm just willing it. Things are going to be better this season though, maybe not in direct results, but in the direction of the club at least. What we saw in the preseason may be a fair indication of where our game plan is going and that can only be exciting as a Lions fan.
Our first test comes against our cross town friends the Gold Coast Suns. After heading into the off season in a shambles, the Gold Coast have come out of it smelling pretty, re-signing all their major players sans Steven May coming into round 1 and getting some slick new facilities. Losing Day to an injury early hurt but they finally look like they might be on the up, with many predicting them to have a very productive season.
Defence:
It was the most glaring stat from last season, enjoy a graph to demonstrate.
I shouldn't even have to clarify what dot we are if you watched last season, but we're the one on the top right. This emphasises that our poor defence last season was predicated not just on our back 6 which is an important realisation for the club which has formed the new basis for our 2017 gameplan.
Gameplan:
It's hard to define before round 1, but I think we can expect more from what we saw from the Bulldogs game in the JLT series. Play in front of your man in the back 6, high emphasis on holding onto the ball, high emphasis on the switch.
I think our young cubs will come apart at points during the season due to the increased pressure of an AFL game but I think it's a solid foundation. It's confidence building for a start, and we look structured when we do it. Structure is nice and also a foreign concept to us, so it'll be nice to see that.
I also noticed our second efforts were much improved during the JLT. A trend I hope continues.
Who to Watch?
Harris Andrews:
Harris Andrews will be huge this season. He will have a huge test this weekend and will more then likely cop Tom Lynch as his opponent this week. Tough ask for him for sure. What I think we'll see this year is that Harris will continue to outdo any expectations the pundits put on him. As such;
Harris will give Tom Lynch an absolute bath on Saturday. Will restrict him to 2 goals.
Dayne Beams
Still our best player by a long way. Also the captain now. Expecting big things from him all season. If we are competitive on Saturday he will be a large reason why.
Michael Close
Leemas says he will score 40+ this years and I am choosing to back him in. Let's start with 4 for Closey on the weekend hey?
Oppo Watch
Pearce Hanley:
This sort of hurts. We know how good he can be in Qclashes. I think Pearce is the only one who really gets fired up by them to be honest. I'd put money on him getting 30+ disposals, it's almost a given.
Steven May:
His goal for the game will be to get through it without murdering one of our players. I only give him a 20% chance of doing that.
Final Thoughts:
I am too cowardly to make a best 22 prediction. I still feel it genuinely is up in the air and am looking forward to team announcements shortly.
This game is really important for us, an early win sets us up with some confidence going into a softer opening month. Some confidence for the boys early in both themselves and the gameplan would be huge and as such, a win would be worth so much more than 4 points. Without Jack Frost it is going to be hard, and ultimately I think that's where we are going to lose this game.
Suns by 25.
BRAB to be sad.
AFL Womens to win by 15 points.
Go lions, bring on 2017!
, disagree with you on one item though, the boys to win by 2-4 goals.
