Review Round 12, 2025 - Brisbane Lions vs. Essendon

[Tom14]

I was harsh to call Lachie a bottom 5 player for us last night.

Per AFL player ratings he was our 8th worst on ground (excluding Dev).

 

[Sproj]

I reckon we'll probably go 2-1 the next three weeks but our focus will already be on beating Geelong in Geelong. That's the last long time no win to break.

 

[Tom14]

I reckon we'll probably go 2-1 the next three weeks but our focus will already be on beating Geelong in Geelong. That's the last long time no win to break.

I'd be stoked with 2-1. I'm expecting 1-2 as we've struggled against the crows in adelaide the last 2 years.

I think the potency of their forward line will trouble us so the mids will have to comprehensively win in the middle to get us the weight of scoring opportunities we'll need to outscore them.

 

[3KZ is Football]

I swear Payne and Andrews must have sunk a few before they went out last night . Made Caddy look like the next big thing.

They both play too wide / far in front of their opponents. Andrews can get away with it if our opponents are dump kicking it forward, because he reads the ball well, but Payne can’t. His reaction time is just too slow. Have a look at Caddy kicking the goal over his head to see what I mean. Payne also gets too far under the ball on too many occasions and then has a fresh air swing at a ball that ends up behind him.

Where they really get found out, though, is when midfield opponents are on top and they are hitting up leading forwards that are running away from Payne and Andrews. Admittedly, all key defenders struggle when the ball is coming in cleanly from a dominant midfield, but this is when the space, especially Payne, gives to his direct opponent really hurts. He is just too easy to run off.

The other problem with playing off your man is that opposition teams can and have played tagging forwards on Andrews. Their role is to get between Andrews and the contest, impeding his run and allowing the tall forward some space to mark. This approach, especially in games last year, really negated Andrews.

I would be far more comfortable seeing Payne use his powerful frame to body up on opponents and make them accountable. He needs to channel some Gary Pert to see how it can be done.

 

[Denno]

Surprised the last couple of weeks seen Noah likes to sit on heads.His confidence is very good atm

His all round improvement and toughness has alleviated the loss of Starce

As good as Answerth (and that's ANSwerth, Matt Hill) has been, let's not underplay the impact of Starcevich not playing.

As per the 3rd quarter, opposing teams are getting shots on goal far too easily when entering our D50 at times. Not a good trend.

Starcevich back will go some way towards addressing this.

 

[mpal6]

I'd be stoked with 2-1. I'm expecting 1-2 as we've struggled against the crows in adelaide the last 2 years.

I think the potency of their forward line will trouble us so the mids will have to comprehensively win in the middle to get us the weight of scoring opportunities we'll need to outscore them.

Funnily I'm expecting our level to go up against these clubs and us doing a 3-0.

 

[Nuggo]

Middle of the season performance. A tough run home will set us up for finals. No panic required.

 

[Zacs_Magic_Tooth]

When the game is in the balance a strange sense of calm envelops me when the ball finds its way into the hands of Wilmot and Lohmann. They regularly do something important. Love those guys

 

[Bucking Beads]

I was harsh to call Lachie a bottom 5 player for us last night.

Per AFL player ratings he was our 8th worst on ground (excluding Dev).

I can't cop him berating Logan Morris for going back and having a shot instead of passing it to him. It was ordinary to say the least. He is obviously feeling the pressure of not being at his best.

 

[wantok]

3 Games in 11 days including a trip to Melbourne and a mighty effort against the Hawks. We were entitled to be a bit weary and it showed. A few lazy defensive efforts and some careless kicking but I'll take the 4 thanks.

 

[wattoxi]

I was harsh to call Lachie a bottom 5 player for us last night.

Per AFL player ratings he was our 8th worst on ground (excluding Dev).

Where are you able to see this?

 

[notliondown]

They both play too wide / far in front of their opponents. Andrews can get away with it if our opponents are dump kicking it forward, because he reads the ball well, but Payne can’t. His reaction time is just too slow. Have a look at Caddy kicking the goal over his head to see what I mean. Payne also gets too far under the ball on too many occasions and then has a fresh air swing at a ball that ends up behind him.

Where they really get found out, though, is when midfield opponents are on top and they are hitting up leading forwards that are running away from Payne and Andrews. Admittedly, all key defenders struggle when the ball is coming in cleanly from a dominant midfield, but this is when the space, especially Payne, gives to his direct opponent really hurts. He is just too easy to run off.

The other problem with playing off your man is that opposition teams can and have played tagging forwards on Andrews. Their role is to get between Andrews and the contest, impeding his run and allowing the tall forward some space to mark. This approach, especially in games last year, really negated Andrews.

I would be far more comfortable seeing Payne use his powerful frame to body up on opponents and make them accountable. He needs to channel some Gary Pert to see how it can be done.

I think at times this all comes down to IQ.

We typically use a zone defense but both our keys tend to take it so literally that even during patches where we are getting opened up they continue to play loose. Andrews especially at times when he should man up - his offensive mindset means he's anticipating certain actions but it often leaves him badly exposed. Jack... well he's the perfect example of just doing what hes told.

You could see Andrews tighten up on Caddy last night in patches and the effect was profound... And it also stops him getting sucked into contest which he can do. To be honest I think Harris has had a pretty ordinary patch... and he probably knows it with his old temper tantrums creeping back in.

Adelaide will be a test...

 

[SpecialBruce]

I do not understand why we don’t play more of our list with these short turn arounds.
Marshall, Bruce or Doedee or at least debuting Gallop could inject some much needed energy and pace.

So many of our boys out of form, turn up knowing there is no pressure to retain their spot in the side. They play like they are untouchable.

Levi needs a break.

The problem is we are winning and on top so the powers that be don't want to rejig.

Last year when we were poor, fresh faces came in and gave us a much needed injection.

We need the same to happen now because we are not playing as a top team. Sadly, our ladder position means people think nothing is wrong and no change is needed. We are poor but ladder position and winning games gives false sense of security.

Could be our downfall this season.

 

[notliondown]

The thing I don't agree with out of Fages press conference last night was his happiness with the sense of calm and control he thought we exercised last night.

Quite a few senior players did some things in the 4th that looked a hell of a lot like panic to me. Hospital handballs, dump kicks, mid air hacks all in the D50 looked far from cooling things down. Lachie was having a hellish night all around but a couple of times he looked like a deer in the headlights and reacted accordingly. Lesters kick to no one in front of goals... Zorks hack...

As others have mentioned, when the ball ends up in Mottys or Fletchers or Kai's or even Morris's hands the sense they will do something smart is strangely eerie... but often correct. It's both awesome and concerning to see the younger players handle the pressure better than some of the more experienced ones at times.

 

[mpal6]

Lohmann finding form and kicking 3 is the best thing that could've happened out of that game.

 

[Squizz89]

Payne needs to take his medicine occasionally and understand it’s ok to belt the ball away instead of trying to mark everything.

Ironically he could’ve taken a mark late and probably got away with it, but on the other hand I was also happy to see him learn from earlier in the night by putting the fists in and sending it 30m the contest.

You can’t mark them all and especially so when you give your opponent so much space and allow them to fly too.

 

[mighty_lions]

Payne needs to take his medicine occasionally and understand it’s ok to belt the ball away instead of trying to mark everything.

Ironically he could’ve taken a mark late and probably got away with it, but on the other hand I was also happy to see him learn from earlier in the night by putting the fists in and sending it 30m the contest.

You can’t mark them all and especially so when you give your opponent so much space and allow them to fly too.

probably dont spoil it back into the middle 30m out though

 

[twhowler]

Last night is not the team we are right now. But equally neither is last week - given it was our only acceptable performance out of our last 4. I know we won and Essendon threw everything at us. But this was a seriously depleted side. It was a pretty worrying performance. For all the talk of comparing this side to 01-04, that side was never worried about the other side throwing everything at them. They relished it. This side, at least so far, when it comes to underdogs playing 'their grand final' seems to resent having to roll their sleeves up.

The biggest caveat is the 5 day break. Is there anyone on here that thinks our zero unforced change mantra is a good one? I am genuinely baffled by it. It feels like the equivalent to still rolling with 10 interchanges because 'it keeps our best side out there'. We have the depth. We need to learn that five day breaks are just a totally different beast for preparation. It is also beneficial in keeping the fringe players in with a sniff and motivated, and ready should their opportunity come. I am hoping it hasn't flattened us for next week as well, should be okay with an 8 day break. We have one more 5 day break this year but it's week 2 of our post bye games so should not be as taxing.

From reading the reviews and a few of my own harebrained ideas we have the following issues:

MISSING DAY - who knew how key he would be! he was a really important cog both as a target and back-up ruck. The Gardiner solution is subpar because A) he is not the big bailout option Day is and we have nobody doing that now and B) Hippy's time in the ruck is terrible for his forward game. It is incumbent on our MC to try a plan C, should Day not make it back or get injured again. We simply must try Gallop to know if he is a better option. A good time would have been, oh i dunno at home against an injury riddled side when we were off a 5 day break??? He needs a go soon just to see where we are at - it's not as if dropping Gardiner is a major risk.

MIDDLING MIDFIELD - the worry for me is the inconsistency. Week to week or quarter to quarter. Makes me wonder if the balance is a bit out. Like others i think at times Will and Neale in there is an issue when we don't win the clearance, especially a centre clearance. I think our coaching staff should be twiddling the dials a bit on who is playing on-ball with an eye to this.

REBOUND OUT OF OUR FORWARD 50 - the ball seems to be bouncing out of our forward line at a rapid rate. Again Day might help as he is an expert at not marking it but also not letting the opposition marking it. But i feel like an attitude shift is needed from our smalls. They need to be terriers. Start a competition - free big mac for most forward line tackles. Worked well in my under 12s cricket

% OF SCORING FROM OPPO ENTRIES again last night the efficiency of the opposition was a big worry. When you are playing the best sides there will always be a period where their midfield gets on top. I am less confident this year of us weathering the storm. Starce is clearly badly missed. But we don't know if he will be okay, sadly. Also interesting that Kiddy could be coming back. ALthough with Zorko being sat on this is probably needed. I think that A if Starce does come back, we simply must keep Answerth back there. and B if he does not, then we need Wilmot to play much closer to his man, allowing Zorks and Kiddy more leeway. Oh and Harris to get back to last year's form?

Yes it's only May (just!). And it's true you don't want to be peaking now. But you also don't want to just assume that everything wrong now will magically fix itself. We were playing better footy last year. Hence Fagan backed in the side to get better results with some better conversion and a slight lift overall. If our current form lifts slightly later in the year, we will be making up the numbers. in my opinion!

 

[twhowler]

I'd be stoked with 2-1. I'm expecting 1-2 as we've struggled against the crows in adelaide the last 2 years.

I think the potency of their forward line will trouble us so the mids will have to comprehensively win in the middle to get us the weight of scoring opportunities we'll need to outscore them.

The potential positive to me re the Crows' forward line is we actually need our KPD to be accountable. Any one of Thilthorpe / Walker / Fogarty could kick five. I actually think that could be of benefit. Harris to me is at his best when he is taking rebound marks right next to his opponent, rather than being a loose man.

 

[HereIGoAgain]

The potential positive to me re the Crows' forward line is we actually need our KPD to be accountable. Any one of Thilthorpe / Walker / Fogarty could kick five. I actually think that could be of benefit. Harris to me is at his best when he is taking rebound marks right next to his opponent, rather than being a loose man.

It wont happen but looking at that kind of firepower and size up forward for them, Gardner for Lester would be the call for mine. Not saying Lester has done much wrong.

 

[Dalions]

I can't cop him berating Logan Morris for going back and having a shot instead of passing it to him. It was ordinary to say the least. He is obviously feeling the pressure of not being at his best.

I am not completely sure he was berating him for not kicking it to him, he missed 3 players who could have raffled it before not passing to Lachie.
Logan definitely should have passed the ball.
It may have been Hugh, Bailey and maybe Lohmann who were all free of opponents and an easy internal kick.

 

[twhowler]

It wont happen but looking at that kind of firepower and size up forward for them, Gardner for Lester would be the call for mine. Not saying Lester has done much wrong.

I can see it making sense in theory. BUt i think lester is the most consistent out of our 3, and has decent pace. Fogarty is only 192cm and gets a lot of his ball on the lead.

 

[Dalions]

The thing I don't agree with out of Fages press conference last night was his happiness with the sense of calm and control he thought we exercised last night.

That was all just bullshit media spin.
He would have been fuming throughout that game last night at times.

I do agree in that when the players finally felt the urgency they did a lot right in the last half of the last quarter.
Once again the issues were all effort based to me and when the intensity lifted, there were no concerns with the way we played out the game.
The middle part of the game was all bad, from the top down, with intensity and effort.

 

[3KZ is Football]

On another matter, McCluggage played his career best game of football last night, so he will rightfully garner most of the limelight, but people should spare a bit for Jarrod Berry

7

Jarrod Berry

Age

27

Ht

193cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.4

4star

K

8.5

3star

HB

8.9

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

17.0

4star

K

9.4

4star

HB

7.6

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

5.1

5star

CL

2.9

4star

D

10.6

3star

K

4.4

2star

HB

6.2

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.8

5star

CL

0.8

3star

. His equal team high 8 intercept possessions were massive and his work rate on and off the ball was sensational. He is evolving before our eyes and fast becoming one of our most important players.

 

[M Malice]

Stunned that we struggled so much to put that game to bed, particularly seeing after the first quarter I was talking of a 100+ point win... maybe the players were too.

All good though, we banked another 4 points.

McCluggage > Berry, Dunkley, Lohmann and Bailey my FAB 5.