ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
- Moderator
- #1
Oh, Ross Lyon is back??
I mean, as much as I like making jokes about Ross Lyon (well, basically having one joke and just making multiple minor variations of it), he is everything that is wrong with modern football. I could spend a thousand words explaining why but probably the best way to demonstrate his approach to football is out of his thirteen seasons of coaching, his teams have ranked in the top eight for total points scored in the home and away season three times (4th, 7th and 8th top scorer). And in those thirteen seasons, his team made the grand final three times and preliminary final twice; these were mostly not poor teams.
The rule changes since Ross left Fremantle to “improve scoring” hasn’t really affected his ability to coach boring and defensive football. I mean, who didn’t enjoy the first quarter of the Sydney-St.Kilda match from round 13 where two teams in perfect weather only managed two shots on goal in one quarter of football in perfect weather at the SCG (and that second shot was right near the end of the quarter)?
I’m not expecting a game for the time capsule, much like any games where one of the coaches is Ross Lyon so in the end all you can hope you is a good win and some giffable moments of Ross looking depressed that I will use in every preview I write until he gets sacked again for not being able to win anything. So hopefully the opposite of this:
To show my versatility and ability to stay up with the trends with the hip hops and the tik toks and the only fans, I was going to use AI to add some “vital analysis” and “actually funny jokes” to the proceedings. I debated using AI to just write up the whole preview and pretend I wrote it all but I was disappointed with its meme gif generation ability and the fact that ChatGPT’s knowledge cutoff is September 2021 so you’re stuck with me and my nonsense.
For example, when I asked ChatGPT to write a preview using Simpsons gifs, this was one of the results:
“Both teams have talented players who could make a big impact on the game. For Brisbane, look out for Charlie Cameron, who can light up the scoreboard, as seen in this gif:”
I mean, what the hell is that?
Well that’s probably enough stalling, let’s go!
First 13ish Games
Last year when I previewed the round 7 Sydney game, I was happy with our 5-1 start despite us not playing at our peak. Compared to first half of last year I’d argue that our wins have generally felt more solid with some impressive wins over Melbourne (ignoring the post-blackout part of the last quarter and I’m not talking about my drinking effort at the pub) and Collingwood which included a ten goal run. Indeed, up until the last few rounds we’ve looked like our defensive style is more sustainable than last season and better able to hold up under pressure. A seven game winning streak is always good regardless of the opposition.
The four losses though, do raise some questions:
Port Adelaide – played poorly in the first half but despite that we had a two goal lead coming into half time and then we had thirteen goals to three kicked against us in a half in an exceptionally uncompetitive performance. Loss away from home (Adelaide Oval).
Western Bulldogs – poor goal kicking combined with poor ball movement and some horrendously soft free kicks in goal kicking positions resulted in a two goal loss against a Bulldogs that’s struggled to kick big scores all season. I’m more forgiving of this effort than most, I think. Loss away from home.
Adelaide – a weird game where we dominated for extended periods of the game but struggled to generate quality shots on goal (as well as poor goal kicking) meant we lost by three goals. I was also willing to write this off as an exception. Loss away from home (Adelaide Oval).
Hawthorn – played poorly but was up by 17 at half time and up by 16 midway through the third quarter. Gave up eight goals to one from there to lose by 25. Loss away from home (MCG).
There’s some trends in these games reminiscent of last season with ineffectual midfield pressure putting pressure on the defence and opposition sides rebounding too easily which is something to keep an eye on. But ignoring our terrible kicking for goal and Sydney’s above average accuracy last week, I thought we looked like we were starting work our way back into form last week.
How can anyone fail with that hair?
Considering the debut of Jaspa Fletcher on the weekend and the return of Kai Lohmann to the side, it’s probably worth reflecting on how our youngsters have come along so far this season.
I’m not usually one to get too carried away with the debut seasons of young “stars” because for every Simon Black and Dayne Zorko (I guess “young” might be a stretch in the case of Zorko), you have Bradd Dalziell and three quarters of the players who debuted for the Lions between 2005 and when we became good.
It has been impressive to see Ashcroft live up to the hype with a contender and probable winner of goal of the year and some excellent performances in the midfield. And honestly, how can he possible fail when he has such great hair?
This joke doesn’t really work but anyway…
Jaspa Fletcher after a restricted pre-season was also impressive in his first game in our continually rotating winger position. He also managed one of the more impressive first goals you’ll see around. I’ve seen him a little in the reserves earlier in the year and while I hadn’t seen him put it all together for a full game, he showed enough touches of class to see that he had a future. He may struggle to hold his sport with McCluggage returning this week but with Zorko out another week, he may just get lucky…
Kai Lohmann also returned last week after playing a couple of early games last season before his injury. Kai started slowly but he worked his way into the game as time went on. With the position he’s playing and the kind of player he is, I feel he’ll improve if he can get a continued run in the seniors. You’d think he’ll be fighting with Jaspa for that one spot.
Ace Dunkley
Now I could talk about our other new recruits like Gunston but god knows people on here have been banging on about him like… something people bang on a lot about but let’s talk about one of the positive parts of our 2023 season and that’s the recruiting and form of Josh Dunkley. While his hair isn’t as nice as Ashcroft’s, the defensive pressure and clearance work combined with his ability to cut off attacks with his contested marking has added a missing element to our midfield setup. He can also play as a high-class tagger, as demonstrated by his games on Cripps and Rowell. Together with Ashcroft and McCluggage we’ve gone from the 10th best clearance differential team last year to the best this season. Similarly, our centre clearance work has improved from 9th to 2nd.
The only worry we have is that with Dunkley’s recent support of a mid-season trade period in the media, we need to be careful not to play him as a chop-out ruckmen in future years lest we do a Beveridge..
Jack Payne or Payney as he likes to be called
Completely ignoring the last quarter from last week where if I was Jack Payne, I would have last left the stadium and gone home about halfway through considering how nothing was going right for him, he’s had an excellent first half of the season with the increased opportunities he’s received as a key defender with Adams and Gardiner’s injuries. Not really a huge surprise but I’m glad he’s been taking his opportunities. Out of the top 25 players in terms of contested defensive one-on-ones in the league this season, his loss percentage is up in the top five. His loss contested is even better than Harris’ (15.6 versus 23.4) although admittedly Harris has been involved in a lot more contested defensive one-on-ones.
Unfortunately, Payney seems to suffer from “key defender kicking syndrome” where he’s required to make one terrible kicking clanger every few games. Although to be fair I think his kicking has improved substantially since last year and I think some of his errors now are more about him not knowing his limitations.
Oh man, do I have to talk about Ross Lyon Saints II: Boring Boogaloo?
Now much like Fremantle, I generally don’t hate the Saints as a club (which is why I wish Ross Lyon went to Carlton so I don’t have to diffuse my hatred across extra clubs) and I like some of the Saints players that I actually recognise because I’ve had them in my Supercoach team at some point, but man it’s depressing seeing a club being coached to not play football.
These stats probably sum up the Saints style this season – there are the worst side in the AFL in terms of generating a scoring shot from an inside 50 but the best at not conceding a scoring shot from an opposition inside 50 entry. The Ross Lyon stat. In comparison we’re currently the 5th best at generating a scoring shot from an inside 50 and 8th best at conceding a scoring shot.
After a terrible finish to the season last year, the Saints started pretty well with four wins but have then managed to go win-loss-win-loss after that which is an impressive dedication to patterns. Their W-L-W-L sequence stands at 10 and normally I’d be supportive of them trying to beat the league record of 15 set by Fremantle in 2001-02 but that would require them to win this week.
We were fairly lucky that last time around the Saints kicked poorly while Rayner had one of those games where he manages to tap into that potential and kicked goals (including four of our last five goals), to pip the Saints.
Saints players to watch?
No, no that’s unfair. Jack Sinclair is always fun to watch with his terrible hair and attacking style. An elite half-back, he’s played a few games in the midfield this season to provide a spark and a point of difference from the rest of the Saints midfield.
Max King is also one to watch as he’s four games back from all the injuries that kept him out of the first half of the year. Harris has tended to play on Max in the past and has struggled a little on occasions, notably last year where Max kicked 5 points with goal kicking so horrific that it made it into the Kayo Mini highlights package.
As Blackboard says…
Ok down to the brass tacks, what’s the prediction? I expect a fairly boring game of football where it’s a grind for most of the time apart from one quarter where we outscore the Saints by four goals and that remains the final margin. I think we’ll be too strong offensively for the Saints despite all the defensive clogging and I have a feeling our midfield will be well up and about this week.
Lions by 24.
Both the latest I’ve ever posted a preview and the most number of gifs attached. Truly momentous!
I mean, as much as I like making jokes about Ross Lyon (well, basically having one joke and just making multiple minor variations of it), he is everything that is wrong with modern football. I could spend a thousand words explaining why but probably the best way to demonstrate his approach to football is out of his thirteen seasons of coaching, his teams have ranked in the top eight for total points scored in the home and away season three times (4th, 7th and 8th top scorer). And in those thirteen seasons, his team made the grand final three times and preliminary final twice; these were mostly not poor teams.
The rule changes since Ross left Fremantle to “improve scoring” hasn’t really affected his ability to coach boring and defensive football. I mean, who didn’t enjoy the first quarter of the Sydney-St.Kilda match from round 13 where two teams in perfect weather only managed two shots on goal in one quarter of football in perfect weather at the SCG (and that second shot was right near the end of the quarter)?
I’m not expecting a game for the time capsule, much like any games where one of the coaches is Ross Lyon so in the end all you can hope you is a good win and some giffable moments of Ross looking depressed that I will use in every preview I write until he gets sacked again for not being able to win anything. So hopefully the opposite of this:
To show my versatility and ability to stay up with the trends with the hip hops and the tik toks and the only fans, I was going to use AI to add some “vital analysis” and “actually funny jokes” to the proceedings. I debated using AI to just write up the whole preview and pretend I wrote it all but I was disappointed with its meme gif generation ability and the fact that ChatGPT’s knowledge cutoff is September 2021 so you’re stuck with me and my nonsense.
For example, when I asked ChatGPT to write a preview using Simpsons gifs, this was one of the results:
“Both teams have talented players who could make a big impact on the game. For Brisbane, look out for Charlie Cameron, who can light up the scoreboard, as seen in this gif:”
I mean, what the hell is that?
Well that’s probably enough stalling, let’s go!
First 13ish Games
Last year when I previewed the round 7 Sydney game, I was happy with our 5-1 start despite us not playing at our peak. Compared to first half of last year I’d argue that our wins have generally felt more solid with some impressive wins over Melbourne (ignoring the post-blackout part of the last quarter and I’m not talking about my drinking effort at the pub) and Collingwood which included a ten goal run. Indeed, up until the last few rounds we’ve looked like our defensive style is more sustainable than last season and better able to hold up under pressure. A seven game winning streak is always good regardless of the opposition.
The four losses though, do raise some questions:
Port Adelaide – played poorly in the first half but despite that we had a two goal lead coming into half time and then we had thirteen goals to three kicked against us in a half in an exceptionally uncompetitive performance. Loss away from home (Adelaide Oval).
Western Bulldogs – poor goal kicking combined with poor ball movement and some horrendously soft free kicks in goal kicking positions resulted in a two goal loss against a Bulldogs that’s struggled to kick big scores all season. I’m more forgiving of this effort than most, I think. Loss away from home.
Adelaide – a weird game where we dominated for extended periods of the game but struggled to generate quality shots on goal (as well as poor goal kicking) meant we lost by three goals. I was also willing to write this off as an exception. Loss away from home (Adelaide Oval).
Hawthorn – played poorly but was up by 17 at half time and up by 16 midway through the third quarter. Gave up eight goals to one from there to lose by 25. Loss away from home (MCG).
There’s some trends in these games reminiscent of last season with ineffectual midfield pressure putting pressure on the defence and opposition sides rebounding too easily which is something to keep an eye on. But ignoring our terrible kicking for goal and Sydney’s above average accuracy last week, I thought we looked like we were starting work our way back into form last week.
How can anyone fail with that hair?
Considering the debut of Jaspa Fletcher on the weekend and the return of Kai Lohmann to the side, it’s probably worth reflecting on how our youngsters have come along so far this season.
I’m not usually one to get too carried away with the debut seasons of young “stars” because for every Simon Black and Dayne Zorko (I guess “young” might be a stretch in the case of Zorko), you have Bradd Dalziell and three quarters of the players who debuted for the Lions between 2005 and when we became good.
It has been impressive to see Ashcroft live up to the hype with a contender and probable winner of goal of the year and some excellent performances in the midfield. And honestly, how can he possible fail when he has such great hair?
This joke doesn’t really work but anyway…
Jaspa Fletcher after a restricted pre-season was also impressive in his first game in our continually rotating winger position. He also managed one of the more impressive first goals you’ll see around. I’ve seen him a little in the reserves earlier in the year and while I hadn’t seen him put it all together for a full game, he showed enough touches of class to see that he had a future. He may struggle to hold his sport with McCluggage returning this week but with Zorko out another week, he may just get lucky…
Kai Lohmann also returned last week after playing a couple of early games last season before his injury. Kai started slowly but he worked his way into the game as time went on. With the position he’s playing and the kind of player he is, I feel he’ll improve if he can get a continued run in the seniors. You’d think he’ll be fighting with Jaspa for that one spot.
Ace Dunkley
Now I could talk about our other new recruits like Gunston but god knows people on here have been banging on about him like… something people bang on a lot about but let’s talk about one of the positive parts of our 2023 season and that’s the recruiting and form of Josh Dunkley. While his hair isn’t as nice as Ashcroft’s, the defensive pressure and clearance work combined with his ability to cut off attacks with his contested marking has added a missing element to our midfield setup. He can also play as a high-class tagger, as demonstrated by his games on Cripps and Rowell. Together with Ashcroft and McCluggage we’ve gone from the 10th best clearance differential team last year to the best this season. Similarly, our centre clearance work has improved from 9th to 2nd.
The only worry we have is that with Dunkley’s recent support of a mid-season trade period in the media, we need to be careful not to play him as a chop-out ruckmen in future years lest we do a Beveridge..
Jack Payne or Payney as he likes to be called
Completely ignoring the last quarter from last week where if I was Jack Payne, I would have last left the stadium and gone home about halfway through considering how nothing was going right for him, he’s had an excellent first half of the season with the increased opportunities he’s received as a key defender with Adams and Gardiner’s injuries. Not really a huge surprise but I’m glad he’s been taking his opportunities. Out of the top 25 players in terms of contested defensive one-on-ones in the league this season, his loss percentage is up in the top five. His loss contested is even better than Harris’ (15.6 versus 23.4) although admittedly Harris has been involved in a lot more contested defensive one-on-ones.
Unfortunately, Payney seems to suffer from “key defender kicking syndrome” where he’s required to make one terrible kicking clanger every few games. Although to be fair I think his kicking has improved substantially since last year and I think some of his errors now are more about him not knowing his limitations.
Oh man, do I have to talk about Ross Lyon Saints II: Boring Boogaloo?
Now much like Fremantle, I generally don’t hate the Saints as a club (which is why I wish Ross Lyon went to Carlton so I don’t have to diffuse my hatred across extra clubs) and I like some of the Saints players that I actually recognise because I’ve had them in my Supercoach team at some point, but man it’s depressing seeing a club being coached to not play football.
These stats probably sum up the Saints style this season – there are the worst side in the AFL in terms of generating a scoring shot from an inside 50 but the best at not conceding a scoring shot from an opposition inside 50 entry. The Ross Lyon stat. In comparison we’re currently the 5th best at generating a scoring shot from an inside 50 and 8th best at conceding a scoring shot.
After a terrible finish to the season last year, the Saints started pretty well with four wins but have then managed to go win-loss-win-loss after that which is an impressive dedication to patterns. Their W-L-W-L sequence stands at 10 and normally I’d be supportive of them trying to beat the league record of 15 set by Fremantle in 2001-02 but that would require them to win this week.
We were fairly lucky that last time around the Saints kicked poorly while Rayner had one of those games where he manages to tap into that potential and kicked goals (including four of our last five goals), to pip the Saints.
Saints players to watch?
No, no that’s unfair. Jack Sinclair is always fun to watch with his terrible hair and attacking style. An elite half-back, he’s played a few games in the midfield this season to provide a spark and a point of difference from the rest of the Saints midfield.
Max King is also one to watch as he’s four games back from all the injuries that kept him out of the first half of the year. Harris has tended to play on Max in the past and has struggled a little on occasions, notably last year where Max kicked 5 points with goal kicking so horrific that it made it into the Kayo Mini highlights package.
As Blackboard says…
Ok down to the brass tacks, what’s the prediction? I expect a fairly boring game of football where it’s a grind for most of the time apart from one quarter where we outscore the Saints by four goals and that remains the final margin. I think we’ll be too strong offensively for the Saints despite all the defensive clogging and I have a feeling our midfield will be well up and about this week.
Lions by 24.
Both the latest I’ve ever posted a preview and the most number of gifs attached. Truly momentous!
