Preview Round 2: Lions v Carlton Blues

[Ironmonger]

On Rich, I think the focus on the footy world is on his left boot. I think it won't take much longer before people start to realise how clean, quick and accurate he is with his hands. I didn't think his kicking was particularly great v Melbourne. But he was first class in his work in finding a teammate by hand when the heat was on.

Yep. What struck me on Saturday was his composure. I must admit that I've always thought Rich was a bit of a one trick pony, but obviously someone at the Lions has been working with him to teach him to drop the eyes and find a target.

Exhibit A: That wonderful spot up of Banfield at the start of the fourth quarter.

Oddly enough, i think having Browny out of the side might have helped. Our whole team was a bit JB-focussed in 2009 (not that it really hurt us) but Rich in particular.

 

[blynd_freddie]

Quigley, the Leo Tolstoy [in reference to ‘War and Peace and not the authors personal life] of BigFooty!!

Not impressed with our win?? Obviously you are not from Victoria.

Yes we were out scored in the first but did well to stay composed after that ‘double goal’ by Magner – Geez, Waite was reported for doing what in some eyes what Magner received the free for… yeah long bow but really Mr Leppard.


“”I’m probably not going to win a lot of friends on here but all things…” Yep you are a hard task master Quigs but you do justify and balance by also lowering the blues expectations as a top 4 side [on the form shown v the tiggers]

My summary of your essay…

Possible changes to the two winning teams
Ins: Us - Drummo & Harwood Them – Jamison & Duigan?

Rucks: advantage us
Our forwards v their backs: even
Our backs v their forwards: advantage them
Mids advantage them

Coaching – Quigs is a long time critic of Ratten but suggests he is carried by his assistants, the Lions are also climbing the mountain of improvement: even

[insert - some bells & whistles]

Result: a days extra rest vs travel almost nullifies itself out leaving the game in balance centring on the mids – the blues just… by less than 3 goals.

I’m thinking [wishing for] a carlton fade out over the second half – our boys confidence will certainly be buoyed by a first up and away win – will this be enough to counter balance the strength of a Judd led midfield? BLOOD OATH!! The Lions by 19 points.

The views of this post are not necessarily those of Quigs but only an interpretation of his views - albeit from a one eyed freddie! [ A GREAT preview write up Quigs!]

 

[Bucking Beads]

I'd love for us to get up on Thursday night. It would be a massive effort. At the end of the day we need to be realistic especially against a top 4 side.

 

[POBT]

Yes we were out scored in the first but did well to stay composed after that ‘double goal’ by Magner

Rewind 12 months ago and that moment would have been the end of us. We seem a more resilient bunch these days.

 

[thoselionslads]

Is anybody anticipating any changes? It will be interesting to see if Voss makes any adjustments.
I thought Bewick (especially) and Lester were ordinary, but I wouldn't be suprised to see the same team take the field.

This game is getting me through an ordinary week.

 

[Blues_Man]

Called a 40 point win last week when no one gave us a chance. Not saying the call will be right again, but stranger things have happened

.

Last week you were playing an insipid melbourne side

This week will be totally different ...playing up there should bring the scores closer..but i still expect Carlton to have too much class all over the ground ..especially in the midfield.


If the Lions can shut down Carltons run and carry...and dominance at the stoppages then they will be a chance .

Don't be sucked in by preseason form as others have.

 

[POBT]

Is anybody anticipating any changes? It will be interesting to see if Voss makes any adjustments.
I thought Bewick (especially) and Lester were ordinary, but I wouldn't be suprised to see the same team take the field.

This game is getting me through an ordinary week.

I thought Bewick was OK. Didn't quite do enough to demand re-selection though. I was a bit the same with Polec. I don't think either of them could be too upset if dropped.

Lester was a bit disappointing. He did some OK things but seemed to lack composure which I haven't seen from him before. I think he survives this week due to the flexibility he offers but, again, he didn't secure his spot with his performance last Saturday.

Don't know what the logic was behind making Sheldon the sub. I refuse to judge a player who is subbed on for a quarter but I do wonder if being made the sub is actually an indication that he's on the edge of being dropped. Then again, we might simply swap Sheldon and Bewick.

 

[Lace Out]

In - Karnezis(sub),Drummond,Harwood

Out- Lester,Bewick,Sheldon

 

[Apex61]

Rocky and Redden to put on a mid field Clinic for Carltank.
Lions by 3 goals.

 

[POBT]

In - Karnezis(sub),Drummond,Harwood

Out- Lester,Bewick,Sheldon

I'd be OK with that. My only concern would be the loss of tackling/defensive pressure up forward. Both Bewick and Sheldon did that reasonably well on Saturday and I'm not sure that Harwood, Karny and Drummo have the terrier type stuff in them.

 

[Ironmonger]

I'd have thought one of Polec or Bewick would make way for Harwood. I know it's not like for like, but an extra ball-winner wouldn't go astray with Rocky spending a lot of time up forward.

I think Lester's spot in the side probably depends on whether Drummond is fit or not.

I reckon Sheldon should start and play on Yarran.

 

[Bucking Beads]

The only change I would make would be to bring in Drummond. Most likely for Sheldon TBH. Drummond as sub works for me.

 

[whatboutbob]

Just a general reminder to keep the Bay 13 terms to the Bay.

 

[Blues_Man]

Just a general reminder to keep the Bay 13 terms to the Bay.

"Through tanking for high draft picks and AFL authorised rorting of the salary cap the Blues have put together a midfield which is up there with the best in the competition. "

I know it's your board and all ..but this kind of thing in the write up does little to enhance the quality of the thread .

 

[PTizzle]

In - Karnezis(sub),Drummond,Harwood

Out- Lester,Bewick,Sheldon

This looks good to me. Although I do think Sheldon did a pretty good job coming on as the sub.

Would definitely be looking to bring Drummond in and Harwood can't keep getting ignored. Maybe bring in Retzlaff instead of Karnezis and have Polec as the sub?

 

[irel]

"Through tanking for high draft picks and AFL authorised rorting of the salary cap the Blues have put together a midfield which is up there with the best in the competition. "

I know it's your board and all ..but this kind of thing in the write up does little to enhance the quality of the thread .

The censors were dining out on the Melbourne carcass when that one went through or more likely our censors thought it reflected an accurate assessment of your list. However to digress that is mild to what goes on your board, as long as it comes from one of your own affcourse.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I certainly hope the coaching staff are going to try Beams running with Murphy. WOuld be a good challenge for him.

 

[Elixuh]

I really hope we get a good crowd on Thur night in lieu of what Bob said in the membership thread today.

 

[Grimreepah]

I would be disappointed to see Lester dropped on the back of one below par game. He was good in the pre-season, he offers a lot with his versatility and most importantly he is a bit of a favourite of mine.

I'm not Bewick's biggest fan, but he looks a better player to me than last year, and I don't think his form was bad enough to sacrifice continuity.

Sheldon I have stuck up for in the hope that we are all missing some hidden talents that are not obvious to the untrained eye, and that he is some type of prototype small forward that will become apparent when things click for him, but he is givng me very little to continue to mount a case for him. A late goal to boost your disposal efficiency up to 20% is not going to win many people over.

 

[Duritz]

Great write up, Quigley.

I think we showed in the NAB that Carlton are vulnerable away from home, and that we've improved a lot since last year. I'd be very worried if I were a Carlton supporter, that NAB Cup victory will be hard to reverse.

Looking forward to another comfortable win on the back of that.

 

[Elixuh]

I'm not Bewick's biggest fan, but he looks a better player to me than last year, and I don't think his form was bad enough to sacrifice continuity.

From a layman's perspective - Bewick at present seems to have an impact in patches and that impact (just from the Melb game) looks to be more improved than it was last year (he fly's under the radar a bit). I actually think his game style suits a plan where we are looking to quickly move into offense from defence and vice versa.

At the moment in my opinion he is perfect as either the player who is subbed out or subbed in.

Which reminds me, what happened to O'Brien?

 

[Shaq attack]

I think we have a genuine chance in this one! Our midfield should be able to match it with theirs and our makeshift fwd line should cause some headaches in this game and our next 3 we will be a real 50/50 chance apart for GC who we will smash. That being said a poor showing on thursday and last weeks win counts for very little, would still be happy if we went down by 3 goals or less.

 

[gecko8]

From a layman's perspective - Bewick at present seems to have an impact in patches and that impact (just from the Melb game) looks to be more improved than it was last year (he fly's under the radar a bit). I actually think his game style suits a plan where we are looking to quickly move into offense from defence and vice versa.

At the moment in my opinion he is perfect as either the player who is subbed out or subbed in.

Which reminds me, what happened to O'Brien?

I'd be interested to hear how O'Brien went in the ressies also. For me, Bewick just lacks a bit of urgency when in possession and doesn't have quite the same polish that O'Brien has. Would assume that they're both fighting for the same spot in the side. They both seem to play that link up role (although bewick seemed to be put more in a HFF role against melb) but at the moment both tend to fade in and out of games. Really hope Jesse puts it together this season because there just seems to be a touch of class about him and heaven's knows we need more clean users of the ball.

 

[Harry Haller]

I rewatched the game and I thought Lester was ok, he didn't have the impact of other games but late into the last quarter he was still influencing and winning contests. He simply took a while to settle. The only real change I would make would be Harwood in for Sheldon and start Bewick as the sub. GO'D mentioned tht some may be rested to freshen up the side and in that case Lester would probably make way. I don't think Drummond can come in if another tall back is not dropped, purely for balance reasons.

 

[chopperduck]

Think Sheldon probably will stay in the team, his defensive work might be needed, maybe as a forward tag on Yarran. Might we why we opted for him as the sub in round 1, to make sure he is fresh.

Harwood for Bewick, i'm not entirely sure. Bewick wasn't great, but wasn't bad either. He clearly had the job to present a target on the wing, and help to keep driving the ball forward and he did this. His kicking can be damaging at times, and i think he reads the ball in flight pretty good. His main downside is his hands, they aren't quick enough, but it's something he can work on. I'm not sure bringing Harwood in that he would play the same position, but perhaps a slight rejig of the size might find someone else to play that role, to give Harwood more time on the ball.

I know Harwood has been working on his outside game, and having some more ball winning ability wouldn't go astray against a midfield like the blues. Wouldn't be surprised either way really.