Review Round 24, 2023 - Brisbane Lions vs. St. Kilda

[Mighty Lions]

Thanks so much luthor... Reading all the comments here and on Twitter I thought "strewth, I must have been absolutely f*ckeyed on Saturday". And, in fairness, that's distinctly possible... You probably can spot the mate in your group who is on way too tight a leash when he is ordering a round of shots at the Brisbane Brewing Co at 3:30pm en route to the game.

Besides all that it felt like I was watching a completely different game to everyone else. I watched a game where if anyone was doing the strangling, it was us. We suffocated them into submission at one end and then suffocated ourselves at the other end because we couldn't kick straight any more than 20 metres out.

My (very) loose observation was that the game had a bit of a "last day of school" feel to it. The only time it didn't was after St Kilda hit the front in the 3rd quarter, and then in the final couple of minutes when we went into full "save the game" mode. Most blokes had moments where they were just that little bit off, obviously Joe's first quarter miss the poster boy.

Other than that I thought it was a ringing endorsement of our "system". Dominated the game, our "pre-end-of-game" play was outstanding and we executed our "save-the-game" tactics very well also. Notwithstanding the fact that they were only necessary due to our inaccuracy.

Feels like we're as well placed as we've been since 2004. We may have been more talented player for player in 2021; our percentage that year indicated as much. But those 2 years since seem to have brought a little more experience, consistency and capacity to respond in key moments. Particularly since the Melbourne game. Our system is also the most stable and reliable it's looked since 2004.

Long story short, this September there are no more excuses, and Fages acknowledged as much in his post match press conference.

Seems like you know a little about the game yourself so in saying that you also should know that finals are unpredictable and often the side that wins isn't necessarily the best team on paper or have the best draw.
No more excuses maybe a good thing to say but to win a flag, EVERYTHING needs to align the right way including a bit of luck. No doubt we are in it up to our necks and this September promises to be an exciting one for all connected to The Lions is some way.
In my mind we have a real opportunity to qualify for the big dance with 2 home finals but looking at our opposition, whichever of the 4 teams (Pies, Power, Lions, Demons) brings their A game to every game played next month will win it.....I sincerely hope that is us. Grand Finals are extremely difficult to qualify into, even more difficult to win.

 

[FeastOrFamine]

Solid game by us overall. Only blemish on that performance was obviously the goal kicking but I thought our defence and midfield were sublime barring a few minor brain fades. It was certainly a pressure cooker which is what I thought we needed going into finals (the pre-finals bye comes in handy for us this year). The trick for us now is to maintain our damaging patches throughout quarters in a similar vein to the Collingwood game. I wasn't super impressed with Lyons in the middle, but I've got no issue with him being in the team if that's the way it goes. I'd imagine he goes out and Linc comes back in.

On a completely unrelated note I can't believe the H&A season is over.

 

[irel]

Hang on ste

I'm old and arthritic but a Lions win makes me feel young and pain free.

Just need that adrenalin rush of a Flag one more time before I drop off the perch

Hang on steadfast to that perch my friend 'cause we are on one hell of a ride over the next few years.
I've hitched my perch to Fagan's wagon and anticipating a smooth ride (with a few rough patches) over the next few years.

 

[M Malice]

I'm old and arthritic but a Lions win makes me feel young and pain free.

Just need that adrenalin rush of a Flag one more time before I drop off the perch

Hang on ste

Hang on steadfast to that perch my friend 'cause we are on one hell of a ride over the next few years.
I've hitched my perch to Fagan's wagon and anticipating a smooth ride (with a few rough patches) over the next few years.

Us over 60s have to stick together, those over 50s in The Den are a disruptive influence... bloody whippersnappers.

 

[Ad Astra]

The guy coach’s under 11’s and thinks he knows more then Fagan. Has a habit of shouting others down who have a different opinion. The block function is not even helpful any longer, every other post is just responding to his dribble which means none of the threads are coherent reading when the block function is activated. Each to their own I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

That’s way harsh. I don’t read all the comments or contribute every week but I find 3KZ to be humorous, friendly and self effacing. And often makes good calls.
Plus, he barracked for Fitzroy, making him a demi-god and assured of his place in Valhalla.

 

[twhowler]

Us over 60s have to stick together, those over 50s in The Den are a disruptive influence... bloody whippersnappers.

It does feel a bit like 'ask not for whom the bell tolls' when i think about being an 18yo at the 2001 grand final, glorious sunshine, never in doubt the lions would win a flag, my nervous 48yo dad who never saw one for fitzroy and was convinced we would lose... now i am 40yo, haven't seen a flag in 20 years and full of trepidation about ever seeing one again.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Having watched this game again, this time sober, over the last few days, my main areas of concern are centre bounces and kick-ins, both ours and theirs.

Obviously McKenna and Coleman made a complete mess of a couple that led to Saints goals and there were a couple more that probably should have.

Then at the other end, St Kilda were able to go end to end against us really easily, including up the middle a couple of times, which should always be the near impossible option and should result in a score FOR us 99% of the time.

And centre bounces have been a concern for several weeks. Regardless of the numbers themselves, we rarely look like scoring when we get them yet we seem to get opened up pretty easily when we lose them, and it's only good defence that's been saving us.

The really odd thing is that these are all set plays, which you would really think should be the easiest parts of the game to plan for and execute. Compare this to the way we've been defending turnovers and setting up our zone. This relies on attitude as much as strategy, is far more complex, but has been quite outstanding in the last 2 games.

So I'd like to think that this is all mental and can be easily corrected by our guys tuning into their roles a bit better, ie Coleman/McKenna being more precise with their disposal, being ready for the long down the middle kicks at the other end.

But it's getting late in the season for that, and as everyone keeps saying about Collingwood, it's mighty hard to simply "flick the switch" in the finals. I wonder if this is some fine tuning we are looking to get right over the 14 days between games.

 

[Pride of lions]

Having watched this game again, this time sober, over the last few days, my main areas of concern are centre bounces and kick-ins, both ours and theirs.

Obviously McKenna and Coleman made a complete mess of a couple that led to Saints goals and there were a couple more that probably should have.

Then at the other end, St Kilda were able to go end to end against us really easily, including up the middle a couple of times, which should always be the near impossible option and should result in a score FOR us 99% of the time.

And centre bounces have been a concern for several weeks. Regardless of the numbers themselves, we rarely look like scoring when we get them yet we seem to get opened up pretty easily when we lose them, and it's only good defence that's been saving us.

The really odd thing is that these are all set plays, which you would really think should be the easiest parts of the game to plan for and execute. Compare this to the way we've been defending turnovers and setting up our zone. This relies on attitude as much as strategy, is far more complex, but has been quite outstanding in the last 2 games.

So I'd like to think that this is all mental and can be easily corrected by our guys tuning into their roles a bit better, ie Coleman/McKenna being more precise with their disposal, being ready for the long down the middle kicks at the other end.

But it's getting late in the season for that, and as everyone keeps saying about Collingwood, it's mighty hard to simply "flick the switch" in the finals. I wonder if this is some fine tuning we are looking to get right over the 14 days between games.

What I struggle to understand is why most of our centre clearances seem to come from the defensive side of the circle whereas the opposition seem to get theirs through the forward side of the circle which gives them direct access to goal. It seems to have been going on like that for a couple of years now. And when we do get a clearance it usually goes out wide to the flank or a very shallow forward 50 entry. Must be part of our game plan I assume,just not sure why.