Review Round 5, 2015: Gold Coast Suns vs. Brisbane Lions

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For the first time in a long time (since the Collingwood game last year, at least) the players actually looked like a team.

The moment that stuck with me from the whole night was when Lynch marked the ball right on the boundary about 30m out, which was right in front of me. Bennell ran straight up to him and said "you can do it, go for the shot". Lynch looked really conflicted and motioned to Harley that he wanted to handpass to him instead, but Harley yelled back "you've got this" with a big smile on his face. Lynch banana'd the kick straight between the post for 6 points and Harley ran straight up to him with a big hug.

Doesn't sound like much, but to see it in person and to see how much Bennell's moral support helped Lynch's confidence... wow. Extremely impressed with both of them.

I thought that tonight's game was good, but not great. We capitalised on Brisbane's mistakes, and how pressure was pretty top notch for the most part. Poor kicking has plagued us once again, with 10 behinds - two of which were right in front of goal (Martin and Lemmens). 18 goals and 10 behinds is not a terrible effort, but that's still ten shots on goal that were ineffective.

Our defence looked a lot stronger than it has been - in particular, Kade and Maysie were dominant in locking down their player. Saad was incredible yet again, but there were some poor decisions that will more and likely be improved on in future matches given this was only his fifth AFL game ever. Tape and Lemmens were definitely the weakest links, with Tape being nowhere near AFL level. Lemmens was nothing special, but had moments of promise. Tape has no excuses.

Our midfield looked strong, but in my opinion, yet still looked weak by comparison with our best midfield make-up. Prestia wasn't as smooth as usual, but seemed to be getting more inside ball than he has been, which could explain it. He ended up with 28 disposals, which is pretty awesome though. Definitely stood up when we needed up. Impressed by Glenn, disappointed by Nicholls.

The ruck is our biggest weakness, and watching Nicholls play from behind every single throw in or ball up had me angry and irritated. He's by no means terrible outside of the rucking contest (racking up 3 penalties to him, plus numerous tackles, a few marks), but when it comes to actually hitting the ball, he's useless. In the off-season we really need to draft a mature and experienced ruckman, because Smith and Nicholls aren't cutting it.

Our forward line was total quality tonight. Dixon was fired up and angry as *, Lynch was effective and leading the entire front pack, and Bennell and Martin were on fire. Without Day there to spud things up we actually looked like premiership material on the front line. A little bit rusty and poor at times, but very impressive.

Dixon, Saad, Miller, Bennell, and Harbrow were superstars tonight. I bought my Indigenous guernsey before the game and ended up getting Harbrow's 5 on the back, and I'm very glad I did!

I think everyone played well, but Tape (despite his injury) isn't really worth even having in the NEAFL. Showed no passion, fire, skill, or motivation.

Liability - noun - See 'Seb Tape' for more info.

 

[TheSunGod]

Little bit harsh on Seb as he always tries hard but his kicking is basically negligible. Has no power at all in his kicks and telegraphs little 15m sideways kicks that float in the air and are more than often picked off by opponents. Cannot kick on the run at all...I can sympathize with him as this skill was what prevented me from playing AFL at the highest level...err that and my complete lack of an engine.

 

[nutstar]

What are our thoughts on maysie? Could only watch on my phone today and didn't look like much , in trouble ?

 

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Little bit harsh on Seb as he always tries hard but his kicking is basically negligible. Has no power at all in his kicks and telegraphs little 15m sideways kicks that float in the air and are more than often picked off by opponents. Cannot kick on the run at all...I can sympathize with him as this skill was what prevented me from playing AFL at the highest level...err that and my complete lack of an engine.

I love Seb's intensity - he plays hard as *. But he just makes stupid decisions. His ineptitude is evident in the incident where he injured himself. His kicking is poor, his skills are poor, his discipline is lacking, and his overall ability just isn't AFL-level. Nothing against him personally, but much like Day, he just spuds it up when we need him to perform.

 

[TheSunGod]

What are our thoughts on maysie? Could only watch on my phone today and didn't look like much , in trouble ?

Looked a good, fair bump to me, JB called it as nothing, Mike Whiting said it was fair, so the tribunal will probably give him 3 weeks.

 

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Looked a good, fair bump to me, JB called it as nothing, Mike Whiting said it was fair, so the tribunal will probably give him 3 weeks.

Hodge and Lewis will get off with a $1000 fine, May will get 5 weeks.

 

[Young_Guns]

I didn't think Tape played too bad, although his kicking skills are atrocious, even for us! Also thought Nicholls went well in general play, especially against the mobile Martin. Just his tap work letting him down. If only we could combine Smiths tap work with Nicholls around the ground work, we'd have a great ruckmen.

What are our thoughts on maysie? Could only watch on my phone today and didn't look like much , in trouble ?

It looked pretty innocuous live, however replays look a bit worse. Still, he shouldn't have a case to answer, but knowing the MRP he'll probably get 2 months and they'll give Jaeger 2 weeks for eating a salad with a plastic fork when it happened!

 

[Yellow Feathers]

We need more action on this forum. Game day threads. Post-match threads. It's all good. I'm more of a lurk-liker, it's not that I don't like-lurkers.

Honestly, I was jealous (jelly) of the way the bulldogs have gone about this season. A team full of kids that have stood up and given the middle finger to the doubters. Jelly.

But, we killed it today. Good stuff. We're not without hope.

 

[Matchu]

Dixon is clearly struggling with match fitness (looked exhausted, even in the second quarter) but his work ethic and hardness at the ball is inspiring for the rest of the team. He'll get better through the season if he can stay healthy.

 

[SUNS]

Dixon is clearly struggling with match fitness (looked exhausted, even in the second quarter) but his work ethic and hardness at the ball is inspiring for the rest of the team. He'll get better through the season if he can stay healthy.

Oh well. If he can only muster 6 goals while he is not fit, we can save the 10 goal bags for when he has a few games under his belt

 

[Ogopogo]

A much better effort! No matter who the opponent was, the guys played much better football - the kind of football that will keep them competitive.

I have always been a big Dixon fan and, he did not dissapoint. Bennell, Saad, May, Martin and many others looked good but, as a whole, the club finally looked like a cohesive, competitive unit. Hopefully, that level of play continues next week so we can compete with the Crows.

If we can play this way with so many key pieces out....just maybe being 8 points back of the top 8 isn't so impossible to overcome?

 

[Herbs]

Well that's better than losing. Bloody good hit by May as well, should get zero weeks but the MRP are off the planet so...

 

[exile]

Hodge and Lewis will get off with a $1000 fine, May will get 5 weeks.

might have to bring back the #freemaysie campaign

 

[Dammit]

Just noticed on the Dund app Fans MVP that Aaron Hall is aitting on one vote...

Can someone explain to me how that happened haha? Can players vote for themselves?

 

[Stroppy]

First best thing about the game was the increase in tackling intensity. Looked like much more effort closing down opponents and wrapping them up. 90 odd tackles this week, up from our 50 odd of the 1st 4 games. Defenders must have been happy, with most entries under pressure. Felt sorry for them last week with the easy ball coming their way.

Our 3 highest tackle averages last year were Jaeger 6.5, Gaz 6 and Swallow 5.5 and we need to replace them (increase them would be better). I thought McKenzie did a good job and the stats say 10 tackles. He seemed to be on Beams most of the night and kept him under pressure even though he got a bit of the ball.

Second best thing was that this was done with the youngest 22 of the round (both age and games) by a fair margin (although the second youngest was the Bulldogs; yikes). A few keepers in the youngsters, including a couple of rookies (about time we had a full complement).

Third best thing was a general lift in defensive pressure. Prestia definitely lifted, although a couple of times he let his opponent run off him into the forward 50 for marks, as per normal. If he improves his defense he will be elite. Harley, as we all probably know, is a game winner when he is on and giving it everything. Will never be a big contested ball winner but if he runs both ways hard like he did this game then the ball will find him and good things will happen.

Big test next week though with Adelaide playing hard most of the time, with a very good midfield and forward line. If we play with the same intensity next week I will be stoked

 

[Bazza37]

There was no intent to injury
Never left his feet
Incident occurred while contesting for the football
Tom Rockliff Jaw not broken
May free to floor Tex next week

 

[TARGETMAN]

Hodge and Lewis will get off with a $1000 fine, May will get 5 weeks.

hey watch it.

what a great atmosphere at the suns. the team played as a team, the fans screamed(for a change) and got home to watch the hawks. great night of footy///////sponsored by carlton of course//////

 

[Bazza37]

Seb Tape only MCL
I thought he played well in parts
However has absolutely no idea what to do with the football
Just runs around until he get tackled which lead to him getting injured
The McKenna days of kicking it down the line are over SEB
He needs to hit targets and stop looking for someone to bail him out.

 

[Bazza37]

NAB Rising Week 5 : Adam Saad

 

[newcastlefalcon]

Here's my rant about the team and game this weekend.
With the amount of rain thats fallen and still falling in Brisbane, and that the rain is expected to clear toward the south, Gold Coast will be getting a heap of rain tonight - some predictions 200+ml.
As a result we should expect to see the ball on the ground an awful lot.
Team changes:
Not surprised to see Hall out - he just looks lost too often for me;
I am beginning to worry about Zac Smith he seems to get monstered too often after the pre seasons he has now had I expected better.
Not surprised about Malceski he has looked a shadow of the Swans player - don't know if he was carrying an injury from the start.
Glenn is certainly worth a start. I would also have Hallahan in but it seems that Rocket was iffy about him from the NAB cup. These two are both hard in and under at the ball, something that has been lacking.
I am glad Schade has got fit enough to earn a start. I hope he does well.
I would be giving Dixon this week off, I think it is a big ask for him to play his second game back in this weather. I admit that I have a soft spot for Gorringe particularly for his 2nd and 3rd efforts and his work on the deck, I would have him in - I think he needs a run of games so we can see whether we are going to trade him home to SA.
I know he is injured after being dropped last week but for me Sam Day needs to be given a position to play for about 10 games rather than being thrown about to try and plug holes. We need to establish whether he is a key component of the team, back up or trade bait.
I worry about Harrow coming straight back in and my inclination would be to start playing him forward - for me he turns the ball over too many times so maybe having the goals to aim at rather than a team-mate might reduce some of these.
I am a real Kolodjashnij fan but he doesn't seem as clean or have as much time this year - maybe I am being picky.
We have a lot of holes but there is a great opportunity for individuals to stand up like Riska has as acting Captain.
The game well it reminds me of a Warren Ryan comment in league where he talked about the result of a league game where "Manly beat St George 4 to nil and St George were lucky to get to NIL!"

Well I am glad to see the Suns have some better judges than me after watching the game vs Lions. My only attempt at an excuse is that I thought that the ground would be much wetter and slippery given the recent rain.
Dixon did a great job, seemed like a number of the Suns ran taller and harder with him in the side. I hope he can have an injury free run. Interesting to see his impact on Lynch's game though - Lynch did seem to do a lot work far further up the ground and into the backline.
Nicholls toiled hard against Martin, showed why he is in and Zac Smith is out.
I liked what Glenn and Schade showed too, if fit both worth another start.
The backs seemed to work better but the opposition was not great.
Kolodjashnij seemed to have the time and better delivery and was much more like last year than the previous games this year. I hope that is the start of things to come.
I just can't help but like Saad, he plays with a passion, joy and attack on the ball that is so enjoyable. Sometimes he does run himself into trouble but I will always prefer someone who can occasionally do that while attacking the ball and just having a go.
I also like what Martin does (apart from the kick in the goal square), he oozes class and surprises me by what he does for his size and age.
All round, much improved but the opposition has a lot to do to go close to the pre season hype.

 

[davesnothere]

How many games can you keep Glenn in the side? Do you have enough players on the long term injury list for the year?

 

[Young_Guns]

How many games can you keep Glenn in the side? Do you have enough players on the long term injury list for the year?

He recently got promoted to the senior list for Jaeger who was placed on the LTI, so he's good to go for the rest of the season.

 

[davesnothere]

He recently got promoted to the senior list for Jaeger who was placed on the LTI, so he's good to go for the rest of the season.

Will get better as he goes. That win was better than it looked and the Crows aren't as good as they would have people believe. Hoping you back it up next week.

 

[Sunizzle]

Good to get a win. Good game from most of the boys. They played for each other, shepherding, running to space, all of that stuff. I think offensively the Lions made a us look good though, we had a lot of space to do what we want. Won't get that next week.

I don't think the win alone could've atoned for the first 4 weeks, but to put them to sword with such an inexperienced team has showed me that we're not completely lost, when the effort is there the quick corridor style of footy works and it's exciting to watch.

I hope the boys can build on that and not regress when playing the better teams. Go Suns!

 

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I can't wait to see May's hit on Rocky in the 2015 'bring back the biff' highlight reel