Preview Round 5 - Gather Round, a Celebration of Football

[Grasshopper17]

Round 5 Preview – Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions

Saturday 12 April, 4:15pm AEST, Norwood Oval SA


Like last year, I’ve put up my hand to write a preview for the Dogs v Lions game. Last time we were coming off the pre-bye shocker against the Hawks, and I had serious doubts about our future and whether we could string any wins together at all in the back half of the season.

Record since then: Won 18, Lost 2.

I think it is worth stopping and reflecting on this, as we may well never see a better run of results in our lifetime. Its an absolute privilege to watch this team every week and I certainly try my best not to take it for granted.


Last time we met – Round 13 2024 - Bulldogs 10.11 (71) dftd by Lions 17.12 (114).

Highlights:



In one of our best wins of the season, we kick-started our run towards the flag with a smacking of the Bulldogs. Though the Dogs were only on 6 wins at the time, like us they were statistically one of the strongest teams and also had a strong second half of the season to make the top 8. Lachie had 38 and kicked 2 goals, and Hippy had a career game kicking 6 and taking 4 contested marks.

A note on Gather Round​

Much like how opening round generates cynicism from the average Collingwood fan who thinks that jumping on the number 11 tram constitutes ‘serious travelling,’ I’ve seen some criticism from Lions fans directed towards Gather Round that I want to call out.

In principle, I agree that there are things wrong about Gather Round – it has artificially propped up Port the last 2 years by giving them and the Crows an extra home game above the rest of the competition.

On the flipside, Port have fallen on their face in finals in amusing fashion AND held on to Ken, so I think it’s a net positive for the competition.

But what I see is a complaint that we’ve been “kept off Adelaide Oval.” Lachie echoed this complaint this week:




All I can say to this is – SHUT UP, DON'T GIVE THE AFL ANY IDEAS!


For commercial reasons the AFL will never have us play the Crows or Port in gather round (they want a big Victorian club to juice ratings). THIS IS A GOOD THING. It means we don’t have an extra true away game.

The only other option is to play a big Victorian club at Adelaide Oval as a neutral venue, which (a) possibly cuts down on our games in Melbourne and particularly at the MCG, and (b) if the big Vic Club isn’t good (Richmond), it takes away from a possible easy true away game.


This is also selfish, as I’ve been to Gather Round the last 2 years and it has been great to get away from Adelaide Oval for the Lions Game. Frankly, I’m more disappointed that we didn’t get sent to the Barossa!

As it is I'll be having a nice lunch at a great restaurant pre-game before wandering over to Norwood. If you are a Gather Round sceptic, take time off and go to it - its a much better attendance event than tv spectacle.

Game Preview​

Injury lists – This is preliminary based on last weeks injury list. For us, Kai is a chance to get up with his ankle injury, Doedee got a run in the VFL but probably needs some more footy, Kiddy is 3-5 weeks away and Starce is still a TBC.

For the Dogs, fortunately and unfortunately, Bont is still out. While this sadly means that Kane Cornes isn’t quitting his media career, I’ll take the consolation prize of not having to face Bont. Weightman is out indefinitely, Treloar has another soft tissue and Johannisen is probably doubtful. I don’t think there were any injuries out of yesterdays game against Freo.

Where are the Dogs at?

Frankly the Dogs have performed admirably given their injury list. Being 2-2 with two of their four best midfielders being out is very good, and losses to Collingwood by a kick and Fremantle by less than 3 goals away is totally fine. The wins have almost been less impressive, a narrow victory over norf and then storming home against Carlton.

Ed Richards and Freijah have been superb, and Sam Darcy may be the best player in the competition. Although I think he’s just too tall – I don’t think he’d even fit into a car.



Darcy should be banned from playing, imo.

My final thought watching a bit of last nights Freo-Dogs game was that there were too many players wearing white headbands.

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Where are we at? What is our Brand? What do we stand for? Are we suffering a premiership hangover despite being undefeated? Is Llordo still a bitter hack?

Yes.

Where are we at? Hard to say. The advanced ladder modellers have us anywhere from 1st-7th. Our squiggle rating is way down, pretty much because they rate West Coast and Richmond so lowly, and we only had smallish margin of victory against them.

We are second on Wheeloratings defensive rankings, but 8th for Attack – which makes sense to me. We’ve had personnel absences up forward and are still working out our method in the post-Joe era. It is far too early to draw any conclusions from any of this, particularly because I think the models are (naturally at this time of year) weighting last year’s team ratings too much.

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I suspect that other teams belting the Dees for example, are being overrated because the Dees are even worse than previously expected. But clearly we are just going, so its great we’ve banked 4 wins.


Selection and Gameplan - I think we go unchanged for this one, assuming Kai is touch and go with the ankle. Given how proppy he looked against Geelong, makes sense to be cautious. I know there is a sizable contingent that wants Day dropped, and while I can see an argument to give Henry Smith a run, I still think Henry could use another VFL game. This means that Day gets 2 more weeks to show value, otherwise its Henry time.

The Dogs have been a hard team to move the ball against (at least prior to yesterday’s game), and I have a slight concern on our uncontested mark game. We’ve only got above 100 total marks once this year (against West Coast), though we were barely short of that against the Tigers and Cats.

For reference, last year we only had sub-100 marks 8 times out of 27 games – and we lost 5 and drew one of those 8 games. We only won 2 games where we took less than 100 marks last year, so we've already beaten that record in four games this year.

Point being, I don’t think we’ve quite been on it so far in our gameplan. I don’t think the conditions have helped (absurd warm temperatures and the rain against the Cats), and I'm sure our opponents have gone to work on us so far, but I’d like to see this tick up quite a bit. Norwood isn't a great ground for us given the narrow boundary, but we can still do better.

Up forward, I’d have Froggy take on Naughton, Payne to Darcy, and Harris to pay O’Donnell no respect at all and live in front of Darcy’s leading lanes. Midfield control and pressure needs to lift several levels from the weekend. I’d put Dunks to Ed Richards as he’s more damaging than Libba.


Tip: I honestly have no idea which way this one goes. I have a few doubts about our performance, but on the flip side we’ve risen to the occasion in the second half against real competition this year and fought out a win. Is it a mature team knowing how to pace themselves, or are we only just going? I’m not sure.

Given the Dogs outs I think we’ll get it done, but I suspect it will be another workmanlike performance rather than an imposing win. If Bont was fit, this one would be a total toss up.


Lions by 2 goals.

Great preview mate.

Not much hope for our uncontested mark game on Saturday I don't think. Narrow ground, everything will be in straight lines I reckon. Good tune up for when we play in Geelong later in the year. And to a lesser extent when we travel back to Adelaide to face the Crows.

Agree with Payne to Darcy. Could be a pivotal match up. The rest can please themselves.

At the other end Day goes to Lobb and tries to make life hell for him.

No excuses for us here really. The Bulldogs are coming off a six day break with double travel and a Perth trip. If this was our lot and we got the points we would rightly talk this up as one of our great wins.

Plus we are more familiar with the ground than they are.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Watching a few footy shows I have come to the conclusion that Brisbane as a footy team is a figment of my imagination as there is no trace of us in the shows.

Outstanding isn't it. Flying under the radar is a dark art well worth excelling at.

 

[Tom14]

Great preview mate.

Not much hope for our uncontested mark game on Saturday I don't think. Narrow ground, everything will be in straight lines I reckon. Good tune up for when we play in Geelong later in the year. And to a lesser extent when we travel back to Adelaide to face the Crows.

Agree with Payne to Darcy. Could be a pivotal match up. The rest can please themselves.

At the other end Day goes to Lobb and tries to make life hell for him.

No excuses for us here really. The Bulldogs are coming off a six day break with double travel and a Perth trip. If this was our lot and we got the points we would rightly talk this up as one of our great wins.

Plus we are more familiar with the ground than they are.

Max temp of 32 too on Saturday

Fair point on the ground shape being an issue - I still want us to change angles as much as we can though. Listening to the ESPN podcast, we rank #13 on how often we score from a chain. All our scoring is coming from quantity, not quality.

That is fixable, and would like us to take a step forward this week. One of Cam or Hippy needs to find some form, and we are desperately missing Kai's marking ability.

 

[Elixuh]

Max temp of 32 too on Saturday

Fair point on the ground shape being an issue - I still want us to change angles as much as we can though. Listening to the ESPN podcast, we rank #13 on how often we score from a chain. All our scoring is coming from quantity, not quality.

That is fixable, and would like us to take a step forward this week. One of Cam or Hippy needs to find some form, and we are desperately missing Kai's marking ability.

Should be around 27-29 during our game, but a dry 27-29. A cakewalk for our boys.

 

[Nunez]

Should be around 27-29 during our game, but a dry 27-29. A cakewalk for our boys.

Boys will rock up in sleeves it'll be that cold!

 

[Tom14]

Boys will rock up in sleeves it'll be that cold!

It'll be a glorious winter's day

 

[Morbidly_Obese]

Watching a few footy shows I have come to the conclusion that Brisbane as a footy team is a figment of my imagination as there is no trace of us in the shows.

How do you know that everything else is not just a figment of your imagination and maybe its your own mind that is causing the lack of coverage of our club in the media?

 

[Viceregal]

Someone once was trying to convince me that all of the reality we see was simply the result of our collective subconsciousness.

Realising that any argument inside his parameters was futile I merely pointed out that if that was in fact the case then our collective subconsciousnesses were sick!

Shades of Mr Smith in one of the Matrix movies explaining why humanities' simulation wasn't a paradise...

 

[irel]

Seeing that all you b astards are creations of my consciousness and I control everything, therefore I am your God. As I feel very benevolent God, rest assured that I will ensure The Brisbane Lions never lose a game of AFL and I will win premierships in perpetuity.

How boring my existence.

 

[On the quiet]

Watching a few footy shows I have come to the conclusion that Brisbane as a footy team is a figment of my imagination as there is no trace of us in the shows.

Correct. Sunday night 'first crac'k, luck to be a couple of minutes re the Lions v Richmond game. Virtually the same non existent coverage on 'AFL360', and little, if any analysis of the game 'on the couch' program.

I might be wrong, but some of these commentators are All Australian selectors, and perhaps some of our talented youngsters are not getting the attention they deserve...but then again lack of scrutiny and flying under the radar is beneficial.

 

[p4p1]

I can see both sides of it.

I do think Harris is a better match-up. Payne could out-body him BUT Payne likes to play in front, i fear Darcy could just leap over him.

But yes maybe Harris can afford to disrespect O'Donnell. I have seen O'Donnell look pretty handy but not really a goal-kicker. Dogs are very Darcy-conscious atm which is fair enough.

Whatever we do i hope we have a plan A and, dare i say it, a plan B! Not the set and forget like Hogan in the semi-final

Norwood is very narrow so will be harder to find space. Centre clearance will be crucial, time for Oscar to smash in to English. We should have an advantage with no Bont or Treloar but Liberatore is in great form.

The key forwards are a big watch. Hipwood had no pre-season but hoping to see more soon. Morris doing his bit. We need SOME goals out of Day!

Given the short turnaround i would love to see some fresh legs v pies. So if Day is still on the quiet side, giving Smith a run makes sense. Lohman if he is not 100% fit should be given another week. Not many other contenders in the 2s other than McKenna i guess, depending on who might need a rest. I would say logically Zorko given his age and importance, but can we afford to rest him v the pies?

The VFL looks like it has a bye (gather round i guess?) so anyone coming in would be fresh

Fletch has proven he can take Zorks role for a week. Bring in Brain or McKenna.

 

[Section 5]

Oscar Baker accepted 1 week ban.

 

[Tom14]

Oscar Baker accepted 1 week ban.

2 to go.

 

[morsie]

I must say, the dogs are my most respected team of 2025. They’ve had injuries to their most key players but have performed exceptionally well.

I am also in eager anticipation of seeing whatever messed up hairdo Rory lobb goes with this week.

The Lobb(ster) is epic.

 

[Perrip]

Qscan Injury Report: Positive signs for Starcevich
No Lohmann this weekend

 

[Tom14]

Qscan Injury Report: Positive signs for Starcevich
No Lohmann this weekend

Henry Smith in concussion protocols as well, not available for selection.

 

[Beware The Wounded Lion]

It's a shame for Smith but I couldn't see Fagan dropping Day for this weekend. He was better against Richmond, found space for some marks up the field and had 16 hit-outs vs Nank. Hopefully his adjustment period is nearly over, otherwise, young Henry will get the call up.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Henry Smith in concussion protocols as well, not available for selection.

I wonder if the club will get looked at for letting him play out the game. Seemed to be an incident early in the 4th

 

[Section 5]

Dogs' injury list finally posted
Also, Oscar Baker suspended for 1 week, so he misses also.

Dogs

PLAYER	INJURY	ESTIMATED RETURN
Marcus Bontempelli	Calf	1-2 weeks
Nick Coffield	Hamstring	4-6 weeks
Taylor Duryea	Managed	Test
Riley Garcia	Knee	4-6 weeks
Jason Johannisen	Hamstring	Test
Anthony Scott	Knee	1-2 weeks
Adam Treloar	Calf	3-5 weeks
Cody Weightman	Knee	Indefinite
Laitham Vandermeer	Knee	Test
Updated: April 8, 2025

In the mix​

Vandermeer will be monitored this week after being subbed out of the loss to Fremantle with knee soreness. Duryea has been battling general soreness and will need to prove his fitness ahead of the clash against Brisbane at Norwood. Scott has been sidelined again with concussion. Bontempelli is at least a week away from returning from the calf injury he suffered in the AAMI Community Series. Jedd Busslinger was busy in the VFL, collecting 25 touches and 10 marks for Footscray as he hunts a debut. – Josh Gabelich

 

[Tom14]

I wonder if the club will get looked at for letting him play out the game. Seemed to be an incident early in the 4th

On reflection I think it might have happened late in the third? Definitely saw him stay down for a long while and get up looking sluggish.

Was definitely in the third because I left at 3QT to go to the pub.

 

[twhowler]

On reflection I think it might have happened late in the third? Definitely saw him stay down for a long while and get up looking sluggish.

Was definitely in the third because I left at 3QT to go to the pub.

You would think if there were any symptoms he would be straight off. Not exactly high stakes

A shame as he could have been a good fresh in v pies. Given Day’s injury history hard to see him backing up off the 5 day break

 

[Elixuh]

Have the Dogs ever played at Norwood Oval?

 

[Grasshopper17]

No. Played Geelong at Adelaide Oval last year and Port in 2023.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Have the Dogs ever played at Norwood Oval?

Affirmative.

 

[Elixuh]

Affirmative.

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