Preview Round 7, 2021 - Lions v Port Saturday May 1st The Gabba

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Nov 26, 2018
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Lions v Port “The Gabba” Saturday May 1st 7.25 PM

Both teams have been good for the last 2 years so history wise that’s as far back that’s relevant
We have met 3 times in 2 years with the Lions successful on each occasion



Date
Venue
Result
High Disposal
High Goals
4/7/20
Round 5​
Gabba
Lions 85
Port 48​
Neale 29McCarthy 2
Rayner 2
Butters 2
14/7/19
Round 17
Adelaide oval
Lions 97
Port 49​
Lyons 36Cameron 4
6/4/19
Round 3
Gabba
Lions 107
Port 90​
Neale 43Hipwood 6

Best players in these 3 games
4/7/20 Port -Boak, Houston, Butters, Ebert. Lions - Neale, Lyons, Rich, McCluggage
14/7/19 Port - Boak, Gray, Wines, B-Jones. Lions - Lyons, Zorko, Neale, Rich
6/4/19 Port - Boak, Powell-Pepper, Gray, Burton. Lions - Neale, Robinson, Rich, Hipwood

At time of writing this part of the review we have yet to beat Carlton
Boy i hope i don’t have to go back and delete these two sentences😊

I won’t list all the 34 stats comparing both teams. Just some relevant ones below up to round 6.
Stats missing indicates pretty even
Marks inside 50 is a little concerning.
We need to up our Marks inside 50's a little and reduce there's a little for this game

Lions
Average per Game
Port
118​
Handballs​
164
342​
Total Disposals​
400
28​
Hitouts​
32
26​
Frees Against​
20
191​
Uncontested Possession​
250
239​
Effective Disposals​
298
9​
Marks Inside 50​
14


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ekqHnNsdK6E89eIAzyrRrmA75K2ZMlEV28j4C7FjcFqbOkIRvRUhUW8ux6cEw4cP8KaoSRRvTfVHQVxqz2--UJ7VOFKg1ca-OK1oU_YY9QPtKPcofdpLvMWacKg2wIELrl1RnSo5


TRADES 2020 Experienced Players Relevant to Last Encounter
Lions
: In Daniher Out: Martin,
Port: IN Aliir, Fantasia Out: Nil Retired Ebert

Possible Players Missing From Last Encounter
Power
- Out: Powell-Pepper, Ebert, Butters, Duursma, Rockliff ?, Ryder, S Gray, Farrell, McKenzie, Westhoff
Lions - Out: Gardiner, Neale, Rayner, S Martin, CEY ?, T Berry?,

Both Teams Win/Loss In 2021
Lions
: Wins - Pies, Bombers. Blues Loss - Swans, Cats, Dogs
Port: Wins - Roos, Bombers, Tigers, Blues, Saints Loss - Eagles

Round 6 2021
Port won a bruise free game against the Saints at home and now travel to the Gabba
No injuries to Port
Lions won a finals type game away against a determined Blues
We will be without Neale and Gardiner. Robbo’s eye looks nasty so he may miss also

In General

PORT

Forwards

One thing that did stand out in recent games is Charlie Dixon lack of scoring
His last 4 games: Eagles 0, Tigers 0, Blues 2, Saints 2.
Hopefully he fails again as he is capable of dominating a game when he gets on a role
Leading goal scorers to round 6: Fantasia 14, Georgeodes 12, Dixon 10 Motlop 8, Gray 8
So they have various avenue to goal that we need to restrict
Port does like to use the short kick inside 50. But they are good overhead as well
Port are ranked 4th (just 3 marks from 2nd) to Lions 15th for marks inside 50

Midfield
Like most modern teams they have many players running through the midfield led by Boak
Houston continues to get better and Wines has had a good season.
Amon racking up big numbers recently
Also have a good ruck in Lycett
Overall a very good midfield

Defense
This is where i believe we need to stop their run from half back and wing
Their defense can rack up huge disposal numbers and doesn't turn the ball over much in relation to those numbers. We need to change that on Saturday
Port have good defenders in - Jonas, Byrne-Jones, Burton, Aliir, Hartlett, Clurey.
Last week Frederick made his debut off half back.
However he still had 23 disposals, 6 marks, 8 intercepts, 5 score involvements, 3 inside 50’s and 1 goal assist.
And he was arguably their worst defender

Lions

Defense.

We have a solid team defense unit led by Andrews who although playing well appears to be just not as reliable as in 2020 his AA year.
Hope he gets back to his best form soon, like Saturday please.
Gardiner is out so i think AhChee slots back in to defense
A defense spot available on bench so who might get a chance
Answerth (DNP In the VFL) suspension finally completed, Madden only 8 disposals in the VFL, Ballenden played down back and had 21 disposals. Just think he is too slow to play defense in our already slow defense

Midfield
Jarryd Lyons has been great this year along with Zorko even allowing for his brain fades.
Neale not so much, but two weeks ago he was back and then sadly got injured on the weekend. He is out for an extended period:'(.
Others that run through the midfield - Bailey, McCarthy. Also Cameron a few times, mainly just to get him involved in the game.
J Berry is the other main mid but his form has been patchy and below average due to injury.
He may or may not return for round 7
Our wingers McCluggage & Robbo have played very well this year and do small stints in the midfield.
Personally I would rather they stay mainly on the wing.
Hopefully Robbo is okay to play but he did get two nasty cuts above and below the eye
That Instagram photo will most likely to go up on Robbo's wall
Neale out so i think Deven Robertson goes into this spot. Looking better each game.
A mid spot on the bench so who is in the running
Jarrod Berry if available then Mathieson (18 VFL disposals in a half) Sharp maybe
Good to see Big O back last week and he played well.

Forwards
Lions guys who don’t get that many possessions v Port defense that regularly have a feast of possessions
Forward pressure from us will be vital against Port along with better delivery inside our forward 50.
Our three talls are getting to know how to play together. Hope they gel better again this Saturday
With Neale out I think McCarthy could be the key to this game.
Will he play his usual role which will be needed against Port
Or will they run him mainly through the Midfield to take up a lot of Neale's mid minutes
If he takes up Neale minutes does that bring K Coleman or T Berry into consideration in the forward role
Not sure what the coaches will decide is best for this game

Who Comes In For Neale & Gardiner
Anyone could be named so the discussion will continue until Friday evening
T Berry, Mathieson, Answerth, Ballenden, Cockatoo, K Coleman, CEY ?, Madden, C Michael (18 VFL disposals), B Smith,
We all know Fagan makes minimum changes to the side. So, maybe it is as simple as-
OUT: Neale, Gardiner
In: Mathieson, J Berry if fit

We will require a 4 quarter team effort to get away with a win on Saturday night
Regarding injuries, other teams have to cope with losing very good players so we will have to do the same
No excuses for not beating Port on our home ground. They also have some best 22 players out.

Finally I have been waiting for some years for the Lions to have 3 or more of our young players to have a breakout year either in their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th year.
Quite a few I thought may do just that over the years. Instead they became good solid footballers. Nothing wrong with that at all.
However it is only Andrews & McCluggage that falls into this category in my opinion
Can we get one this year?
With Neale out for an extended period could it be Bailey. Possible but i am not sure maybe 2022 for him.
I will say Hipwood (6th year) could possibly be this player for us in 2021. Hopeful i know
But he is averaging 2.3 goals per game and his average marks have increased also to 5.7 per game
Still not getting a lot of disposals so this would have to increase slightly from the present 12 to say 15 and he will be on his way

It is a long season but to finish top 6 we need to win at home first and not lose any away games to teams below us on the ladder

Lions by 13 points
 

M Malice

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Great preview S5, form lines against opposition seem to count in a positive manner pretty regularly in match ups, great that we are on a streak against them, the 2 most recent being comfortable wins.

Changes will be the minimum possible IMO.

Out- Lachie Neale, Darcy Gardiner, Jaxon Prior.

Ins- Rhys Matheison, Tom Berry, Jarrod Berry>Noah Answerth.
 

jackess

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I’d go with

Out: Neale, in: Matho (Matho to take most of Neales time in the midfield)
Out: Gardiner, in: Answerth/Brock Smith (give them a lockdown role on Rozee or Fantasia)
Out: Birchall, in: TBerry (Ah Chee plays the game down back to give us more pace, TBerry gets rewarded with a full game)
Out: Prior, in: JBerry (if it)
 

M Malice

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I’d go with

Out: Neale, in: Matho (Matho to take most of Neales time in the midfield)
Out: Gardiner, in: Answerth/Brock Smith (give them a lockdown role on Rozee or Fantasia)
Out: Birchall, in: TBerry (Ah Chee plays the game down back to give us more pace, TBerry gets rewarded with a full game)
Out: Prior, in: JBerry (if it)
I'd omit Birchall as well although I can't see Fagan and co going for it.
 

FLVanLandingham

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Apr 3, 2017
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woah, great preview!

a lot to take in. I generally enjoy watching port play, just without the commentary on due to the love-fest that occurs each time.
I like how we've taken them recently, so it will be exciting. On form they look pretty good. Adams on Dixon I think will be good for us.

If we can slot our shots early, I think we can get away with a win here. Don't feel we'll have it in us to have a big come-back, but with how Zorko is leading by example recently, anything can be possible :D



Lions by 37 ;)
 
I'd omit Birchall as well although I can't see Fagan and co going for it.
Normally I'd be on board, but I worry about chopping and changing too much of our defense after we've already been shuffling Adams, Gardiner, Payne and Ah Chee through depending on availability.
 
Mar 19, 2021
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Been saying for a couple of weeks that I thought we had 1 defender too many so I would go -
Out: Neale In: J Berry? If fit??
If not fit: T Berry
Out: Gardiner In: Matho
If Jarrod is fit then happy to bring in Tom Berry for Prior and send Prior to be the Sub.
I agree. Gardiner and Neale as forced outs. JBerry and Mathieson as ins.

Lester and Adams will need to step up in Gardiner's absence.
 

BangyBangy

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Normally I'd be on board, but I worry about chopping and changing too much of our defense after we've already been shuffling Adams, Gardiner, Payne and Ah Chee through depending on availability.

Agree, given the circumstances lets keep the changes to a minimum. We're already replacing Gardiner, & Neale, two big outs.

Hopefully Mitch's face & hip goiter heal sufficiently for him to play.
 
Oct 13, 2001
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Looking like it'll be under water again, proably works for us.


The Gabba Pool was OK for us against Essendon

Actually, I thought we looked great in the pouring rain and handled those conditions with aplomb, while the Bombers looked almost clueless.

I have a theory about why that may be so.

When we train in the pre-season, apart from it being stinking hot here in Brisbane town, it's almost always ridiculously humid so we have to adapt to the pill being slippery most of the time.

Whereas, the Vic teams don't ever play in the old fashioned mud- heaps anymore and play a hellava lot in the protected environment of Marvel Stadium.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. :p
 

lioninthesand

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The Gabba Pool was OK for us against Essendon

Actually, I thought we looked great in the pouring rain and handled those conditions with aplomb, while the Bombers looked almost clueless.

I have a theory about why that may be so.

When we train in the pre-season, apart from it being stinking hot here in Brisbane town, it's almost always ridiculously humid so we have to adapt to the pill being slippery most of the time.

Whereas, the Vic teams don't ever play in the old fashioned mud- heaps anymore and play a hellava lot in the protected environment of Marvel Stadium.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. :p

its entirely logical.
 
Nov 26, 2018
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The player we can't get a an assessment on is Answerth
When he has been fit he appears to be chosen in our best 22
Has anyone attended training in the last 2 weeks since the team got back from their mini away stint.
If so is he moving well enough for a call up for someone who has not been playing in official games due to injury and suspension ?
 
Out Neale, Mitch and dizzy. Big O to play injured and mostly forward, and daniher primary ruck

In t berry matho and cockatoo might get a run.

I'm also always in the Birchall needs to go wagon. Possibly unfair, but I always notice his screw ups and never notice the things he does well. I'm sure there are some, just go blank when it happens.
 

jjami15

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Out Neale, Mitch and dizzy. Big O to play injured and mostly forward, and daniher primary ruck

In t berry matho and cockatoo might get a run.

I'm also always in the Birchall needs to go wagon. Possibly unfair, but I always notice his screw ups and never notice the things he does well. I'm sure there are some, just go blank when it happens.
Cockatoo to get a run in 2022 at best.
 
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Out Neale, Mitch and dizzy. Big O to play injured and mostly forward, and daniher primary ruck

In t berry matho and cockatoo might get a run.

I'm also always in the Birchall needs to go wagon. Possibly unfair, but I always notice his screw ups and never notice the things he does well. I'm sure there are some, just go blank when it happens.
Cockatoo has a way to go yet. Still building confidence in his body. You can see he is not exploding out of the blocks when he takes off. Thinking he may be under instructions. Looked better in the centre than across half back.
 
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I agree. Gardiner and Neale as forced outs. JBerry and Mathieson as ins.

Lester and Adams will need to step up in Gardiner's absence.

I think they need to step up in Andrews' absence of any form.
 
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