Review Round 8, 2024 - Brisbane Lions vs. Gold Coast

[M Malice]

Not to mention Berry finally looks confident his body won't fall apart and is starting to have a real impact around the ball. I hope we continue using him like we did against the Suns. His ability to run all day + his contested ball winning ability make him a real asset - disposals aside.

This last 4-5 weeks has from my memory been Jarrod Berry's best batch of consistent quality footy of his career, in this form he is an A grader.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Not to mention Berry finally looks confident his body won't fall apart and is starting to have a real impact around the ball. I hope we continue using him like we did against the Suns. His ability to run all day + his contested ball winning ability make him a real asset - disposals aside.

Ok now you're pushing it

I've been equally impressed with Berry, and his skill set may be better served on the inside where he is less likely to butcher his disposal spectacularly (I do think it's reasonably reliable most of the time to be fair). But every time I see those two whole rolls of elastoplast on his shoulders, it does still make me wonder how long he can last in there.

 

[Gadzorks]

One of my Sons-in-law is a Lions follower but a more casual one at that. A TV supporter rather than a game goer.

During the game, he put a post on our family WhattsApp group, wondering
why everyone at the ground was booing Reville.

Lol!!!

He didnt actually know Reville is a Bruce. I have since put him straight.



On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

And the bonus is the players hear what does sound like booo so when playing opposition with large and vocal crowd, the rest of the team will be inspired by the boos.

That'll learn em.

 

[On the quiet]

Try jumping high, without lifting one on your knees up to chest high, before you leave the ground.

Then you’re not allowed to use your hands on a players shoulders, so you’ve got to use your knees to launch off the player to get above the pack.

Unfortunately my days of jumping are well over.

FWIW, I like the specky mark, and a spectacular feature of the game. Following on from another posters remarks, I am not sure (with where the game is heading), how the game reaches a balance between the duty of care owed to a player who is defenseless with their back turned getting kneed in the head.

I do believe, there are some players that deliberately have their knee raised to clear out the contest. I think Perhaps we allow players to continue to raise their knee in a marking contest, but if a player is concussed as a direct result then is it similar to a bump gone wrong? I don't have the answer.

 

[twhowler]

This last 4-5 weeks has from my memory been Jarrod Berry's best batch of consistent quality footy of his career, in this form he is an A grader.

I think it was 2020 he was genuine best on ground for 2-3 matches in a small period. And his shoulder got bad after that? It's a shame because he looked like becoming an absolute match-winner.

Is there a chance his shoulder has affected his kicking? It just seems to have become worse. He was never a brilliant kick but was effective.

I normally have a couple of 'settlers' during games but was off the sauce on Sunday night. I can recall two 20m or so passes that he coughed up. they were such basic kicks. I agree he has been good in general play but turnovers are just death in modern footy. the geelong game was obviously poor conditions but he kicked a couple in to the crowd they were missing by that much

 

[Schache_off]

I didn't notice it at the game but some of the defensive efforts by players not known for it were really encouraging to see.
Neale getting back and tackling ?Reid 10 metres out from goal and getting back to help out the defensive 50 a lot in the 2nd quarter. Hipwood and Danniher chasing hard after a forward half turnover. If these players are helping defend again like this next week then I think we will win.

Still looking for that chemistry in the forward half. Not talking about the accuracy, that will come eventually. Our inside 50 with about 2 minutes to go in the 2nd highlights what is going on with our forward line efficiency. 100% effort but no one was putting on blocks for each other because they didn't know what anyone was trying to do. It was closer to auskick than AFL.

 

[Section 5]

I don't want to see Berry get much midfield time. Occasionally running through there is fine.
Hard to know if the club intended to run Reville through the midfield or with Starch going down and Fletcher moving they may have thought Berry can take the midfield time and Reville to wing.

I also think Berry was to take some of Rayner's midfield time before the game started.
Rayner hinted less midfield time during the week.
Then we had a bit of injury carnage so that time just increased.
Berry only had the 7 CBA's so most of his midfield time around the ground.

Jarrod is a low TOG player for the position he plays.
His average this year is 76.2%. His highest ever is 78.6 in 2022.

Even v Suns, Jarrod TOG was only 74% where we had 12 players 90%+and 5 over 80%+

 

[twhowler]

I didn't notice it at the game but some of the defensive efforts by players not known for it were really encouraging to see.
Neale getting back and tackling ?Reid 10 metres out from goal and getting back to help out the defensive 50 a lot in the 2nd quarter. Hipwood and Danniher chasing hard after a forward half turnover. If these players are helping defend again like this next week then I think we will win.

Still looking for that chemistry in the forward half. Not talking about the accuracy, that will come eventually. Our inside 50 with about 2 minutes to go in the 2nd highlights what is going on with our forward line efficiency. 100% effort but no one was putting on blocks for each other because they didn't know what anyone was trying to do. It was closer to auskick than AFL.

Great point.

Seeing Hipwood and Daniher so far back taking marks was such a good sign. Can't hurt in terms of opening up forward line too. We seem to play so many games with our F50 clogged and the opposition's open, feels like a tactical loss?

I think the problem remains that we made this special effort because we were players down. Collingwood make that sort of effort most weeks.

 

[iBeng]

Was hoping we'd have some news on McCarthy and Dizzy by now...

 

[The Flying Belgian]

The club did put out SM posts to get it going.

That explains it. For the most part I shun social media these days.

 

[iBeng]

Well fk.

 

[Dalions]

Well fk.

That’s terrible news but expected I guess.
I was one calling Gardiner to be dropped for a smaller forward line or Morris, but certainly didn’t wish for this.
Wish them both the best of luck in their recoveries.

 

[Mayestro]

From the club website:

The Brisbane Lions confirm duo Lincoln McCarthy and Darcy Gardiner will miss the rest of the 2024 season after both rupturing their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

McCarthy and Gardiner underwent scans on Tuesday after the pair both injured their right knees in the first half of Sunday night’s win against the Gold Coast SUNS.

“It’s devastating news and everyone at the club are really thinking of Lincoln and Darcy,” Lions general manager football Danny Daly said.


“Linc and Diz are quality players and quality people who we know will do all that they can to overcome these injuries.

“We as a Club will continue to all wrap our arms around them and their families as we support them in whatever way we can during their recovery.”

Defenders Noah Answerth and Brandon Starcevich will also be sidelined following Sunday’s the Round 8 encounter.

Answerth has entered concussion protocols and will miss this week’s clash with Adelaide.

While scans confirmed a calf strain for Starcevich who is expected to miss four to five weeks.

Starcevich was a late out against the SUNS with his injury occurring during the warm-up just minutes before the first bounce.



Injury List

Player	Injury	Timeline
Callum Ah Chee	hamstring	test
Carter Michael	knee	1 week
Noah Answerth	concussion	1 week
Deven Robertson	shoulder	2 weeks
Zac Bailey	ankle	2-3 weeks
Brandon Starcevich	calf	4-5 weeks
Will Ashcroft	knee	TBC
Lincoln McCarthy	knee	season
Darcy Gardiner	knee	season
Keidean Coleman	knee	season
Tom Doedee	knee	season

 

[martinson]

That’s terrible news but expected I guess.
I was one calling Gardiner to be dropped for a smaller forward line or Morris, but certainly didn’t wish for this.
Wish them both the best of luck in their recoveries.

Yeah . A sad part of footy.

They're both real pros so expecting a full recovery by 12 months.

 

[martinson]

The club did put out SM posts to get it going.

View attachment 1982004

It energised the crowd and you could tell it energised our players as well.

 

[Squizz89]

4-5 weeks for Starce as well. When our luck ran out, s**t it ran out.

 

[BuntonRules]

Well fk.

At least they will have company in rehab.

 

[matwt73]

McCluggage 32 possessions (14 contested), 4 tackles, 7 marks, 600m gained. 3 votes in any other game really. Interesting to see some were disappointed with him!

If I had to choose any two players to deliver the ball inside fifty it would be Zorks and McLuggage and nothing from Sunday changed that view. McLuggage is silk the way Lappin was and I suspect will stay under rayed in a similar way.

 

[Gadzorks]

4-5 weeks for Starce as well. When our luck ran out, s**t it ran out.

Rehab could be bigger than main squad. Scary

 

[Cut the Carp]

Yeah but matty nicks can’t coach so. Easy win to the lions.

“Tex you’re the lemon and lime Gatorade ok”

I remember this from under 10s

View attachment 1980892

And just think, that strategy beat you last year

 

[Nathan Barley]

And just think, that strategy beat you last year

Our goal kicking beat us last year, strong possibility of a repeat this weekend

 

[Gadzorks]

And just think, that strategy beat you last year

I thought we talked about your mum and dad letting you be a troll yesterday.

Just to be clear, you should be getting ready for bed by now. Not pretending you have something of value to add to adult conversation.

Off you trot.

 

[GC2015]

After a couple of days of reflecting on the game, I just wanted to come in and congratulate you guys on a phenomenal win in the QClash on Sunday. Just about every team in the AFL would have been overrun in that situation but your team stood up when it mattered while the season was essentially on the line and not only stopped offensive plays from the opposition, but also found ways to score at the other end. I thought Harris Andrews

31

Harris Andrews

Age

27

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.6

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

151.7

2star

D

17.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.0

3star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

MG

94.0

2star

really stood up in that sense and obviously the mids in Zorko, Neale and Dunkley were fantastic as well which set the scene for a really significant and character building win. Well done, Lions

On a side note. I was really impressed to see 30k people show up for the match in what was the most attended QClash of all time. Personally, I noticed more Suns supporters at the Gabba than I had ever seen in previous trips up the M1 and that was very encouraging to see for what has been a fairly dismal, one-sided rivalry to date. I think I speak for all footy fans (and the AFL players) in Queensland when saying we all want our club to play in as many big crowd games as possible throughout the year and I think we finally got a glimpse at what the QClash can become on Sunday night.

My challenge to Lions fans is to do the same later this year and head down the M1 for the reverse QClash so we can continue to build this rivalry into one that always pulls a big crowd regardless of where/when it's played just like the WA Derbies and the SA Showdowns. I really think this is an important step towards growing the game in Queensland so let's use this opportunity to take this rivalry to the next level and create two new blockbuster games in South East QLD each season!

 

[Grasshopper17]

Quickly on the game, it feels a bit like the Collingwood game. Obviously that was a loss, but that night I thought our effort was decent while the performance itself (the execution I guess) was atrocious.

On Sunday night I thought our effort was phenomenal, all things considered, but our performance itself was a bit clunky, particularly in the area I was keeping a closer than usual eye on, being our forward 50 entries.

So the raw numbers on the AFL app indicate we went inside 50 64 times and generated 29 shots at goal. This is 45.3%, which is actually our 2nd best performance for the year (behind the North Melbourne game when we went at 54.9%).

By comparison, the season-long AFL average is 46.8%. This means that only once have we been "above average" in this regard all season. So purely from an objective, analytical perspective, if it felt like we were still a little untidy going forward, that's because we were.

In the game day thread I outlined 4 key metrics I thought we needed to improve on in order to get this up towards 50%. Without having seen a replay, here's my take on how I felt we went in each of these areas:

• Come out the FRONT of contests. This was not bad, altho perhaps we weren't put under a whole lot of pressure in contested ball situations. Still feels like we are susceptible of resorting to old habits of handballing backwards under pressure. I'd like to see this change, but might take some time to properly drill (if we are drilling it at all).
• Move the ball quickly, forward. When we got the chance I could see us trying to do this. Not quite at all costs, but certainly we were marking the ball and giving quick handballs to move the ball on when the opportunity presented. 269 kicks to 108 handballs tho would indicate this was not a priority.
• Move the ball quickly, laterally. We moved the ball laterally, LOTS. 134 uncontested marks! It's a ridiculous number, and you could understand a lot of the time we were trying to milk the clock a bit. Even so, the end of these chains were often a long kick inside 50 to a contested marking situation. I still think we can do better with the final entry.
• Forward defensive pressure. This was much better. I was interested to compare the number of tackles inside 50 vs the number of times the other team were able to rebound out of our 50 without us getting a shot. This week it's 15 vs 35, so 43%. For comparison, last week we were 4 vs 27, so 15%, which is awful. For the season, we go in 58.3 times on average, generate 24.4 shots, and make 12 tackles inside forward 50. So that's 12 vs 34, or 35.4%. The league average is 39.4% so we have a bit of work to do here to keep our forward pressure consistent.

Note that NONE of this is about accuracy! This analysis is all about simply generating shots. The accuracy issue is a whole nother story. Let's get the shots consistently first.

On the positive side, our defence has been outstanding, and in combination with our midfield, most weeks, we're doing enough to generate a good number of inside 50s. Indeed, we lead the league in this regard with 58.3 per game. I just think the entries themselves can be of higher quality.

So I think it's possible for us to be very proud of all our guys, yet still see the need for improvement in certain areas. I don't think the 2 are mutually exclusive.

 

[BRAB]

After a couple of days of reflecting on the game, I just wanted to come in and congratulate you guys on a phenomenal win in the QClash on Sunday. Just about every team in the AFL would have been overrun in that situation but your team stood up when it mattered while the season was essentially on the line and not only stopped offensive plays from the opposition, but also found ways to score at the other end. I thought Harris Andrews really stood up in that sense and obviously the mids in Zorko, Neale and Dunkley were fantastic as well which set the scene for a really significant and character building win. Well done, Lions

On a side note. I was really impressed to see 30k people show up for the match in what was the most attended QClash of all time. Personally, I noticed more Suns supporters at the Gabba than I had ever seen in previous trips up the M1 and that was very encouraging to see for what has been a fairly dismal, one-sided rivalry to date. I think I speak for all footy fans (and the AFL players) in Queensland when saying we all want our club to play in as many big crowd games as possible throughout the year and I think we finally got a glimpse at what the QClash can become on Sunday night.

My challenge to Lions fans is to do the same later this year and head down the M1 for the reverse QClash so we can continue to build this rivalry into one that always pulls a big crowd regardless of where/when it's played just like the WA Derbies and the SA Showdowns. I really think this is an important step towards growing the game in Queensland so let's use this opportunity to take this rivalry to the next level and create two new blockbuster games in South East QLD each season!

I might make the trip from my hole in Nerang to the stadium. Will you buy me a pie