Preview Round 9, 2019 Lions V Crows.

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carnaroys08

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The Lions host the Crows at the Gabba for our first day game at home this season. Kicking off at the traditional 2:10 pm, the Crows go into the match firm favourites in this writers opinion.
A sluggish start to the season saw Adelaide in huge trouble & sitting 1-3; with all four games being low scoring affairs. The Roos, Cats & Hawks chalked up wins against the South Australians whilst the Swans came away with a loss. The Crows were winged, beauty, we have them Round 8 at home, put that down for another win. Don Pykes' press conferences were most enjoyable, particularly, if like me, you think he's a goose for involving the playing group in what has been reported as "pseudo psychology".
From Round five onward the Crows fortunes have improved dramatically, albeit aided by a soft patch in the draw. Rounds five, six & seven saw the Crows take on sides who finished in the bottom six last season & the 2017 Runners Up got the chocolates every game. These "easy kills" have benefited the Crows greatly & they were untroubled winners over Port last round. I see Don Pyke now playing a crafty hand in his press conferences. I assume this is to hide his team below the radar & keep all lids on. Be not fooled by Pyke complaining of the Crows lack of scoring ability. Pay no heed to him referring to his charges as not being like the team of 2017. Ignore his references to ugly games, pay heed to the old adage that winning form is good form. The Crows may well not be up to their performance indicators of 2017 but they have now displaced us from the Top 4, are shooting for 5 consecutive wins & are a very dangerous opponent for the Lions this Saturday.
For Lions supporters, the start of this season has been a welcome relief. 5-3 yippee; we'd all have taken that before Round 1. Scratch the surface & our win/loss ratio is not a true indication of how the team is actually travelling. Critically thinking, we could very easily have been 2-6 right now. The Eagles at 1/4 time & Port/North in the last quarter would have reasonably expected to win. The Lions have been doing a lot right & a lot wrong during games this year. We're not yet as sexy as the media portrayed us after Round 3. The media has noticed this & jumped off the bandwagon for now. The team is inconsistent, with a number of players (we all know who they are) playing well below expectation.
Can the Lions move to 6-3 this week? Absolutely. We are clear underdogs however if our passengers start taking a meaningful part in the game, we'll win by 6 goals. Should the same passengers turn up, uncommitted & expect to get away with mediocrity, you can expect the Crows theme song to be blaring through the Gabba speaker system.
There are some key match ups to look at which may well eventuate & could influence the game our way.
SLOANE: From this Aussie Rules fans perspective, Rory Sloane is the most frequent "biggest single influence" in Crows victories. Stop him & the odds start swinging away from a Crows victory. Sloane needs to be tagged & tagged goooood. Last year it was proven young Rory didn't handle close attention too well. Perfect for the mission is Lions hard man & Best & Fairest Winner Mitch Robinson. Mitch is by no means "just a stopper". He has the bonus of being a terrific user of the ball anywhere near goal, putting extra pressure on his victim.
TEX: Big Tex also rates highly when it comes to those who most commonly create & inspire victories by the Crows. When Tex gets good service on the lead & holds his marks, the Crows lift right around the ground, they walk taller. The Lions will need to run someone with him who has pace & reach. Will an out of form Harris Andrews be up to the task? Darcy Gardiner has beaten Buddy, is he our man? Alone, I doubt either could hold Tex down considering his good current form & high confidence. Old fashioned tactics of dropping someone in the hole & limiting supply can be effectively used against Tex. Who goes in the hole? Have we a player capable of playing such role?
EDDIE: When Eddie's making magic the Crows usually sing the song. Betts has the rare ability to make opponents appear stupid when he weaves his magic, which can be demoralizing for opposition players. You can be guaranteed, close physical attention would be most unwelcomed by the ageing superstar. Eddie may be cute, lovable & peoples favorite player from another team but we need to stop Bambi. Who can take Eddie out? I would suggest Hodge has the mongrel in him to pay extra attention to him. I don't believe Eddie covers a lot of ground these days so that ought suit Hodge.
Whilst footy is a complex game of 22 per side, I believe Saturdays game can be simplified by focusing on these three battles. I'm confident that Sloane can be made ineffective by Robinson, reasonably sure tactics are in place to frustrate Tex & hopeful Betts kicks no more than two. This being the case, it's the Lions by 17pts.
 
Oct 13, 2015
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The Lions host the Crows at the Gabba for our first day game at home this season. Kicking off at the traditional 2:10 pm, the Crows go into the match firm favourites in this writers opinion.
A sluggish start to the season saw Adelaide in huge trouble & sitting 1-3; with all four games being low scoring affairs. The Roos, Cats & Hawks chalked up wins against the South Australians whilst the Swans came away with a loss. The Crows were winged, beauty, we have them Round 8 at home, put that down for another win. Don Pykes' press conferences were most enjoyable, particularly, if like me, you think he's a goose for involving the playing group in what has been reported as "pseudo psychology".
From Round five onward the Crows fortunes have improved dramatically, albeit aided by a soft patch in the draw. Rounds five, six & seven saw the Crows take on sides who finished in the bottom six last season & the 2017 Runners Up got the chocolates every game. These "easy kills" have benefited the Crows greatly & they were untroubled winners over Port last round. I see Don Pyke now playing a crafty hand in his press conferences. I assume this is to hide his team below the radar & keep all lids on. Be not fooled by Pyke complaining of the Crows lack of scoring ability. Pay no heed to him referring to his charges as not being like the team of 2017. Ignore his references to ugly games, pay heed to the old adage that winning form is good form. The Crows may well not be up to their performance indicators of 2017 but they have now displaced us from the Top 4, are shooting for 5 consecutive wins & are a very dangerous opponent for the Lions this Saturday.
For Lions supporters, the start of this season has been a welcome relief. 5-3 yippee; we'd all have taken that before Round 1. Scratch the surface & our win/loss ratio is not a true indication of how the team is actually travelling. Critically thinking, we could very easily have been 2-6 right now. The Eagles at 1/4 time & Port/North in the last quarter would have reasonably expected to win. The Lions have been doing a lot right & a lot wrong during games this year. We're not yet as sexy as the media portrayed us after Round 3. The media has noticed this & jumped off the bandwagon for now. The team is inconsistent, with a number of players (we all know who they are) playing well below expectation.
Can the Lions move to 6-3 this week? Absolutely. We are clear underdogs however if our passengers start taking a meaningful part in the game, we'll win by 6 goals. Should the same passengers turn up, uncommitted & expect to get away with mediocrity, you can expect the Crows theme song to be blaring through the Gabba speaker system.
There are some key match ups to look at which may well eventuate & could influence the game our way.
SLOANE: From this Aussie Rules fans perspective, Rory Sloane is the most frequent "biggest single influence" in Crows victories. Stop him & the odds start swinging away from a Crows victory. Sloane needs to be tagged & tagged goooood. Last year it was proven young Rory didn't handle close attention too well. Perfect for the mission is Lions hard man & Best & Fairest Winner Mitch Robinson. Mitch is by no means "just a stopper". He has the bonus of being a terrific user of the ball anywhere near goal, putting extra pressure on his victim.
TEX: Big Tex also rates highly when it comes to those who most commonly create & inspire victories by the Crows. When Tex gets good service on the lead & holds his marks, the Crows lift right around the ground, they walk taller. The Lions will need to run someone with him who has pace & reach. Will an out of form Harris Andrews be up to the task? Darcy Gardiner has beaten Buddy, is he our man? Alone, I doubt either could hold Tex down considering his good current form & high confidence. Old fashioned tactics of dropping someone in the hole & limiting supply can be effectively used against Tex. Who goes in the hole? Have we a player capable of playing such role?
EDDIE: When Eddie's making magic the Crows usually sing the song. Betts has the rare ability to make opponents appear stupid when he weaves his magic, which can be demoralizing for opposition players. You can be guaranteed, close physical attention would be most unwelcomed by the ageing superstar. Eddie may be cute, lovable & peoples favorite player from another team but we need to stop Bambi. Who can take Eddie out? I would suggest Hodge has the mongrel in him to pay extra attention to him. I don't believe Eddie covers a lot of ground these days so that ought suit Hodge.
Whilst footy is a complex game of 22 per side, I believe Saturdays game can be simplified by focusing on these three battles. I'm confident that Sloane can be made ineffective by Robinson, reasonably sure tactics are in place to frustrate Tex & hopeful Betts kicks no more than two. This being the case, it's the Lions by 17pts.

Matchups are interesting. While Eddie is older he is still miles faster than Hodge and any time they are in the vicinity with the ball on the ground I expect him to give away professional frees as he has been doing all year. Dizzy gets the job for me.

Not sure I agree Tex is in that incredible form - though to be fair I didn't see much of the showdown. Harris seems like the obvious matchup for him and I'd be quite confident in him.
 

carnaroys08

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Sep 4, 2007
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Matchups are interesting. While Eddie is older he is still miles faster than Hodge and any time they are in the vicinity with the ball on the ground I expect him to give away professional frees as he has been doing all year. Dizzy gets the job for me.

Not sure I agree Tex is in that incredible form - though to be fair I didn't see much of the showdown. Harris seems like the obvious matchup for him and I'd be quite confident in him.

Hodge still has what it takes to simply line him up with a fair hip & shoulder, this would make Eddie think twice before putting his head over the ball. If Hodge didn't execute the bump correctly & ended up out for a week or two I don't think it would affect the team much.
You're right that Tex isn't in incredible form but he appears to be getting his swagger back, he's pretty high on confidence with his team winning the last four.
 

jjami15

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Jul 16, 2011
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This is a winnable game however it depends who which Lions side lines up. There hasn’t been a complete 4 quarter performance yet and we will need one to take home the chocolates. Fagan’s spray during the game would also flow into discussions over the review IMO. Personally I’m livid about it and hope that a few have had the finger pointed and given an ultimatum otherwise it’s back to the NEAFL.
Supposedly, Adelaide they have made a tweek to their playing style but I also don’t rank their wins against Port, Saints, Freo and Suns. This could lead to them being just that 10% off.
We are at home and we are a markedly better team and think that this will help with it being a close game.
Lions by 10!
 

Sausages

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Feb 27, 2007
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Good preview carnaroys :thumbsu:

Going to be an interesting day....voting in the morning, Lions in the arvo and then election night :D I can't wait tbh.

LID OFF says LIONS BY 10 GOALS (and I'm gonna keep saying this scoreline until we actually do it, and then it will be paraded as evidence of my excellent nose for footy :p)

Just like the Fonz, I can't say the other thing here....so, the OTHER prediction is we might lose if we don't turn up to play.

Gonna be a HUUUUUUUGE day :)
 
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For Lions supporters, the start of this season has been a welcome relief. 5-3 yippee; we'd all have taken that before Round 1.
I would've been dumbfounded if you'd told be 100% we'd be 5-3. :D
 
Apr 4, 2015
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We've got a couple of players who can play on Tex. I don't really rate him ,runs around all angry ,gets it occasionally and kicks it 60m in the air. When he's on song he looks great I know but not a matchup that worries me.

I dunno why we seem to be of a mindset that Robbo should have a tagging role ,he can tag for periods of the game sure , but he's shown himself to be a real weapon offensively this year.

The main thing for us in this game is to win the M/F battle and for our small forwards to up their pressure rate . Sloane I agree is a danger man and we should have guys to take it in turns ,Matho if he plays ,Robbo , whoever is in the vicinity.
 
Apr 4, 2015
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I still don't think Eddie is near the player he was but on his day he's dangerous . Unsure as to who should go to him. We really don't have a suitable matchup . If you look through our backline Answerth has the right DNA but not the experience or credentials . It could be Hodgey which is a little scary , but one thing Hodgey loves is a challenge
 

rockypls

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Jun 17, 2013
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Crows haven’t lost at the Gabba since 2012 - I believe they were up by 40 that day too!
Crouch in doubt, even if he gets up he won’t be 100%. Hoping Keays comes in and rotates mid/hff with our three ‘smalls’.
 

carnaroys08

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We need to stop using Mitch as a tagger. We need him to attack the footy at speed. Getting first possession is the best way to limit the oppositions midfield.
Hi, interesting comment. So far this season I can recall seeing Robinson run in to the centre square bounce from the wing, line up in the centre after goals & play in the fwd line, all with success. I can't recall Robinson being used as a tagger this year at all.I believe he's still good at it . He put his hand up & had a joke in the media about tagging Beams Easter Thursday however this did not eventuate. Tagging doesn't seem to be happening as much these days. Doesn't mean that teams don't need them & use them. West Coast have Mark Hutchings, GWS have Matty De Boer (the best in the league), the Pies have Levi Greenwood. Have we someone better than Mitch to use or are you advocating for not using a stopper?
 

carnthemlions

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Hi, interesting comment. So far this season I can recall seeing Robinson run in to the centre square bounce from the wing, line up in the centre after goals & play in the fwd line, all with success. I can't recall Robinson being used as a tagger this year at all.I believe he's still good at it . He put his hand up & had a joke in the media about tagging Beams Easter Thursday however this did not eventuate. Tagging doesn't seem to be happening as much these days. Doesn't mean that teams don't need them & use them. West Coast have Mark Hutchings, GWS have Matty De Boer (the best in the league), the Pies have Levi Greenwood. Have we someone better than Mitch to use or are you advocating for not using a stopper?
I think he's had run with roles at times in games, but certainly haven't been hard tags. Speaking of which, he or Lyons will have to go to Sloane who's been extremely susceptible to a tag in the past.
 
Will be very interested to see how we stack up in contested possessions against the crows once the teams come out Jivlain

This is an area we have a good group that contribute whereas I feel like the crows have a few that excel.

Only lost last years game against them by 5 points and we've won all our home games played on weekends so far this year :p so I tip us by 13 points.
 

FLVanLandingham

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as much as I am terrified of this.. I always have a feeling the boys will be more up for this game than the doggies one (which in itself is annoying, we really must bring the intensity no matter where the oppo are on the ladder..)

if its a dry, i'm actually expecting Cameron to have 5+ shots on goal, getting.. 3 and McCarthy to have slightly less but play higher up the field. hopefully they both are revved up
 

carnaroys08

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I think he's had run with roles at times in games, but certainly haven't been hard tags. Speaking of which, he or Lyons will have to go to Sloane who's been extremely susceptible to a tag in the past.
You're bang on, Sloane has been extremely susceptible to a tag in the past. For the cost of tagging him, the benefits are huge for the Lions. Has Lyons shut down opponents in the past?
 

carnaroys08

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Billy Puller has stated that he might give up footy if Bundy comes back in this week!

Who's now hoping??????
Haaaa, we were discussing last night who might take Betts. The majority went for Bundy.
 
Billy Puller has stated that he might give up footy if Bundy comes back in this week!

Who's now hoping??????

I'm hoping the old Billy comes out in lieu of troll Billy. Here's hoping.
 

jackess

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Whiting in his match preview tipped us to win. If it was at Adelaide Oval the Crows would be huge favourites. Even at home I’d expect the Crows to beat us.
 
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