Some thoughts on how the Lions got terrible, and how they could stop being terrible

[Warwick]

Fantastic post Paul and something I have been thinking about for a long time. I don't post much anymore but still enjoy reading the reasoned views on here from time to time. I'm glad we got a win tonight and perhaps we should enjoy it while we get a chance - especially after the great week we've had! Unfortunately there were less than 12k there to watch it but that's hardly a surprise.

I'm fortunate now to be back living and working in London so miss the fortnightly torture of attending games that are all but over after the first half hour. I understand that grim realisation that the crowds that used to sit around you are suddenly getting much lighter (and older!) There has been a palpable acceptance that we are going to lose before the ball is even bounced. It was incredible to go to a game at the Gabba and look around at all the empty seats, hardly seeing anyone between the ages of 5 and 45. And so quiet! It's like attending a poorly dressed funeral.

I think the fall and fall of the Lions has been a great lesson in how not to manage the rebuild after a sustained period of success. I would love to see how other successful sporting franchises (i.e Chicago Bulls, St George Dragons, Liverpool etc) managed their next phase after a winning dynasty - it would make for interesting reading!

I also believe our fall and non existent (up to this point) rebuild has largely been our own doing. But I also feel as though we have been incredibly unlucky in many ways. I've made a bit of a list of just some of the bad mistakes we've made, and some of the bad luck that we've had to explain why we have continued to slide into irrelevance (IMO and in no particular order):

 

[Warwick]

Losing access to Nick Riewoldt by 25kms after the AFL changed the Qld zone in 2001 - sure he would have been hard to fit under the cap at the time and he probably would have been played on the wing/utility but there is no question he is one of the best and most resilient players of the modern era. Our team from the past decade would have been built around him. He would also have been our captain after Brown retired. And kept us relevant in the Melbourne media.


Hanging on to some of our premiership players for too long. Really tough one because these guys did deserve to go out when they wanted and most were performing until the end, but if we were more ruthless we could have really started a rebuild in earnest much sooner. Hawthorn have probably seen that and while they have given away some of their favourite sons for nothing, they have freed up a lot of their cap. It remains to see whether that's the right call. You do run the risk of ripping the heart from the team.


Giving away our fringe players for very little. Once again it would have been a big call to trade someone with genuine value but by keeping them and losing the younger guys for basically nothing we ended up with a massive age differential in our group. Guys that went elsewhere for an opportunity may not have been world beaters (ie Shattock, Logan, etc) but probably had more value than what we gave them away for.


Losing players for nothing. I know not every player has value but I feel if you lose a player that gets picked up early in the PSD at the time, he probably had some currency. I think we had 3 players that went number 1 in the PSD - Knobel, Macdonald, McLaren. I know, I know, hardly world beaters and we probably did ship them around but no other club lost so many players for nothing. Some other examples were Joel Patfull, Blake Caracalla and Josh Green. Even a pick upgrade would have helped.


Mal Michael shafting. A dog act that did hurt us developing a key defender around him. Could have certainly held a KPD position for another couple of years, or alternatively got us fair compensation. Karma's a bitch Mal.


Losing our retention allowance. A complete and utter joke. A great example of a typical AFL knee-jerk reaction that's become all too common. They lost sight of the reason it was in place due to the relentless Melbourne media and club campaign (led by Eddie) to ditch it. It's funny to hear some of the Melbourne-centric identities that have come up to work for the Lions (ie Swann) to see how disadvantaged we are in terms of player retention. They just had no idea. I have no sympathy for the Melbourne clubs now if we are given priority picks - I'm sure we would take the allowance over any priority pick.


AFL changing priority pick policy. Speaking of PPs if the old system had been in place since 2012 when they ditched it, we would have an additional 2 top 5 picks on our list. Opposition supporters can bleat about how poor we have been and whether we are deserving of any extra assistance but it certainly helped teams like Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond, St Kilda, Melbourne, and Hawthorn.


Marc Murphy's decision. It doesn't matter what you think of him as a player, we effectively lost a number 1 pick for near to nothing. Would have been a huge boost - you just need to look at Geelong to see our advantageous the F/S system can be. Could have built our 2010 midfield onwards around him.


Recruiting decisions. I'm not going to harp too much about this because all clubs make mistakes and you never know how a player is going to develop at another club. I don't think we've been any worse than anyone else. But I do feel there are a couple of decisions that could well have changed where we are at now. I think the 2006 'super draft' is probably the best example. I was stoked to get Leuenberger but missing Joel Selwood is probably the biggest single mistake we've made. He is a generational leader who would have made such a massive difference to our team over the past decade. We were incredibly unlucky that Proud never grew into the player he could have been going on his draft year as well.


Recruiting decisions. Again not talking mistakes or misses that all teams made but a couple of our decisions, especially in the first round, hurt our club tremendously. Firstly, drafting two ruckmen so early was a mistake. One you could forgive but picking up Leuy and Longer at picks 4 and 5 really hurt us. Also we just picked the wrong characters. Pea hearts like Polec and Aish were never going to stay - they had been pumped up as Gods since they were in their early teens but never had the coconuts to work hard to succeed. Soft as butter mummy's boys and just simply terrible decisions to spend picks 4 and 7 on. That's 4 top 7 picks who are no longer here. Throw in blokes like Spaanderman, Headland, Wood, Brennan, Docherty, Yeo, Mayes, Rich.. and we have simply not benefited from our early picks.


Recruiting decisions part 3. Again, a point on our draft strategy over the past 15 years. I can't say there have been any players we've picked up early who we could build a team around. Hopefully we're starting to address that now (Schache, McCluggage, Berry) but it kills me when you see bloke like Ollie Wines, Bontempelli, Tom Lynch, and Clayton Oliver. These are the type of characters we should be hunting in the first round - natural leaders who you can build a team and culture around. Admittedly we only had access to one of them, but if doesn't change the fact that these players are gettable in the first round. We need to find players such as these or blokes like Lappin and McRae who are happy to be out of the limelight in Brisbane.


The addition of GCS and GWS. Probably the one decision to hurt us most as a football team. Have effectively lost access to top shelf talent when we've been at our worst. The fact we've finished in the bottom 4 more times than any other team since the introduction of the expansion clubs says it more than anything. The introduction of GCS in particular was so poorly thought out in a region that struggles to attract corporate and members support.


Corporate sponsorship. It's such a tough environment to succeed in and the fact we have been so poor has meant we have simply not attracted key sponsors. We went from having Australia's largest sporting sponsorship with Vodafone (as well as having support from huge multi-national conglomerates like Cadbury-Schweppes) to being sponsored by a company that makes butter.


The Brisbane sporting market. It's such a fickle market and one that likes a winner. We have been unlucky to be competing with various successful Qld teams while we've been at our lowest. Due to the cost and clash of games, most people will choose to watch a winner. It just so happens that the Roar have been super successful, as have the Firebirds. The BBL has exploded. The Qld SoO team have won 9 from the past 10 series. The Reds have even had a resurgence in 2010-2012. And the biggest rival of the lot - the Broncos have never drifted into irrelevance. The Broncos have managed to attract the biggest names in the game for years and years and have engaged the Brisbane sporting market since their inception.


The Courier Mail. Speaking of the Broncos, it's hard to be relevant in a city where the local rag owns the rival sporting team. The local media in general towards the Lions is horrendous. We are covered by a journalist who outwardly hates the club. We get no exposure. There is no option for our players to earn third party deals through the media like there is in Melbourne, Adelaide, or Perth. It wouldn't hurt for the local press to pump up the local team at times. We are fighting a losing battle.


Scheduling. How are we expected to grow the game when the AFL continually gives us such an awful draw? We always used to have decent crowds when our games would be on a Saturday night. Now we are playing all over the weekend. And not getting big drawing games. I admit you can't expect prime time games when you're so poor but the fact, for example, we hadn't hosted Hawthorn for over 7 years is disgraceful. We also seem to be clashing with the Broncos when we do get a decent time slot as well. And events like RiverFire. We continually get your low drawing clubs like Sydney, GWS, Fremantle, Port, playing at the Gabba. It's just not fair - either give us a decent time slot or some high drawing clubs.


Coaching appointments. In hindsight Voss and Leppitsch never stood a chance. The football department was being run on the smell of an oily rag and they never had the appropriate support around them. Nevertheless, appointing old boy favourites with no senior coaching experience was a disaster. I feel Voss was picked as we felt as though we were going to lose him to a rival club. You should never have a bloke that close to the recent players having to make the tough decisions. Those two appointments probably set us back 5-10 years.


The 2009 trade week disaster. I still maintain we didn't give up a whole lot to get the majority of those players but the fact we may have indirectly lost Bradshaw and Rischitelli, as well as Henderson and a high draft pick for a loose cannon who played one season still hurts. We are probably only now getting over the effect of that decision. Who could forget watching Rischa and Bradshaw being shown around the Carlton facilities??


Losing our spine at once. No team could possibly cover the loss of key players in such a short period of time. The fact we lost Mitch Clark, Henderson, and Bradshaw over a couple of years really set our rebuild back. You can build a side around your spine and we have been chasing our tail since these players left.


Injuries. A convenient excuse for any team but we have been savaged for years and have lost players who could have been anything. Justin Clarke comes to mind immediately - would probably be our CHB now. Drummond never got a fair go of it. Callum Bartlett never got a go at all.


Missing out on quality Qld talent. Again, we didn't have an opportunity to grab quite a few of these players but it would be nice if the go-home factor worked in our favour as opposed to always being against us. Blokes like Weller, Tippett, Dixon, Armitage would be pretty handy right now.


Missing out on key targets. Speaking of a couple of those players, we have been unlucky in not attracting a few players who would have reversed our fortunes. Three blokes in particular we hit hard were Alex Rance, Josh Jenkins, and Jesse Hogan (in the mini draft). Put those couple in right now and we're a 30% better team.


The Bowers years. Could be one of the biggest reasons we are still struggling as a club. The Paddlepop Lion decision was our New Coke experience. The fact we lost such a loyal, Melbourne based supporter group since that awful decision will hurt for years to come. Set us back decades.


Our facilities. Simply third world. How are you meant to attract players if they're training in a basement? We are so far behind the rest of the competition it's not funny. You would think a major one-city team like the Lions would have state of the art facilities. It's a joke. I don't know whether Springfield is the answer but it didn't help that the federal government who promised funds for the project lost the election. We need a solution fast.


The battle with Qld cricket. We are fighting a losing battle at the Gabba. Which other club gets banned from training at their home ground?? It's ludicrous. If you want any evidence as to where the Lions stand as tenants at the Gabba you only have to see what happened at the AFLW grand final.


The Akermanis saga. This one really hurts because no one benefited. Say what you will about him as a person but Aker was simply rolled gold when it came to marketing. It's just so sad the way it played out. We lost a favourite son for peanuts, the press hammered us, and it split the playing and supporter groups. He was a marvellous player who deserved to retire in Lions' colours but unfortunately simply had to go.


No white knight. What we would do for a Richard Pratt right now. We are leaking money year after year. It's simply not sustainable. Nearly every club in the land has a wealthy backer. We have no one.


Missing out on the China game. A recent one but something that could have really helped the club. We need to start looking at other opportunities such as this to start expanding our revenue. We really missed a trick with this. I'd be all for selling a home game to nail down such an opportunity.


No money. Probably the biggest single cause we have been so low for so long. There's no money for adequate advertising or marketing - we should have invested millions in membership drives after the 3-peat. No money for an adequate welfare system. You simply can't lose players like Docherty and Yeo in one year and succeed. Both would be AA at present. No money for an adequate coaching set up. We are so far behind the rest of the comp in development, recovery, innovation - we used to be envied in these fields!

 

[Viceregal]

If you looked at Warwick 's posts above and thought 'they are too long won't read' ... go back and read them anyway!

NTLJR (not too long just read)

 

[luthor]

If you looked at Warwick 's posts above and thought 'they are too long won't read' ... go back and read them anyway!

NTLJR (not too long just read)

Seconded.

Really good stuff Warwick

 

[The Flying Belgian]

Seconded.

Really good stuff Warwick

Eh, always preferred Toddy's work...

 

[Paul_D]

Fantastic stuff Waz. you have a sterner stomach than me to list all of those. I was dry heaving by the time I got to the courier mail

 

[Paul_D]

While I respect your rationale vis-a-vis our salary/free agent situation, Brad Ebert is literally the last person you'd prise from Alberton.

He and his family are Port Adelaide royalty.

He used to watch all of our games when he was at the Eagles. He returned after we'd just avoided the spoon on percentage and didn't have a pot to piss in. He and his wife have just had a baby boy and are ensconced here.

Was always coming home, is never going to leave.

The most likely target for oppo clubs is Pittard (Vic Country), who is talented, but obviously not the pay packet and position you need to make a dent in a concerted rebuild.

Yeah some Port fans on the roar mentioned that too, fair play I didn't know the background on him

I've switched my hopes to taylor duryea

 

[jackess]

Pretty good summary of what coulda been since the premiership years.

It all comes down to poor leadership and lack of influence at AFL, government and corporate level.

Crows have had things tough losing quality footballers, not recruiting big name players and SA not producing any decent talent but their well run and influential club has stayed strong.

 

[M Malice]

Cut and pasted from Warwick s post above-

Our facilities. Simply third world. How are you meant to attract players if they're training in a basement? We are so far behind the rest of the competition it's not funny. You would think a major one-city team like the Lions would have state of the art facilities. It's a joke. I don't know whether Springfield is the answer but it didn't help that the federal government who promised funds for the project lost the election. We need a solution fast.

Our facilities are a stark contrast to some of the school grounds I have been going to this year to watch my eldest grand son in his first year of high school. He goes to Brisbane State High and the facilities they have are pretty impressive put the sporting infrastructure that Ipswich Grammar, Gregory Terrace, St.Joseph's, BBC, Brisbane Grammar have leaves the Lions in the shade.

 

[RWFFFPT]

Think this needs to be bumped again.

We very well could be staring at a possible back to back last places finishes. I’m just so over seeing the season over in April.




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[ZoBlitz]

Well, we could build a time machine and...

 

[SizeMatters]

* it. let's just go full tank mode and get picks 1 and 2. No ******* way the AFL does not give us a PP if we go 0-22. Potentially Lukosius and Walsh looks pretty friggin good. Replace Beams/Zorko with Berry/Andrews as captains, new facilities, and we should be at least half way there to maybe breaking out of the bottom 4 in 5 years time.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Don't need to tank. We'll lose regardless.

 

[MSB ROYS]

So true.

 

[Paul_D]

Think this needs to be bumped again.

We very well could be staring at a possible back to back last places finishes. I’m just so over seeing the season over in April.
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Cheers mate, aren't we all. I admit I didn't even watch the game today. Had a strategy board game with some mates. It's just qld v qld again watching eventual 17th play eventual 18th (or eventual 16th, depending on what Carlton do). Has all the appeal of watching two homeless guys punch on in the street. Entertaining for a while but boring when you've seen it for years

 

[luthor]

**** it. let's just go full tank mode and get picks 1 and 2. No ******* way the AFL does not give us a PP if we go 0-22. Potentially Lukosius and Walsh looks pretty friggin good. Replace Beams/Zorko with Berry/Andrews as captains, new facilities, and we should be at least half way there to maybe breaking out of the bottom 4 in 5 years time.

Maybe not such a bad idea for games like we have next week.....Giants away.....EEEWWW!!!

OUT: Beams, Zorko (General Soreness), Hodge (rested)

IN: Lyons, Mathieson, Eagles