The positives thread

[M Malice]

Wasn't it 7 seasons at Geelong?

You're right... I went off footywire career statistics and I missed that he didn't play at all in seasons of 2013 & 2015.... from 2012-2015 he played a total of 5 games in 4 seasons.

 

[Nathan Barley]

I'm having trouble getting used to having a genuine A grade key forward again after all these years

 

[M Malice]

I'm having trouble getting used to having a genuine A grade key forward again after all these years

Yes Hippy has been great hasn't he.

 

[Tom14]

Dunkley. We've been crying out for a mid with size and defensive aptitude and it is making such a difference. Haven't seen Rowell be this quiet inside the contest for about 5 weeks this year I reckon.

 

[martinson]

Dunkley, Ashcroft , McKenna and Wilmot getting to another level.

That's a massive injection from last year.

 

[MacMum]

Looks like we'll be playing either Pies or Port in the GF ...... how's that for positivity

 

[M Malice]

Looks like we'll be playing either Pies or Port in the GF ...... how's that for positivity

Long long way to go but yer Port, Pies and Lions are the form teams at the moment, Demons and Cats both down on form.

It would be nice to beat Port in a GF and get a modicum of revenge for 2004.

 

[FFB1]

Have to finish top 2. Doing so we go from a legit premiership contender to a legit legit premiership contender.

 

[mpal6]

Time to bump this thread as well.

After Hawks loss, I had a very high marker that we can't lose even a single game to be taken seriously for the rest of the season. We needed to make some important changes to the team as well. Gunston and Rich went out by themselves and youngsters brought a different level of energy to our line up. After a decent 4 win run, we hit the skids by a point against Demons at MCG.

Biggest positive for me is now the team knows their best is good enough even at MCG. Didn't get the 4 points but that result is going to be as close to a confidence booster as we can get for our players without the win.

We did get blown away initially - tick
We arrested momentum - tick
We turned the momentum in our favor - tick
We hit the lead by half time - tick
We increased by 3 quarter and then got the highest possible lead of the game - tick

Questionable tactics got us into survival mode and we dropped the game in the end but we know if we continue with our style of play (no changes), we would've found another 2 goals easy. We will be back at MCG with that confidence in our game plan regardless of the outside noise, I'm extremely positive about what we got out of that game.

 

[Tom14]

Ashcroft's qualities have been obvious from the start but delighted with how much Fletcher has show so far. He's not in an acculumating role and being a winger for us can be a thankless task but he's wno some massive 1 on 1 contests and has show he has the skills and athleticism to be a great player.

 

[lionshine]

I am confident Will Ashcroft, Jaspa Fletcher and Darcy Wilmot are going to keep our club in the finals mix beyond the Rich/Zorko/Neale/Charlie/Daniher era.

I can see Wilmot moving into the midfield with a similar growth arc as Elliot Yeo

6

Elliot Yeo

Age

30

Ht

191cm

Wt

91kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.5

5star

K

11.7

4star

HB

7.8

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.5

5star

MG

377.9

5star

D

18.9

4star

K

10.9

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

2.1

2star

T

5.8

5star

MG

287.4

4star

D

16.6

4star

K

9.4

4star

HB

7.2

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.6

3star

early in his career. You add Levi Ashcroft next year as well and that group of four - Will & Levi, Fletcher and Wilmot could be an incredibly dynamic mix for the next decade.

 

[Grasshopper17]

For me it's plain and simple: our ball movement. It has been absolutely transformed 180⁰ in the last month or so. There were signs of life in the Sydney game but now there is a whole ecosystem of options as we move forward, outside of our traditional "long down the line" strategy.

The challenge will be to keep it going as teams work us out and try to combat us, but there are only so many holes on a footy field you can plug. If you want to block the switch for example, you have to either bring your zone forward, which leaves space out the back if you are able to get a handball release going. Or you have to pull men out of your zone to block the switch, which opens up gaps where they were, forward of the ball.

Obviously all this can be used against us also when we are defending, which is why it's often a question of who has

(a) the bigger balls to take the necessary risks and
(b) the skills to pull it off

vs

(a) the ability to see the play unfolding before it happens and
(b) have the reaction time to be able to intercept and rebound.

I think this will be THE game within the game tomorrow night. Who dares, and executes, for longer, wins.

 

[BuntonRules]

I am confident Will Ashcroft, Jaspa Fletcher and Darcy Wilmot are going to keep our club in the finals mix beyond the Rich/Zorko/Neale/Charlie/Daniher era.

I can see Wilmot moving into the midfield with a similar growth arc as Elliot Yeo early in his career. You add Levi Ashcroft next year as well and that group of four - Will & Levi, Fletcher and Wilmot could be an incredibly dynamic mix for the next decade.

We are 3rd, only our own fault we are not top 2. And we got 3 Rising star nominations, including the favourite.

 

[paulige]

We are 3rd, only our own fault we are not top 2. And we got 3 Rising star nominations, including the favourite.

… potentially with the 2024 #1 pick joining us soon…

 

[Nunez]

I'd much rather be the team that has to work on close games due to winning comfortably compared to being a team who has become known for them. Constantly giving up leads and having to claw back is not a recipe for success in finals.

 

[On the quiet]

I'd much rather be the team that has to work on close games due to winning comfortably compared to being a team who has become known for them. Constantly giving up leads and having to claw back is not a recipe for success in finals.

View attachment 1755208

emotionally must be draining for some of the younger players, having to keep coming from behind so deep into the game. I hope Pies keep winning and they just might be a bit flat and due for a loss when we meet them in about a month at Marvel.

 

[Nunez]

emotionally must be draining for some of the younger players, having to keep coming from behind so deep into the game. I hope Pies keep winning and they just might be a bit flat and due for a loss when we meet them in about a month at Marvel.

I hope we beat the Pies by 30 again in a few weeks. Remind them close to finals that there is no coming back against us with their poxy handball style.

 

[Daniel_Rich]

Ashcroft going down has put a pretty big (temporary) damper on my flag hopes, but overall I'm confident we can cover him. I still think our best footy is the best in the competition and our depth is fairly impressive. Each section of our team (def/mids/fwds) is elite. Someone just needs to tape a big sign to the wall of the coaching box that says "We're the best offensive side in the league" to remind Fagan and stop him from trying to shut games down when there's plenty of time on the clock. Just back our boys to score consistently through the last quarter and they will.

As an aside, I don't rate the Pies anywhere near as highly as the media does. Obviously they're a top 2/3 side and playing great footy, but I just don't buy the whole "20% better than the next team" stuff or the general vibe from the media that a Pies flag is a near certainty. Their record against fellow top four sides is 2-2 so nothing special there and it was 2-4 last year. For all the talk of them winning every close game, they're 2-4 in close games against top 4 sides across the last two years, so really they're just winning close games against lesser sides they should be beating by more...not entirely sure why that's so impressive? Certainly good resolve by their group but I think we have the talent to just blow them off the park (as we've already done once this year H2H). We're 5-0 against them recently so all things considered I'd probably rather play them in a Prelim/Grand Final than Port.

2023: Lions beat Pies in the Grand Final
2024: Lions beat Pies in the Grand Final
2025: Lions beat Essendon in the Grand Final

F*** it, we'll do it in reverse this time!

 

[Viceregal]

2023: Lions beat Pies in the Grand Final
2024: Lions beat Pies in the Grand Final
2025: Lions beat Essendon in the Grand Final

F*** it, we'll do it in reverse this time!

Not quite sure about the Dons being at the pointy end in just 2 years time but I think a Norm Smith for Joe in that 2025 GF would be just perfect

 

[Groo2]

Looks like our 2nd round draft pick tied to Geelong is going to be 10+ spots higher than most of us expected.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Looks like our 2nd round draft pick tied to Geelong is going to be 10+ spots higher than most of us expected.

We can thank the lack of a death riding thread

They could finish as low as 13th with some big upsets

 

[twhowler]

We have the best record of any side vs top 8 sides.

We are 7-2. And 6 of those games were away, only 3 at the gabba.

Also includes a 1 point loss but zero wins under a goal.

 

[JasRulz63]

Looks like our 2nd round draft pick tied to Geelong is going to be 10+ spots higher than most of us expected.

That trade currently looks something like pick 25 for picks 27* + 38 + 46* + 48 + 55.

 

[Nathan Barley]

That trade currently looks something like pick 25 for picks 27* + 38 + 46* + 48 + 55.

That’s the equivalent of pick 13 in points for free

 

[Milux]

We have the best record of any side vs top 8 sides.

We are 7-2. And 6 of those games were away, only 3 at the gabba.

Also includes a 1 point loss but zero wins under a goal.

Thats actually outstanding.