What happened in 2009, and why was it not repeated since?

[MarkCatsFan]

Hey Lions board, I come in peace.

I was just looking through past results of clubs from the last 10 or so years for my own curiosity and to jog the memory and the Lions 2009 season stands out as a serious outlier. 13 wins and a finals victory under Vossy after which the Lions trended badly downwards.

I'm aware that hurricane Fev came to town in 2010 and there were internal issues between Vossy and Bradshaw, but to go from 14 wins to 7 in 2010 and then 4 in 2011 is a huge downward trend.

What are Lions fans opinions on this period at the club? Was this a legitimate premiership window killed off by internal struggles, or was 2009 just a freak run of luck?

 

[ImAFreeMan]

It was an end of an era brought quicker by internal controversies


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[dlanod]

In 2009 Brisbane made up for a pretty bad and definitely underperforming midfield with turnovers and rebound attacking.

The following year Drummond went from 20 to 15 games, McGrath missed 4 after missing none, and MacDonald left the club after a career year. All those guys were key rebounders in 2009. Brown also missed six, Bradshaw left, Merrett missed six and Black was out for four, so our stars also got hurt after effectively their last hurrah.

 

[Keays2myBeamas]

Given the trend of 2006 -> 2008 finals in 2009 wasn't unexpected at all, we were probably tipped to finish somewhere 5th - 10th right from the start of the preseason. The list in total, however, lacked depth of talent. In 2009 Black, Brown, Power, Drummond and Bradshaw were at the peak of their playing ability, and pretty much carried the team to finals. A short injury list papered over the cracks.

Voss went for a flag in 2010, with a massive trade period, and after round 4 we were 4-0, top of the ladder, and looked to be one of the best teams in the comp (in fact we were one of the only teams to beat eventual premiers Collingwood).

Then Brown and Fevola both got groin injuries, missed a bunch of games, injuries were everywhere, and it turned out the kids we'd drafted 2004-2007 were duds and weren't developing at all (no players left from those drafts). In the background the whole Fevola thing was happening, so the culture took a hit.

By 2011 Fevola was gone, Brown copped a few knees to the scone and missed the season, and Power and Black were getting on in age. And injuries meant we were playing a bunch of kids and low draft picks.

Tl;dr Brown and Black were absolute guns, by 2011 we were playing a bunch of kids + low draft picks

 

[Crawb]

It was more of a fluke year. Which seems to happen sometimes with a middle side and a brand new coach. There was no real depth but star players from the early 2000s were in great form and so were our middle tier players. Then add a super lucky win in finals.

The club felt emboldened and went all in instead of continuing a rebuild. Got in Staker, Buchanan, Raines, Clarke & Fevola in the off-season. All were a disaster in hindsight (well except Staker but he was injured half the time). 2010 was a disaster and our tilt lasted 4 weeks and Voss was doomed from that more or less.

 

[POBT]

The whole club, including the on field component, was a house of cards. The administration was substandard, we'd pissed away what money we had, recruitment was diabolical and the football dept consisted of Vossy, a couple of assistants and a boot strapper.

2009 produced a nice little moment in time that gave a completely false read on things. We had to clean the place out twice before getting back on the right track. Thank * for Swan, Noble, Schwab, Conole and Fagan.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

Thanks for the insight people! Always interesting to hear a more in-depth account of club history from the people who follow the club.

FWIW the Lions are a team I will always have a soft spot for going all the way back to the Roys days and there seems to be some legitimate talent up there right now, hopefully some September action at the Gabba isn't too far away now.

 

[Len S]

The whole club, including the on field component, was a house of cards. The administration was substandard, we'd pissed away what money we had, recruitment was diabolical and the football dept consisted of Vossy, a couple of assistants and a boot strapper.

2009 produced a nice little moment in time that gave a completely false read on things. We had to clean the place out twice before getting back on the right track. Thank **** for Swan, Noble, Schwab, Conole and Fagan.

Can't overestimate the disastrous administration, and lack of support staff,not to mention the American nut ,who even the incredibly tolerant Luke Power apparently couldn't handle .So many of our premiership players left before their time due to injury,when you look at how Geelong and Hawthorn managed their seniors, it tells a story.

 

[trikster]

Can't overestimate the disastrous administration, and lack of support staff,not to mention the American nut ,who even the incredibly tolerant Luke Power apparently couldn't handle .So many of our premiership players left before their time due to injury,when you look at how Geelong and Hawthorn managed their seniors, it tells a story.

The whole off field structure was still a joke even when Leppa took over. I will always remember an interview he gave where he explained in his first week he sat down Rob Kerr (list manager at the time?) and asked for the list strategy .... Kerr gave him a single page with the current playing list ... THAT WAS IT. The club was spending so little money on off field staff it was no wonder why our recruitment and drafting was so bad. For all of Leppa's coaching fails we should always be thankful for getting the off field stuff headed on the right track.

 

[Dom PC]

Didn't Brown and Fev both have hamstring issues after about round 5? From then on they played hampered for close to the rest of the season (I am pretty sure Fev's injury ended his year early in the end)?

I think the collapse of 2010 was injuries to key players and a lack of depth (as has been said above). Brown, Fev Black, Power and Merrett were vital cogs and all had indifferent seasons. God that was a painful season.

 

[Lazza16]

The whole club, including the on field component, was a house of cards. The administration was substandard, we'd pissed away what money we had, recruitment was diabolical and the football dept consisted of Vossy, a couple of assistants and a boot strapper.

2009 produced a nice little moment in time that gave a completely false read on things. We had to clean the place out twice before getting back on the right track. Thank **** for Swan, Noble, Schwab, Conole and Fagan.

10/10.....spot on

 

[SizeMatters]

Can't overestimate the disastrous administration, and lack of support staff,not to mention the American nut ,who even the incredibly tolerant Luke Power apparently couldn't handle .So many of our premiership players left before their time due to injury,when you look at how Geelong and Hawthorn managed their seniors, it tells a story.

American nut?

 

[deklares]

American nut?

Lukey Power was allergic to Californian walnuts apparently.

 

[Keays2myBeamas]

It all comes down to the bloke that decided to appoint Michael Bowers, his mate from high school, as CEO, despite having no experience running a large business.

 

[dlanod]

Didn't Brown and Fev both have hamstring issues after about round 5? From then on they played hampered for close to the rest of the season (I am pretty sure Fev's injury ended his year early in the end)?

Groin issues, IIRC, but the point is correct.

 

[Requiem]

Additionally, we should have made finals in 2008.

IRRC we were 8 wins & 5 losses whilst sitting 5th on the ladder at the start of round 14.

We then lost to Melbourne by 1, Richmond by 3, North by 8, and Carlton by 6, all in the second half of the season.

Win those games and we would have finished top 4.

 

[Cockliff38]

Additionally, we should have made finals in 2008.

IRRC we were 8 wins & 5 losses whilst sitting 5th on the ladder at the start of round 14.

We then lost to Melbourne by 1, Richmond by 3, North by 8, and Carlton by 6, all in the second half of the season.

Win those games and we would have finished top 4.

Both Bradshaw (third) and Brown (fifth) top five in the Coleman and combined for more than 140 goals.

The round 2 win over Collingwood was damn good too

 

[Zhesty]

It was a fun year though.

 

[mikey127]

Think we over achieved in 09 our list wasn't that good. Is anyone worried about this happening again? I like many feel we are on the right track but bumped into a former premiership player recently and alm excited I said 'how good are things going we're on the way up again ' he responded by saying 'nah I still think we are a long way off, Fagan is only a development coach, we should have gone for a coach with a higher profile'.

I feel we are on the right track so was suprised to hear this.

 

[Dalions]

Think we over achieved in 09 our list wasn't that good. Is anyone worried about this happening again? I like many feel we are on the right track but bumped into a former premiership player recently and alm excited I said 'how good are things going we're on the way up again ' he responded by saying 'nah I still think we are a long way off, Fagan is only a development coach, we should have gone for a coach with a higher profile'.

I feel we are on the right track so was suprised to hear this.

Who is this cynical former player?
High profile does not automatically mean success. And with our list he had to start somewhere and development is where we were majorly lacking in previous years.
Does this former player still have anything to do with the club? And have any inside knowledge of his supposed lack of ability in other areas.

 

[BigCat2]

Who is this cynical former player?
High profile does not automatically mean success. And with our list he had to start somewhere and development is where we were majorly lacking in previous years.
Does this former player still have anything to do with the club? And have any inside knowledge of his supposed lack of ability in other areas.

Agreed. That opinion may or may not have credibility depending on who it is or his current level of involvement at the club. Based on the rather superficial statement I'd be inclined to ignore it.

Our development had been so deficient, and coupled with the number of kids we have, a development coach was exactly what was needed. Not to mention a development coach who is great at building relations and was instrumental in helping achieve high performance at the most successful club over the past decade...

Fages himself said early on that he's putting the pieces in place, to help us achieve a premiership one day. Whether that's with him as coach or someone else he wasn't sure.

There's nobody else I'd want to be coaching us at the moment. High profile or not.

 

[mikey127]

Who is this cynical former player?
High profile does not automatically mean success. And with our list he had to start somewhere and development is where we were majorly lacking in previous years.
Does this former player still have anything to do with the club? And have any inside knowledge of his supposed lack of ability in other areas.

Won't mention the player but not involved with our club but still involved in footy

 

[Dalions]

Won't mention the player but not involved with our club but still involved in footy

Wasnt Leppa having a dig was it?

 

[mikey127]

Wasnt Leppa having a dig was it?

Absolutely not. A friend of mine saw Leppa a few weeks after being sacked and he was very gracious and thought the club eould be in good shape if we hung on to our kids.