Preview Brisbane Lions v GWS Giants Round 7 (Thursday 25 April ANZAC DAY 7:35PM @ Manuka Oval)

[Section 5]

Pretty much what was expected.
Who misses out and ends up sub will be interesting.
The sub probably depends on where they play Zorko.
If Zorko plays that fwd/mid role the sub could be : Ah Chee, Lohmann, Tunstill.
If Zorko stays in defense (my preference) the sub could be: Lohmann, Ah Chee, Tunstill or Answerth

 

[luthor]

I'd like to see Tunstill given another go and I think it would be tough on Lohmann to be relegated to sub again.

Ah Chee sub makes sense because of his versatility

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Viceregal]

If Lyons has to be in the team let it be as sub ... at least that way he can only do so much damage in the 5-10 mins of game time he will get.

sigh

 

[buttermuffs]

LIONS

B: B.Starcevich, J.Payne, R.Lester

HB: D.Wilmot, H.Andrews - C, D.Gardiner

C: J.Fletcher, C.Rayner, J.Berry

HF: C.Cameron, E.Hipwood, H.McCluggage

F: L.McCarthy, J.Daniher, D.Zorko

FOLL: D.Fort, J.Dunkley, L.Neale

I/C: K.Lohmann, C.Ah Chee, C.McKenna, J.Tunstill, N.Answerth

EMG: J.Lyons, H.Smith, D.Joyce

IN: D.Fort, C.McKenna


OUT: O.McInerney (Injured), J.Lyons (Omitted)

Smithcels seething, Fortchads glad.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Payne’s “Mulligan” after the Geelong game really stands out. Hope Rayner can lift and reproduce his Melbourne form.

 

[Elixuh]

Payne’s “Mulligan” after the Geelong game really stands out. Hope Rayner can lift and reproduce his Melbourne form.

 

[3KZ is Football]

View attachment 1969585

“We know what it means. It is selection night and we see Mulligans. Many Mulligans.

 

[martinson]

Doesn't matter much who's in and out or who's the sub.

If we turn up focused and play well it makes no difference. We win.

Even less if we play poorly.

Interested to see how Fort goes for the full 4 quarters. Likely we have to put up with Dizz in the forward line again . He might get 10 and kick a couple one of these days to justify the brain fade.

 

[braddsey]

A win would be pretty big - to come out of our funk and a horror draw to start the season 3-4 isn’t horrible. I can see a way into the season even if we lose this though as it opens right up for a number of weeks and might just give the boys a chance to establish some momentum if they stay mentally up for it.

Maybe it's time for Fagan to pull out the big guns, invite Lethal in and get him to dig out his old VHS of Predator to show the boys. I imagine GWS bleed..

 

[SizeMatters]

Tipped the Lions. Think the club will rebound after the disgraceful effort against the Cats.

 

[Berrygood]

Maybe it's time for Fagan to pull out the big guns, invite Lethal in and get him to dig out his old VHS of Predator to show the boys. I imagine GWS bleed..

Maybe time for a bit of Sun Tzu or Friedrich Nietzsche.

Tzu -- a victorious army wins the war then goes to battle, the losing army goes to battle and hopes to win the war.

Nietzsche -- Will to power. The continual effort to overcome, overcoming the obstacles that get in the way and overcoming ones morals and ethics to achieve it (power).

Don't get me started on Schopenhauer or Kant, lol.

 

[Section 5]

Below taken from the GWS link.
Manuka Oval capacity listed on Austadiums.com site:
Seating capacity 13,550 with overall capacity 15,550.
Largest crowd since 2006 being 14,974 GWS v Tigers 13/7/2016
.................................................................

Thursday night’s match is officially sold out with all attendees required to hold a valid match day ticket or membership. There will be no ticket sales or redemptions available at the gate.

Debutant Headlines ANZAC Day Team

The GIANTS’ team for their ANZAC Day clash has been revealed.

www.gwsgiants.com.au

 

[Shaq attack]

Huge game. Loss essentially ends our season and a win keeps us in the hunt. Will be interesting to see which version of the team shows up. Suspect we’ll have a good idea in the first 10 mins.

 

[Viceregal]

Nietzsche -- Will to power. The continual effort to overcome, overcoming the obstacles that get in the way and overcoming ones morals and ethics to achieve it (power).

As long as you avoid invading Russia ...

 

[Grasshopper17]

Well, here we are! Given this is a game between two expansion clubs without a tonne of history (noting the Jeremy Cameron hit and Alex Witherden's heat death) I was going to use this opportunity to muse on GWS's standing in the game as this new, post-expansion, self-aware ironic club. However given that this game has suddenly become the fulcrum point for the Fagan era Lions and this current premiership window, better save those musings for the off season eh?!

Lots of conjecture around GWS suspensions but this is a Lions board and a Lions preview, so I think we would all be in agreeance that our best footy beats theirs, we match up up pretty well on them which is shown by our recent H2H record and also play Manuka well. So lets focus on us.

WHERE ARE WE AT

Emotionally
I don't know about you, but I was spent after the GF. The rollercoaster of the previous years, the MCG 'hoodoo', the Demons and Tiger 'hoodoos', the finals 'hoodoos', it felt like every season we were pushing uphill against some intangible resistance and narrative. And then things opened up finally, the fixture, the opponents and then it was GF day and we were playing against an over-achieving Pies whose luck was surely going to run out and who lost a KPD early on in the piece. But the relief and the release never came. I left tighter, angrier, imbalanced - was that it? I couldn't think about it anymore. I've never seen a single minute of that game again. When the season came around I looked way beyond Round 1 - I just wanted to get straight back to finals and get revenge. And maybe so did the players? We are playing frustrated, like we are owed something, like we deserve to skip all this home and away nonsense and get back to the peak where we belong. There's no one week at a time, no learnings. Lets skip through this as quickly as we can. Alas, here come the losses, the injuries, the suspensions and sure enough, the off field controversies. We are cranky.

Status: FRUSTRATED

Gameplan
For the Fagan era, we have stuck doggedly to a relatively unpopular gameplan of tall timber, long kicking, contests and contested marking. However, when it worked, it worked well - we have generally been the no.1 or no.2 scoring side for each of the last 4-5 years, despite numerous criticisms of our forward setup and Jed Adcock's involvement. There's also been some key flaws in our game plan - our defensive run (or lackthereof) and response to turnover/counter, and lack of fluidity/reactivity when plan A of attack isnt working. We've relied on individual brilliance (Kiddy, McKenna) to break up our predictable ball movement and some defensive minded mids (Dunkley) to arrest these flaws to a point where we can overcome them, if not exactly fix them. And then of course, the big change in the off-season was more handballs, more chains of movement, more forward momentum. However, you might notice that two players I just named haven't played beyond a half so far and the handball plan is now being held up as the reason we lost last week. On a cold, night in Canberra, we just need to get back to basics - contested footy, clearance ascendency and forward half possession and pressure. Take them on line by line and believe we can beat them line by line, like we all previously agreed we can.

Status: CONFUSED

Team
Its funny how after the Demons win, the 22 seems perfect - not a single flaw or gap in the lines, talent everywhere. After a loss, its where do the solutions come from - there's no depth, we lost in the VFL, there's nobody knocking on the door, we aren't playing guys in the right spots. While we have some devastating injuries (Kiddy, Doedee, Ashcroft) and frustrating ones (McKenna, Bailey), this isn't anything new for an AFL club and a premiership side should have 25+ guys who can rotate in when needed and do a job. In reality, the make-up of our team is relatively set, changes are largely forced and there's really just some tweaking at the fringes. Fagan will back the core squad in to get the job done so lets strap in for the ride. Sorry Shadeau, sorry Bruce, sorry Logan, the window is still open and we are gonna stick with what got us there.

In: Fort, McKenna
Out: Big O, Tunstill
Sub: Lyons

Status: OK

Form
The million dollar question eh? Was the Big O concussion and rain the variable that just took us off our steady resurgence back to premiership favouritism? Or was an out of form Demons a false dawn, and last Saturday was a return to the out of sorts, slow, angry Lions of weeks 1-3. My money (and hope) is on the former and I do an exercise where I try and list who I think is playing in-form and who is out of form and look at the balance.

In Form: Harris, Froggy, Noah, Berry, Zorko, Linc, Kai
Out of Form: Eric, Charlie, Jaspa, Payne, Big O (although looked great against Cats pre-injury)

This tells me our backline is playing well together and holding up, but out forward line isn't really humming. Our midfield is good enough to provide the forwards with enough opportunities for them to turn the tide, and they are too talented not too. The Darcy third forward experiment is seemingly here to stay but he's acquitted himself well enough and should only improve as the forward 6 play together more.

STATUS: TBD

Final Prediction
Hugh to make himself the million dollar man with another vintage performance at a regional stadium during primetime. 10 coaches votes as we scrape out a tight contested win against a plucky Giants. Lions by 8.

Tremendous preview. Thorough, balanced and accurate

 

[3KZ is Football]

Doesn't matter much who's in and out or who's the sub.

If we turn up focused and play well it makes no difference. We win.

Even less if we play poorly.

Interested to see how Fort goes for the full 4 quarters. Likely we have to put up with Dizz in the forward line again . He might get 10 and kick a couple one of these days to justify the brain fade.

Question for Chris Fagan (any journalists out there?)

“Chris, on Darcy Gardiner, why would you take one of your better defenders and make him your worst forward?”

 

[Spacedog]

Mckenna sub? Surely Zorko doesn't get moved out of the backline?

 

[ZoBlitz]

Gameday thread is up.