The Walking Wounded ...

Brisbane looked far better.

Anb can not play round 1 

Joel Smith has to play round 1

Edited March 9, 20196 yr by blue and red in the head
Needed.more

Well you gotta hand it to those Lions, they just wanted it more...

Pretty bad day, fought it out which is nice but a lot of work to do, I’m suddenly not that confident round 1 now need to see who we have available 

Two JLT losses. 

 

Season over. 

So let's put the result aside.  If we're being honest, it's meaningless at the moment.

I think we are a side that is still coming to terms with a new(ish) gameplan that has to fit into the 6-6-6 model.  We know that Goody loves to use two players off the square and we can't do that now.  It will take time to get used to, and we saw that today.  Sometimes we looked excellent, other times we were left exposed.  That may happen early in the year and we might need to be a little patient with that.

Also, we took in less players and then had both JKH and Harmes go down.  That hurt rotations and it showed for most of the second half.  That can't be ignored.

The positives for me - Brayshaw and AVB looked good, with AVB having a huge amount of tackles.  I think Joel Smith gives us something good up forward and kicking four is a sign of that.  Whether or not they can slot him into the Round 1 side is the big question, but he deserves to be in the conversation.  I think our backline will be fine too, and we added a number of players who were having their first run for the year.  They'll be much better for the game.

Obviously, we need to tighten up on our forward pressure and our skills a little, but that's what JLT is for.  Skills are never top notch in March.  With Viney, Jones and Melksham to add to the lineup, it will take out a few others and we'll be a better side, especially around the ball.

The injuries are a negative too, but if Harmes is okay and it's not too long term, then we've done okay there too with the next game a fortnight away.

No slitting of wrists or worries for me and it hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for Round 1.  Bring it on!

It's only a practice match but ffs it would be nice to look like a team with some system. Forward entries are pathetic.

For a team that has a good midfield and a couple of decent forwards our delivery into the forward line is average to say the least.

That was our A grade backline and it didn't work that well.

Hunt should play forward because for some reason he's lost the ability to play down back.

O well it was a practice game but we were in the main putrid.

1 minute ago, McQueen said:

Two JLT losses. 

Season over. 

We're still 13th!!!

Bruise free ...except for the bruises..

Bring on Jack Watts,s Port !!

Is May really in trouble? It looked like he braced himself and Berry just ran his chin into his shoulder lol?

We miss Jesse Hogan.

2 minutes ago, The Stigga said:

Well you gotta hand it to those Lions, they just wanted it more...

Of course they did.  They're a young side who want to improve and the JLT is a chance for them to build up a few wins and get their confidence up for Round 1.  They'll need it.

We don't.  With a later start to the pre-season we've had to manage the players differently and I think it's showed over the last two games.  Good in patches, not so good in patches and plenty of silly mistakes.  We haven't had a pre-season like it since the last time we played finals, so this is new territory for most players.

It looked like we had no space when we had the ball and when the lions had it it was open and fluild.

The ground seemed small for us but big for them 

Edited March 9, 20196 yr by blue and red in the head
Typo

Just now, Wiseblood said:

So let's put the result aside.  If we're being honest, it's meaningless at the moment.

I think we are a side that is still coming to terms with a new(ish) gameplan that has to fit into the 6-6-6 model.  We know that Goody loves to use two players off the square and we can't do that now.  It will take time to get used to, and we saw that today.  Sometimes we looked excellent, other times we were left exposed.  That may happen early in the year and we might need to be a little patient with that.

Also, we took in less players and then had both JKH and Harmes go down.  That hurt rotations and it showed for most of the second half.  That can't be ignored.

The positives for me - Brayshaw and AVB looked good, with AVB having a huge amount of tackles.  I think Joel Smith gives us something good up forward and kicking four is a sign of that.  Whether or not they can slot him into the Round 1 side is the big question, but he deserves to be in the conversation.  I think our backline will be fine too, and we added a number of players who were having their first run for the year.  They'll be much better for the game.

Obviously, we need to tighten up on our forward pressure and our skills a little, but that's what JLT is for.  Skills are never top notch in March.  With Viney, Jones and Melksham to add to the lineup, it will take out a few others and we'll be a better side, especially around the ball.

The injuries are a negative too, but if Harmes is okay and it's not too long term, then we've done okay there too with the next game a fortnight away.

No slitting of wrists or worries for me and it hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for Round 1.  Bring it on!

We also played 3 less players and the 2 skips and Melksham played in the 2’s

keep it in perspective people. 

We will be primed for rd 1

So who lines up in who against Port? Haven't they got a bunch of big forwards?

Dismiss it if you will, and many will, but the negative of those 2 games can’t be anything but a huge worry. We are defensively horrible. Up front, on the ball, down back. Poor defensive cover for the loose ball. Giving to players under pressure and not backing them up. Too much unacvountable football. 

Liked how we fought back with the injuries and lack of rotations we had.

Lions have had an extra month of pre-season under their belt and need to come out firing looking at their draw early on (though we should come out firing anyways). Along with their lack of off-season surgeries their fitness levels as a group should be well up on ours.

But excuses aside, we look good when we are switched on, though we still have significant periods where we switch off. Our defensive efforts all over the ground are a huge concern. Coaches need to wake up to that pretty quickly, as we get badly exposed on switch of plays and don't seem to be able to adjust to defending the fat side of the ground that well.

Here's hoping the majority of our injuries are only minor and we can field a near full strength side come round 1, as it is quite clear that a lot of our depth is still well short of the quality that we need them to be. Either that or we need to pray for Richmond like luck with injuries this year,

Edited March 9, 20196 yr by Demon Disciple

I’m not worried about this performance & Brisbane at all considering they played like it was a grand final today.

Their a developing team who want to prove themselves, they’ll play like their life depends on it which will lead to success in the first half of the season until they run out of gas half way through the season.

Pre season results don’t matter, top team like us are only focusing one thing & that’s round 1.

Look at the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, copping a few losses at the moment but that’s just because their looking forward to the playoffs. Their still heavy favourites to win it all regardless.

2 minutes ago, juzzk1d said:

Is May really in trouble? It looked like he braced himself and Berry just ran his chin into his shoulder lol?

I agree there was nothing in it.   The bloke threw his head back to get a free kick and the peanut hit his head

Edited March 9, 20196 yr by Demons11

Look at least it gives our coaches something to work on and think about what needs changing. 

Also we have to remember slot jones, viney and melksham into that team and we look a whole lot better. 

I may have forgotten over the pre season if something happened to Mitch but why wasnt Hannan playing today? 

I don't want to panic but I will backline is a shambles, changes need to be made. Thank god the injuries don't seem to be serious.

 

B: JORDON, MAY, JETTA

HB: HIBBERD, FROST, LEWIS

C : FRITSCH, OLIVER, SALEM

HF: PETRACCA, T.MCDONALD, NEAL-BULLEN

F: MELKSHAM, WEIDEMAN, J.SMITH

FOLL: GAWN, VINEY, BRAYSHAW

IC: HARMES, VANDENBERG, JONES, STRETCH

What happened to Harmes?

i missed it. 

too many interrupted pre seasons?