Watson11

That’s fair. But we seem to have got it right recently. In rounds 1-10 we dominated in lots of fourth qtrs and only lost 1 by 1 point, and another by 3 points. Rounds 11-21 we were 4w6l in fourth qtrs but none were blow outs. In the last 3 weeks we have dominated all of the fourth quarters. I’m thinking Burgo has got it 100% right after having the luxury of an 11-1 start. We went 2-3-1 through the middle part of the season but have now won 5 straight. It just feels that we are primed fitness wise and in that slump in the middle Burgo was preparing us for now.

This week's taking forever so to pass time I dug a bit into Geelong's non GMBH/Simonds record under Scott since 2011 and their finals record (below in brackets) in the same year. They really have probably been a 5th to 10th team most years away from GMBH stadium, so their finals record is not that surprising. Ironically this year and 2016 are the only years they have performed at top 4 level away from home (and barely top 4 level). 2011 13-2 (3-0) 2012 8-7 (0-1) 2013 11-5 (1-2) 2014 10-5 (0-2) 2015 6-6-1 (DNQ) 2016 10-4 (1-1) 2017 8-6-1 (1-2) 2018 5-9 (0-1) 2019 9-7 (1-2) 2020 12-6 (2-2) 2021 9-4 (1-1) 2016 they won a QF (by 2 points), but they got spanked in the prelim by Sydney who finished top (11 goals to 2 at half time). Let's do the same this week.

Yes. Hibbard picked up Gulden and Hayward when he rotated down there.

Exactly. I have far more admiration for Sydney who have played in 8 or 9 prelims over 20 years.

There was zero difference in the acts. It’s a flawed system, and corrupt. Green got 2 weeks from the MRO because they decided on the Saturday after the game when Dangerfield had gone to hospital. GWS appealed and reduced it to 1. Either way, I would prefer them to all play (and Tom Stewart to get a few needles and play) so they have no excuses.

Has anyone been on the phone to Josh Kelly asking him to checkin to hospital? Christian Salem’s a good mate. Surely he could get it done.

This. Last time Lever was picking up a small (Dalhaus and others) and had 22 possessions with 12 intercepts. Port copied it and Alliir destroyed them. Exactly the match up we will engineer.

Dangerfield went to hospital. So was Careless, High contact, high impact 3 weeks reduced to 2. Kelly unhurt. So Careless, high contact, low impact. $1000 fine. Not saying that is ok but it’s the system

Only the last half. GWS looked dreadful going forward. And their defence looked just as bad. The final margin flattered Geelong I thought, and checking the stats after the game i50s were equal. GWS missing their 3 most important forwards stood out, but their defence was just terrible. I can’t see Geelong having 28 scoring shots from 49 inside 50s against us anytime let alone a final (converting at almost 60% when our defence concedes low 30’s). And GWS scored from only 36% of their i50s, while we average mid 40s. Did I miss something important in the first half? I’ll also back Max, Dogga and our mids to get on top and for us to have more inside 50s. And for us to exploit the bigger ground and run them off their feet.

For all worried about the quick goals in the R23 game, Geelong were lucky with frees, missed frees to us, a few lucky bounces of the ball, and 1 or 2 legit good goals. 2 goals came from stoppage directly because we tried something new, which was to match numbers at the stoppage and not drop an extra back. 3 goals came directly from midfield free kicks that were questionable. A couple came from blatant missed free kicks and throws or interference to Max. It won’t happen again. Summary below. 15 left - stoppage on Geelong 50m. Geelong quick clearance to 1 on 1 and Cameron marked. If we had the extra back in front of Cameron we would have had easy intercept. 12.53 left - Lead up Harmes dumped ball to contest on wing. BB grabbed it, no prior, and ridden in back into turf. Free against but could have gone to BB (if he was a small annoying blond bulldog). Ball worked around centre to other wing where high kick straight to max, Geelong midget bumped him out of contest with no attempt to mark. Inexplicable no free paid and Hawkins got lucky soccer goal. 8 mins left - ANB pinged for HTB in middle with no prior when gang tackled and driven into turf. Lever and May out marked in long kick to boundary by Hawkins. 5.54 left. Stoppage on wing. Selwood blatant rugby pass. High ball to 3 on 3. No extra back. Hawkins crumbs out back 20m out and snap goal. Would not have happened if we had extra back (in front) with May behind Hawkins. 5.30 left. Centre bounce. Selwood wins academy award and takes dive. Free. Kicks from left edge of circle to Dangerfield at front edge. Maybe 8m. Dangerfield runs 3x further than Selwood kick to just outside 50 without bounce and kicks goal. 5.15 left. Centre bounce. Harmes got caught 1m in front of Dangerfield who escaped goal side. Lucky bounce to him. Petracca was 1m goal side for us so lucky bounce could easily have gone our way, but poor defence by Harmes. 4.30 left. Centre bounce. Dangerfield tackled well by Viney with Oliver and Harmes getting sucked towards it. Dangerfield blatant throw out to Selwood. Quick clearance. Rohan marked it. 1.11 left. Transitioned from deep defence with chip kicks all the way to 50m where long kick to goal line and we did not kill the ball. Cameron got goal line gift.

Brisbane have been the highest scoring team this year! The seasons stats of Lions v Dogs would be a worry for dogs supporters. Contested possessions - Brisbane +7 Inside 50s - Brisbane +3.5 Scoring shots - Brisbane +1.7 Tackles - Brisbane +7 Clearances - Brisbane +1.4

He had a poor game but he competed and was our second best forward for pressure acts (beside ANB). When things don’t fall your way all you can ask is to compete and apply pressure as that creates opportunities. His direct opponents had no impact.

I agree. In 2013 our club got leaders who started to try and change the culture, and at that stage Max and Jack were 22 year olds who both enjoyed the off field stuff. But Max knuckled down and is now a 5 time all Australian, with probably 3-5 years left playing such is his dedication. Jack had 4 years in that system and just didn’t demonstrate he has it in him.

Agree Cats. I think Lions will beat the dogs. Dogs have no ruck, and a really fragile defence. I think the rain helped cover up those 2 major flaws. If Lions halve clearances dogs are done. Daniher won’t be playing on Steven May this week, and Cameron is in great form.

Channel 7 footage shown just now is conclusive. New camera angle.

It’s great to see other sides copy our tactics to dismantle other contenders. Last week, Lever to Dalhaus. This week Allir to Dalhause.

Mark Williams needs a ton of recognition for last nights performance. Look at the Melbourne players with the best disposal efficiency last night. The much maligned ANB, Smith, Viney, Sparrow, and Harmes are right up there.

He didnt burn Petracca because he put it on Ben Browns chest. Only problem is Ben Brown slowed it down. ANB was outstanding.

Smith played 3 practice matches in 2019 as a forward and kicked 4 goals in one of them from memory. But he didn’t seem to have a clue what to do when we didn’t have the ball and the Brisbane and Richmond defenders got leather poisoning from all the space they had.

Unless you’re Richmond or St Kilda. GWS are pretty happy with the draw though.

Interesting comment on Lever. Last time they kept him occupied really well (only had 2 marks and 9 possessions) and they still lost. Salem was in a slump or playing injured as well.

I think the media have gone a bit hard on Stanley. If Lever had gone for goal and it had gone through at 2.5m height, the same media would be all over Geelong for not having their ruck on the goal line. Full credit to Max, May and others for getting down there.

Or against Oliver as Hawkins tried to do the slam the head in the ground manoeuvre.

I loved how the the Karma turned around so completely in 37 minutes of footy. I hope port belt them next week.

Rohan has had 2 kicks. Who would not have had a goal kicked on them in that onslaught?