Sydee

I'm warming to the idea of playing Trac as a permanent forward against the Lions and replacing him in the guts with Gus. We have become very predictable and teams are feeding off that Gus is in form and Trac has been struggling to impact on the ball We desperately need some strong bodies in the F50 and that won't be coming from BB or Weid assuming he is gifted another opportunity Gus whilst playing great footy at HBF can be covered if we have May, Petty, Lever, Salem. Pig and any of (Bowey, Rivers, Hunt)

Ridiculous odds given the form line

Maybe but atm we are not playing the same brand of football I watched this game with a lot of interest and there were three very stark differences to the way we play atm 1. A willingness to run and carry moving the ball forward as quickly as possible 2. Effective tall forwards that if they don’t mark bring the ball to ground so their small forwards can go to work 3. Consistent pressure acts when not in possession meaning opposition has less time to dispose effectively I don’t think the way we’ve played over the last month or so we’d beat either of those sides last night which is obviously a big concern because they are both lapping at our heals Lets hope we regain some form and fast It would be great if BB and Weid watched how physical the tall forwards were in this game - I don’t think they have it in them to replicate that but it would be nice if they could

Correct and many will not agree but J Smith would be in my best 22

If we go small inside F50 and continue to bomb away the way we have been recently I'm tipping Harris Andrews and Marcus Adams to take around 40 marks between them - game over We will need to come up with some significantly better connection and carry through the middle to be any chance

Love your creative thinking but there is zero chance of Gus playing in the ruck if you ask me

I have watched a fair bit of Casey this season - thought Daw could be used as a foil for Max but more to give the big fella a chop out to allow Max/LJ to spend more time in the F50 I'm concerned that he may not have the fitness to do enough minutes in the AFL - no idea why he wasn't good to go this week Max going down couldn't have come at a worse time We need to find someone who will compete physically in the air in the F50 its not Weid nor does it seem to BB Brisbane I fear will dominate in the air

Neanderthals booing a player that goes as hard as Oliver for the full 4 quarters is to be expected from that lot Hopefully it is more incentive for the MFC to crush them later this season and send them out of the finals race

I think the high ball into F50 happens for two reasons 1. We've slowed the ball movement up the ground so much that it lets the opposition get so many numbers back to crowd the area making it impossible for our forwards to find space to lead 2. When we try to move the ball quickly we are regularly making bad decisions by hand putting the ball carrier under extreme pressure which results often in a high ball just hacked forward These are the problems I think Goodwin's is referring to in his presser - our process/method what ever label you want to use if currently not working well and they need to fix it

Wonder if the Brisbane Lions fans are running a "what they're saying over at Demonland" thread ?

Agree GD we constantly slowed the ball down after winning back possession - I'm still wondering why - its either a total lack of confidence or lack of fitness not being able to run and carry. I'm hoping its the latter like this time last year In contrast when Collingwood won possession they ran it through the middle easily making it so much easier for their forwards to have an impact. Hard to be overly critical of our forwards when the mids slow it down and then can't deliver effectively. I really can't see M Brown getting another senior game he is way off the pace imo Your summary of each player is quite accurate but I think harsh on ANB who at least chases hard when not in possession - he has a few mates atm who can't seem to do that Earlier in the season I watched games thinking how well we defended the entire ground - that ability seems to have evaporated entirely - until we find a way to do that again we are going to struggle against decent opposition

We look like a team that likes to eat out a lot at expensive restaurants and get on the p:ss

If our boys are serious we win this game Brisbane, Fremantle and Carlscum all winning makes this even more important Another loss to a team that is not a real contender would be a concern particularly with our relatively tough home stretch

I think everyone knows what it says about Sam - Goodwin said in his presser he has been told he needs to improve (my words significantly) on certain things - my guess is - not being easily pushed off the ball - bringing the ball to ground and stopping his opponent marking - compete with some aggression when not in possession - heaven forbid kick a few goals - run hard to create space and an option for players up the field there may be more I don’t know but whatever it is he’s not close to a recall based on what I’m hearing unless he starts playing with a bit more physicality

There are NO excuses for that hair

Maybe there are quite a few AFL fans that just got used to watching in the comfort of their own homes during COVID lockdowns Not judging them but lets be honest its been a crazy couple of years - its led to thousands of people selling their city homes and moving to regional locations There is no substitute for being there live at games but it might take a bit of time to get back to where it was

I thought I read 21k somewhere - apologies if that's incorrect

Good luck Disco - he has earned a chance - hopefully performs well in what will be a pressure cooker atmosphere

I'm also an advocate of Smith being player forward and I do not agree that time is passed I believe it has to happen through necessity - our tall forwards are either serial non-performers or close to or past their prime JVR is a future prospect for 2nd or 3rd tall - Smith has the weapons to be difficult to stop if trained properly as a forward

We may never know what exactly was said and it probably doesn't really matter but we have heard Max joke after a game previously about May being critical of Joel Smith (it was portrayed as a joke at the time) If true May needs to STFU and just play good footy instead of judging other players - the huge irony of course is that if Smith was fit he would more than likely be taking May's place this week

This week is going to tell us quite a bit about just how good this team is Coming off two disappointing losses, a week a utter stupidity and juvenile behaviour, players missing and out of form I'm waiting for a big response - this week could be season defining - roll over like the Melbourne of old and it might be an ugly second half of a season that only a few weeks ago promised so much The memory still burns of a club and its playing group who were best known as talking a big game and rarely if ever delivering - I really hope we aren't heading back to that place

Actually to be fair he played rounds 1 through 4 this season so it hasn’t been 14 months - he was really poor last week and is very lucky if he holds his spot

It’s been a very long time since we have a big forward that’s a match winner - they are few and far between Fritta on his day is v v good but not a Cameron, Franklin, Lynch type its an area we are weak in and it needs to be addressed - Weid isn’t going to tick that box and I don’t (and never have) think BB is the answer

I suspect you’re correct but Tomlinson is very lucky May and Smith aren’t available - if they were he’d be Casey bound based on last week’s performance

I think he has a future but no way he is ready for QB