Lions back six vs Bulldogs back six

[Dry Rot]

I've seen a bit of talk lately about the Lions back 6 NB that they are the key factor for their improved showing thus far.

Their back 6 is Begley, Merrett, Adcock, Brennan, Copeland and Mills (I haven't heard of half of them)

How do they compare to Morris, Harris, McMahon, Wight, Gilbee and Hargarve?

Sounds like the 2 Lions KPPs Brennan and Merrett are going very well.

[Twodogs]

From the little amount of Brisbane I've seen this year it seems that they have a back 17 and Jono Brown at fullforward.


Crikey they flood a lot.

[Dry Rot]

Pagan's paddock meets Eade's flooding Swans?

[Twodogs]

The Saints seemed really bereft of ideas. They went sideways so often Commetti wanted to know if the goalposts had been moved to the wings. They seemed to struggle with the more accountable gameplan that Lyon wants them to play.

[Dry Rot]

I wonder if they have the players for that gameplan. IMO Sydney does, and doesn't have the players to play like say us.

[mjp]

The Saints seemed really bereft of ideas. They went sideways so often Commetti wanted to know if the goalposts had been moved to the wings. They seemed to struggle with the more accountable gameplan that Lyon wants them to play.

It was interesting though. One of the biggest criticisms of GT was that his gameplan could not cope with a flood - or, more loosely described - by the opposition collapsing numbers on Gehrig and Riewoldt. No plan B so to speak.

Last night, Brisbane got numbers back, and the Saints still had no answer. Admittedly, Riewoldt wasn't playing, but I would have thought they might have worked through this a few times in the past 6 months.

It was midfield pressure that got them in the end though - went from dominating Melbourne around the clearances/contested situations to simply not being able to get their hands on the ball. Pressure caused uncertainty, which caused slow ball movement and lack of run and carry - which in turn created time for the Brisbane players to get back.

We really, really have to beat the Crows now.

[Twodogs]

It was interesting though. One of the biggest criticisms of GT was that his gameplan could not cope with a flood - or, more loosely described - by the opposition collapsing numbers on Gehrig and Riewoldt. No plan B so to speak.

Last night, Brisbane got numbers back, and the Saints still had no answer. Admittedly, Riewoldt wasn't playing, but I would have thought they might have worked through this a few times in the past 6 months.

It was midfield pressure that got them in the end though - went from dominating Melbourne around the clearances/contested situations to simply not being able to get their hands on the ball. Pressure caused uncertainty, which caused slow ball movement and lack of run and carry - which in turn created time for the Brisbane players to get back..

Yeah I thought that The Brions would have had to start to run and carry eventually. You cant just clamp a side to death.

We really, really have to beat the Crows now

A two game break oin St Kilda after two weeks is better than I would have hoped for.

[LostDoggy]

The Lions flooded back because they have a number of hard it strong bodied midfield types who may not necessarily be super quick but are more than capable of making a physical contest if the ball hits the ground.
Mills is a big raw lad and would have been the type of player that we should have looked to add. I guess with Eade's need for defensive speed it's unlikely we will draft a defender of that ilk.

[alwaysadog]

It was interesting though. One of the biggest criticisms of GT was that his gameplan could not cope with a flood - or, more loosely described - by the opposition collapsing numbers on Gehrig and Riewoldt. No plan B so to speak.

Last night, Brisbane got numbers back, and the Saints still had no answer. Admittedly, Riewoldt wasn't playing, but I would have thought they might have worked through this a few times in the past 6 months.

It was midfield pressure that got them in the end though - went from dominating Melbourne around the clearances/contested situations to simply not being able to get their hands on the ball. Pressure caused uncertainty, which caused slow ball movement and lack of run and carry - which in turn created time for the Brisbane players to get back.

We really, really have to beat the Crows now.

Very good analysis mjp. It's the same strategy that they used against us in the NAB Cup. Close the game up so they can play to their strengths which are strength and body size. The Saints could never or were never allowed to get the ball in the open and run it and use incisive passes into F50 to open the game up.

I thought after The Lions beat Geelong in the NAB Cup that they wouldn't get away with the strategy against teams that had better skills and thought through games. If the Saints had better skills they were not visible and as far as thinking goes I haven't seen that from them for ages.

Mind you they will have a lot of pride on the line against us and we always seem to play Gehrig into form. Still not going to be an easy obstacle to overcome.

[Go_Dogs]

Roe and Patfull are also youngish utilities that can play back for the Lions too. Their defense looks ok, but ours is more attacking. With Harris back we'll look a lot better, our midfield must work harder too. Our workrate was pathetic compared to the Crows on the weekend.

[alwaysadog]

Roe and Patfull are also youngish utilities that can play back for the Lions too. Their defense looks ok, but ours is more attacking. With Harris back we'll look a lot better, our midfield must work harder too. Our workrate was pathetic compared to the Crows on the weekend.

Underscore "workrate was pathetic".