Brisbane Lions v Geelong
Cyclone Alfred II – Electric Boogaloo
Ashes to ashes, dust to bust, the Gabbatoir is dead and left to rust…
It certainly has been a huge week for all things Gabbatoir. Firstly, the Gabba was read the last rites, and henceforth the Gabba is a dead stadium still standing (just). Secondly, in an ironic twist, this match was cancelled from Round Zero because of a Cyclone Alfred, but as luck would have it, the heavens have opened again with tempest weather drenching Brisbane’s now condemned stadium for this clash.
Between eviction notices and the rains, the Lions and Cat line up for a game with a lot of pundits believing both of these teams will be at the real pointy end of the ladder come year’s end. At the same time as this match, the Giants and the Hawks will be battling it out at UTAS Stadium in another game where many pundits believe both teams could be feted for a date with the MCG on the last day Saturday in September.
Round Three has started with four average matches, saving the Saturday Night as primetime fight night for the Big 4. Make no mistake, the Lions versus the Cats and the Hawks versus the Giants are both tasty heavyweight battles. The realty is, both matches are just another game on the journey to September.
Give or take an injury or two, both teams are at near full strength, with Charlie Cameron, Darcy Fort, replacing the Big O, and the Tony Modra lookalike Kai Lohmann returning for the Lions, while Bailey Smith returns for the Cats to replace Tom Stewart.
I am reviewing this match with an open mind, and I will not drawing any over hyped predictions for the remainder of this season based on the results of this game.
The 2024 Preliminary Replay is as good a match up as possible you could get for Round Three.
Electric Boogaloo II
Brisbane is still of the Lion Kings after defeating their feline opponent, the Cats, by nine points in a very entertaining and absorbing match. Even in defeat, Geelong still showed enough that they will be in the hunt come September. In a game that was the tale of two halves, Brisbane made more of their opportunities when they had their dominant half.
Let’s break it down, one half at a time.
Geelong’s Dominant Half
At quarter time, the Cats lead this match by eight points, but given their overall dominance, it should have been more. The Cats engine room was in control with the twin brutes Bailey Smith and Dangerfield running straight through their Lions opponents, ably supported by Gryan Miers and Max Holmes, while the underrated Tom Atkins was nullifying the ever-dangerous Lachie Neale. The only thorn in the Cats paw at quarter time were the impenetrable defence of Harris Andrews and old man Dayne Zorko.
Given the Cats had the ball in their half for nearly 80 percent of the quarter, eight points seemed like an unjust reward for all their effort.
In the second quarter it was more of the same, as the Lions looked dead on their feet after the energy zapping match the previous week against the gallant Eagles, but again I would argue the Cats didn’t maximise their efforts as they were well in front of the all the key indicators. Four goals and two behinds to one goal and two behinds did not really do justice to the amount of territory Geelong were controlling. Further, the Cats made the cardinal sin of letting the Lions kick a very late second-quarter goal from the boot of Will Ashcroft to reduce the margin from 32 points to 26 points.
At halftime I was waxing lyrical about Bailey Smith, Danger, Max Holmes, Ollie Dempsey on the wing, Gryan Miers, Connor O’Sullivan, Lawson Humphries and Zach Guthrie up back, as well as admiring the ruck work by Sam De Koning and Mark Blicavs, and I was wondering who is this 25-year-old, Oisin Mullin, who was having (had) a great game.
At halftime the Cats had a good spread of goal kickers, however, I was concerned about the form of Jeremy Cameron (more later) and the rest of the Cats forward line. Shannon Neale came off early in the first quarter with an ankle issue, and to his credit he played out the rest of the game, but he had little to no impact on the match. Tyson Stengle and Brad Close both had dirty nights by their standards, while Ollie Henry toiled hard, however, most of the Cats’ dominance in the first half was coming from their midfield brigade.
At halftime Geelong comfortably lead by 26 points.
The Lions Dominant Half
It always disappoints when a team is dominating a game of football and with a minute or so left to a break, they let the opposition get a red time goal. Brisbane’s fightback started with Will Ashcroft’s goal right on the halftime siren. Late goals such as Ashcroft’s are an aphrodisiac for the team that is behind. Time and time again, late quarter goals against the flow are the catalyst for a comeback, and in this match the Lions revival started with Ashcroft’s goal.
What disappoints even more, is when a Coach has the opposition’s best player basically tagged out of the match, or at the very least neutralised, and he moves the tagger. For reasons unbeknown, Chis Scott moved his tagger Tom Atkins from Lachie Neale at halftime and let him of the leash. Tom Atkins’ pressure in the first half didn’t just nullify Lachie Neale, he also forced Neale into making rushed decisions and being very wayward with his possessions. Atkins was taking Neale to the cleaners, so why did Chris Scott make the move at halftime?
While Lachie Neale had limited impact on the outcome, he certainly played his best football after halftime as the Lions mounted a resurgence. My question to Chis Scott remains, why move Atkins?
Patrick Dangerfield and Hugh McCluggage had a great man-on-man battle, with it being one of the best I have seen in a long while. In the first half Dangerfield, along with Bailey Smith, were running straight through packs in a manner only the best players in the competition can do. Think Dangerfield circa 2022 when he ran with a single-minded, nobody will get in my way, determination that carried the Cats to the flag that year – that was Dangerfield in the first half.
I don’t know what in the Kool-Aid in the Cats dressing room at halftime, but for all the domination Dangerfield was having, Hugh McCluggage came out in the second half and quelled the influence of Dangerfield as he became the driving force behind the Lions comeback. McCluggage led the way for Will Ashcroft, Dayne Zorko, Josh Dunkley, Jarrod Berry and Zac Bailey to take control in and around the clearances, while Harris Andrews, Darcy Wilmot, Ryan Lester, Jack Payne obliterated all attacks that came their way.
On form, Hugh McCluggage is arguably the best player in the league presently, but he will never get that moniker as he is a team first player. He plays in a team full of stars, but make no mistake, McCluggage is the heart and soul of the Lions’ midfield and team. McCluggage is deceptively strong through the core, and he rarely goes to ground, and he is one a few players in the competition who seems to have a lot of time and space to decide where to kick or handball, and he hits his targets with precision.
This game was won and lost in the third quarter as the Lions slammed on four goals to nil, and they ran over the top of the now impotent Cats. When Levi Ashcroft (the other Ashcroft) kicked his first goal in the bigtime to start the third quarter, it was the giddy-up the whole team needed. Goals to Eric Hipwood and Logan Morris who had both been unsighted all night suddenly had the Lions right back in the match.
There was a pivotal moment late in the third quarter when Kai Lohmann came off the ground with an ankle injury and Bruce Reville was injected into the match. Reville’s impact was immediate, firstly he delivered the ball to Morris for his goal and with his next possession he kicked the goal that put the Lions in front right on three-quarter time. In the space of three possession, the man they call Bruce, lit the game up.
It was great to see him impact the game this week, after being subbed out last week, with young Tyrell Dewar getting the better of him against the Eagles.
While McCluggage had the better of Dangerfield in the third quarter, you can never write off the heart of a champion, and it was a superb effort by Danger to put the Cats back in front early in the last quarter, but it was Geelong’s last gasp.
Make no mistake, this was a great tough game of football at its hard-hitting best. Some of the tackles and hard bumps in this match were a throwback to another era when the sight of blood streaming down a player’s face was common. Two gladiators, Patrick Dangerfield and Zac Bailey clashed heads in a brutal collision in the last quarter that left Dangerfield’s face covered in blood, like the famous photo of Francis Bourke from the early 1980’s. A quick stitch or three, a bit of bandage, a change of jumper and Dangerfield was back on the ground.
For a Round Three match, there was some true aggression and courage displayed by both teams, as neither team took a backward step for the whole match.
In a half where the Lions had 39 forward 50 entries to the Cats’ 12, momentum always meant the Lions would run over the top of Geelong. Zac Bailey kicked the goal to put the Lions back in front, and the deal was sealed when the incredible Dayne Zorko kicked a goal and then with a precision pass, he set Jarrod Berry up to put the issue beyond doubt. A late goal to Jhye Clark may have stirred Mark Howard to get a bit excited in the commentary box, but it was too little too late.
Summation
In a game played in two halves, the difference in the end was the Lions made more with their dominance than the Cats. As dominant as the Cats were in the first half, it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard. On the other hand, in the second half the Lions did not give the Cats a sniff as they slowly drew back the margin, and once in front the result never looked beyond doubt.
Geelong will be disappointed, but it was a game played in hot, humid, slippery conditions, which is taxing on the body. Brisbane will bank the win and get on with business for their game.
I said at the start of this review; I’m not making any sweeping statements about either team as they will both be there at the pointy end of the season. That hasn’t changed.
Both clubs are ultra professional and by Monday morning this match will be in the rearview mirror as they concentrate on next weekend.
Tidbits
Jeremy Cameron
When Cameron retires, he will eventually be anointed to the AFL Hall of Fame, and in time to Legend Status, but at the moment he is suffering from the affliction of being human. Don’t get me wrong, if any of us mere mortals ever kicked six goals in three matches, we would shout it to all and sundry, but this is Jezza and he is no mere mortal.
I’ll break it down a bit more, Cameron has only kicked two goals since the opening round (the real opening round, not the zero one), and he looks like something is wrong or not quite right. Only eight possessions and a first quarter goal are very un-Cameron like numbers. All night he seemed a metre or two off the pace. Further, I’m not sure about the instructions to play Jezza up the field so often as like Ollie Henry and Scratcher Neale’s son, Shannon, are nowhere near ready to carry the forward line loads just yet. Henry and Neale haven’t got the craft yet to bring the ball to ground to let the small forwards do their job in a similar manner like Tom Hawkins.
I always thought Cameron was a chance of kicking 100 goals in a season as he got older, but he can’t if he is always 80 metres away from the goal mouth. Cameron is the most dangerous forward in the league within 55 metres from goal, so why is he being sacrificed further up the field?
Jack Payne, Darcy Wilmot, Noah Answerth and Ryan Lester
Week in, week out consistent backmen rarely get any love, or any at all, but tonight Payne, Wilmot, Aswerth and Lester deserve some love, as they stood up, especially in the third quarter when they kept the Cats goalless (with a little help from a couple of handy player called Harris Andrews and old man Dayne Zorko).
On the flip side, Zach Guthrie, Jack Henry, Lawson Humphries and Oisin Mullin did well to restrict the Lions to just 10 goals.
Sam De Koning and Mark Blicavs
Both SDK and Blicavs were serviceable in the ruck against Darcy Fort, but it is questionable as to whether it is sustainable to keep playing them in the ruck. SDK was subbed off in the last quarter and looked spent, while for the remainder of the match Blicavs carried the ruck load alone.
Sam De Koning might be a good fix for the immediate, but he is going to get knocked around by some of the more seasoned ruck men in the game. Further, he is not a first ruckman (just yet) and he would be more potent as the relief ruck man. He toiled hard all night, and if he had held more marks he would have been amongst Geelong’s best players. Perhaps the Cats look at what his brother is doing at Carlton and play the long game? But it would be nice to be able to ease him into the role a little more.
Mark Blicavs can basically play any position on the ground, and as a relief ruck man he is very effective, but he is not a true ruckman.
Chris Scott seems to be happy to field a team without a true ruckman, but tonight he got caught out in the second half against the Lions. Darcy Fort is a true tap ruck man, and while he may not be considered the best in the business, his 39 tap outs to his hungry mids certainly made a major difference to the result, especially as SDK ran himself into the ground and Blicavs was left to shoulder the responsibility.
Harris Andrews
Harris Andrews is categorically the best defensive player in the AFL. The stats say he only had 12 possessions and eight marks, but this is where stats lie. He was impenetrable in defence with his spoiling, his hustle, and feeding the ball to his little mate Zorko.
Finally, Bailey Smith
Bailey Smith had a stunning first half and I initially thought he was on his way to three Brownlow votes, but he faded away in the second half. Smith has a strong, statue-like physique, with flowing blond locks accessorised with a Deer Hunter headband (this is not Mills and Boon), and for Cats fans, there would no greater sight than Smith running through a pack at pace, delivering the ball with precision to a teammate, but in the last quarter when his team needed him to stand up he was caught flat footed quite a few times.
The boy from the underwear commercials needs consistent games under his belt, but more importantly, he needs to learn how to play when the legs are burning and seemingly nothing is left in the tank. Be like Dangerfield and still be in the game even when you are totally spent.
Next Week
The Cats will be happy to be back in Victoria playing at their beloved GMHBA Stadium against a Melbourne team which hasn’t fired a shot this season. Having said that, it is a must win game for the Cats as they don’t want to fall too far behind the leading pack.
Brisbane has a date Richmond at the MCG, and all things being equal, the Lions should be four wins from four games for the season next Saturday night.
As always, I would have left somebody out who played well, or had a stinker, so please don’t hesitate to remind me in the comments.
