Long gone are the days of the all conquering triple premiership Lions and the cohesiveness of a successful football club. Despite all football attention in Queensland currently on the Suns, there is no denying that the Brisbane Lions’ effort against the Western Bulldogs was atrocious and unacceptable.
No longer can a team be built around one player.
The loss of Jonathon Brown will hinder the Lions, but it is no excuse for the dismal effort of the playing group, which can be summed up in one word – selfish.
Controversy has silently plagued this football club since the departure of Leigh Matthews, who left the club when they needed him the most in a selfish act. One could argue he owed the club nothing after winning three consecutive premierships but to throw favourite son Michael Voss into the deep end without appropriate experience has doomed this once football powerhouse.
Learning on the job, Voss has experienced the toughest initiation of all current AFL coaches having recruited Brandon Fevola at a high price before falling on his sword and losing two years of development while costing the team Daniel Bradshaw whom Voss treated with disrespect.
Michael Rischetelli and Jared Brenan also left the club after losing faith.
This was a justified decision because it looks like the Suns will win a flag before Brisbane’s next. Voss’ lack of confidence in himself and his playing group is visible in the Lions game. Undisciplined hits, long balls to no one and ignoring overlapping players are just a few problems on the field at the moment.
Two things stood out on the weekend. The first quarter ended with a melee initiated by Jed Adcock whom is potentially the next Captain of the club. Yet every time I see him, he’s only ever interested in picking a fight. It’s good to see some passion but the passion needs to be for football.
For the entire game, he floated off his opponents (Jared Grant and Daniel Giansiracusa), picked up cheap touches and looked as if he had given up in every overhead marking contest. Hardly an inspiring performance from the acting Captain. Missing Brent Staker and Josh Drummond is no excuse to play selfish football.
The other thing I couldn’t help but notice was the amount of balls lofted into the forward 50 to Mitch Clark which we’re simply unmarkable. Thrust into full-forward in Brown’s absence, his inability to demand the football on the lead begs me to ask why Voss persisted with him one out for three quarters before shifting him into the ruck.
At times, it wasn’t clear whether Lions midfielders were going for goal or trying to hit up Clark. If Clark is going to fill the void, he must either demand the football or bring the ball down for Brisbane’s absent crumbers to scoop on.
Dale Morris finished the day with nine marks against Clark’s two. James Polikinghorne’s two goals from 60m pretty much summed up the amount of confidence this team has in each other.
Selfishness is draped all over the football club at the moment and if Voss is to retain his job, he must do something about the teams culture. Geelong revolutionised ‘team football’ after the 2006 internal review which saw the playing group open up with brutal honesty after being blasted for their selfish football.
The Lions have match winners in Daniel Rich, Mitch Clark, Josh Drummond, Jed Adcock, Simon Black and Jonathon Brown. But as long as Brisbane’s selfish culture continues, match winners are irrelevant.
Rodney Eade’s substitution of a dominant Barry Hall should be a wakeup call for Voss whose team looks to be the unrespected whipping boy of the competition.
If Voss’ men continue to reproduce the disgraceful effort from Sunday, history shows clubs have no problem sacking their favourite sons.
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