With a successful first round showing against the Melbourne Demons, Brisbane are looking to shrug off the memories of a horror 2011 and build towards a positive 2012.
2011 was a year to forget for Lions coach Michael Voss.
In total the club notched just four wins. The Brendan Fevola experiment was scandal-ridden and short-lived, and captain courageous Jonathan Brown was ruled out not once but twice with a severe facial injury. This resulted in the fearless forward spending lengthy periods on the sidelines.
In his absence many new talented faces emerged in the squad and others such as Tom Rockliff, Daniel Rich and Jed Adcock were forced to take the leadership reigns. Though the group stumbled through a season that became infamous for late collapses and narrow losses, the Lions finished strongly. However, only now are AFL fans really starting to take notice.
Against the Dees, Rockliff continued to prove his worth bagging three goals in a small forward role, and regular fullback Daniel Merritt made the most of his stint up front to get two six-pointers of his own.
Jack Redden and sharp-shooter Patrick Karnezis are still growing but will prove to be key to Brisbane’s success this year.
Their upcoming opponents Carlton are coming off a big win against Richmond, however the Lions are not lining up as easybeats, having defeated the Blues by 64 points in the NAB Cup earlier this year.
Before tonight’s game at the Gabba, which is the team’s first home appearance of the season and the only AFL fixture of the day, Voss has called for his players to send out a warning to the competition, change popular opinion about the youthful squad and win over the fans.
If they play the positive football we saw them play in Melbourne, there’s little doubt they’ll get what they’re after.
WobbliesFan
Guest
Bullets, Broncos, Lions, Roar......we're bangwagon all the way baby!
Ashley
Guest
or the 2009 elimination final where they they kicked the last six goals in the last quarter to score a seven point win.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Pumped up for another 5th place finish, Wookie?
TomC
Guest
Some really great young players. And one or two of the older ones (like Merrett and Adcock) don't get the credit they deserve. But they'll need at least another season to challenge for finals. The Lions will fight hard tonight but at some point the Blues will run over them. Carlton were excellent at capitalising on the Tigers' skill errors last week and the young Lions won't be able to sustain four quarters of good football. Carlton by five goals.
NF
Guest
If Lions win i expect the bandwagon to start up again for the Lions circa 01-03.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Lions are going to get smacked down tonight. Blues using these early matches to gear up to completely obliterate the bombers again
Redb
Roar Guru
Lions look like they are on the improve, similiar to Nth Melb last year they had quite a few small losses and were more competitive than their ladder position suggested. Of course its hard to judge their win against an insipid Melbourne as sometimes your only as good as your opposition lets you play. In a close to full strength hit out between Brisbane and Essendon , Essendon won easily with Jono Brown saying he thought the Bombers were a cut above. Given Essendon is a mid table side this year, maybe 6 -9th, I think the Lions are still a rung below maybe 10-12th. Carlton will win easily tonight, I'd say between 5 and 8 goals.
JamesP
Guest
Just 2 years ago (2010) the Lions played Carlton and surprised them in their Easter Thursday night clash at the GABBA It was Fevola's 2nd game with the club, and his first against his old team. Almost a full house at the GABBA (36780) The Lions went on to win the first 4 games of 2010, and Voss was looking like a genius...then injuries took their told The nucleus of that side is still together - they will come again...
Brisbane did come up against a pathetically uninspired Melbourne team last week but I think you are judging Brisbanes' performance last year a bit too critically. If you take into account all the factors (Fevola, loss of Jonathon Brown etc.) and add in the games that were lost by narrow margins their season wasn't as bad as everyone says. However, rightly or wrongly, people judge how a team performed by where they finished on the ladder and it's pretty hard to argue against that. I (brag, brag) was one of the few who picked Brisbane to win last week (unfortunately I also picked Geelong, St. Kilda, Nth Melbourne and Richmond so they probably equal out.) On my figures Carlton will win tonight but only by a small margin.
mds1970
Roar Guru
They were playing against a very poor Melbourne side last week, but did the job well. Probably the most encouraging thing about that performance was that Simon Black was close to his Brownlow best. Tonight will be interesting. It's a big call to suggest they'd beat Carlton; but with the home ground advantage and a vocal crowd behind them, hopefully they can put up a good showing. (shameless self/Roar plug alert) I'm doing the Roar's live blog on tonight's game. Looking forward to the contest; and if the Lions can put up a competitive performance it would send out a message that they have well and truly put their annus horribilus of 2011 behind them.
Jadeous
Guest
No. No they can't....... -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.