The Brisbane Lions’ shock 68-point loss to the Bulldogs may be a blessing in disguise.
Before round one the Lions were one of the most hyped teams in the competition.
They were not necessarily going to be the premiers, but up for a substantial table position move. Now that media attention has mostly moved away from the Lions, it may just be that the players can fully concentrate on producing top football again.
In no way am I trying to justify Brisbane’s performance. The Lions were completely schooled by a surging Bulldogs squad.
The Doggies had over twice as many marks as the Lions, and were far more efficient with an average of 20 disposals per goal, against Brisbane’s 43. At the end of the day, the pre-season champions lost to the favourites for the wooden spoon.
At the same time, however, credit where credit is due. The Dogs were on fire. They outplayed Brisbane in every aspect of the game, and had the desperation they often lacked last season.
If the Bulldogs can back up this performance with a home win against the Dockers on Saturday, signs point towards a promising season.
But the team mustn’t let this minor stumble, and the resulting negativity from fans and pundits, get to them.
Co-captain Jonathan Brown has said that while “There’s no doubts that this was a massive wake-up call for the playing group”, the team shouldn’t be disheartened “Because the last thing we want to do is drop our heads. We can’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water after round one”.
An upset loss in round one is no big deal. It happens to the best of teams. What is important is that both Michael Voss and the players identify what went wrong.
Voss is confident that he knows what needs adjusting, and has said “We’ve seen some of the things we wanted (in the pre-season) and for this week, we didn’t (see them).”
While Voss and the club as a whole may have denied winning the NAB cup as being a top target, the competition provided approximately $100,000 cash and some much-needed silverware for the Lions.
Unfortunately, perhaps the squad had hit a form and fitness peak leading up the final, and like many teams that get a week off at the start of September, suffered from the two weeks between that final and the game against the Bulldogs.
Whatever the reason, the loss serves as a wake-up call for the whole team.
Leadership players like Jonathan Bown, Simon Black, and Ash McGrath have all tasted premiership success, and the team as a whole have their undefeated NAB Cup success fresh in their minds.
Now, the Lions have sour taste of defeat even fresher in their mouths. The quality is there, and any complacency, whatever brief, is gone.
Coach Michael Voss has declared this Saturday’s game against Adelaide at the Gabba is a perfect shot at redemption, and one which I reckon the team will take by the scruff of the neck.
It is entirely possible the Lions will fall in a heap and lose 10 on the trot.
That’s football. But I am sticking by my pre-season prediction, that the youthful and ambitious Lions will come back from this minor setback to an even stronger season than that hinted at by their NAB Cup success.
The Tarje
Guest
Don't know about other lion fans out there but i'm very nervous about this weekend. I feel this is one of the biggest games in our recent history. The club have been vocal all season about how much the team has improved and is trying to gain respect from the rest of the competition. A win will be massive. A loss even bigger. Although every now and then I think we have to remind ourselves that the Lions list is the third youngest in the comp.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
That's some blessing!! Please describe a damnable performance.
TomC
Roar Guru
I think it'll be a nervous game. Both teams expect to do well in 2013, both teams would've expected to win round one, and certainly wouldn't have expected to get thrashed, both teams have a high profile derby the following round. There'll be one very relieved coach and one very concerned coach at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Redb
Roar Guru
Your boys have a chance this week to redeem themselves up at the Gabba. I'll tip the Lions.
TomC
Roar Guru
Agreed. Good teams sometimes get flogged. And good teams sometimes lose to bad teams. But good teams rarely get flogged by bad teams.
Redb
Roar Guru
Long Bow Stretch. A loss wake up call of around 15-20 points more palatable. A 10 goal drubbing is not good for Lion's football.
josh
Roar Rookie
Lets not forget that all the NAB Cup twins, the Lions have yet to play at home. A loss on the road was probably due (law of averages).
Bill
Guest
I had tipped the Lions as contenders for a top eight spot and to do that they needed to win that game. With Adelaide and G.C in the next fortnight, if they lose both of those games, they're dead ducks. Win both and they are at least still a chance. With the only real "certainty" of a win in the first half of the season, being over Melbourne at home in round 5, they really need to up the ante. Otherwise by the time they play Carlton at home in round 9, they could be 1 or 2 wins from 8 games. That would be diabolical and Voss could be packing up his desk.
TomC
Roar Guru
A couple of points on Voss' coaching. We need to stop judging him on the post-2009 recruiting. The impact of that off-season on the team has been greatly overblown, but even if it wasn't, he was a naive neophyte surrounded by Leigh Matthews' staff. Now he has four year experience and has his own people there, including highly experienced assistants in Gary O'Donnell and Mark Harvey. Secondly, scroll back one week and Voss looked like a great coach. The team that looked very impressive in winning the NAB Cup was largely made up of players recruited during Voss' tenure, and many of them, including Redden, Rockliff, Golby, Beams, Yeo, Lester, Bewick and Zorko, were eyebrow-raising draft selections, mature recruits, or rookies. One week ago, they appeared to have perfectly timed their preparation for the start of the season. Saturday was the worst performance the Lions have dished up since 2011, in my opinion. I don't know exactly what brought it about (although I think some intelligent planning by Dogs coach McCartney had something to do with it) but at this stage it's an aberration, not a pattern. But as I alluded to earlier, it doesn't take long for a one-off bad result to become a pattern, so they'd want to pull their finger out pretty soon. The jury is still out on Voss, but this is his team now, and if he can't get these guys playing good footy in 2013 I doubt he'll ever be able to.
Dane Eldridge
Expert
They might be happy to offload the pair of them to Brisbane provided they agree to also take Jeff Kennett too.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Any chance of him being made available earlier? Maybe he can bring Buddy with him!
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Paul Roos?
Dane Eldridge
Expert
Mark Neeld?
LuLu
Guest
Clarkson might be available come October...
Macca
Guest
Dingo Gray - The author had said the team was complacent after a good NAB cup and losing to the Bulldogs was a good wake up call and now they will be ready, I think TomC meant that as you say the NAB cup means nothing and the team has been ordinary for 3 years so why on earth would they be complacent in round 1, why should they need a wake up call after achieving very little. I think you are actually on the same page.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Really can't understand how a wake up call is required? We've done nothing. NAB CUP means squat! I'm with Chris with Voss's coaching...How they can not be ready for Bulldogs onslaught round 1 defies me. I actually thought we might of been a chance of maybe squeezing into the 8! That's well and truly out the window! I think I may have rated them and probably should just be happy with another 10 wins... How long til we get a real coach?
Chris
Guest
Can we just accept that Voss is a s**t coach? Sure he is affable, and could play a bit, but that means nothing as a coach. The Lions won't improve until they recruit a coach who is as feared as they are admired. I could throw random darts at a wall covered with team logos, and that would be every bit as accurate as using NAB Cup as a form guide.
Macca
Guest
I know it's a big call but the loss on the weekend (as with St Kilda's) could well of finished the Lions finals chances, they needed everything to go right and they (like the 8 or 9 other side battling for 5-8) can't afford to lose any games against non contenders let alone give up some much percentage. The lions now need to pinch a game against a top 4 side just to get back on an even keel.
TomC
Roar Guru
Maybe, but it can’t be a good sign that a team that’s been so ordinary for the past three years needs a ‘wake-up call’ after a good pre-season. Two 50-50 games in the next two weeks against Adelaide at the Gabba and Gold Coast at Metricon. If the Lions lose both of those that would be three losses from three fixtures they won last season. Hard to see an improved performance in 2013 under that scenario. As Caleb says, they need to turn it around right now.
Pollock
Guest
Lions really need a good start and they would have put the Bulldogs as a team they should have beat. A win against Adelaide and they can be back to square. One thing is that there are not going to be many easy games so have to beat teams higher up the ladder if they are to be a chance of finals.