Brisbane appear to have intensified their ‘moving cage’ game plan, which involves flooding around the ball and then sprinting back into an open forward line when they rebound.
Effectively, they’re saying they need to rely on numbers rather than one-on-one when they defend, and need to rely on run rather than long kicking when they rebound.
That’s a brand that suits a team with a lot of runners but it’s also a tiring brand. If they haven’t attained Port Adelaide-like fitness levels, they may find their game plan falling apart in the final quarter of big games.
Does Brisbane’s forward line show signs of improvement?
Well it hasn’t gone backwards, but the lack of a tall focal point stood out again. Brisbane’s two 20-year-old tall forwards, Marco Paparone and Michael Close, did a few good things and both looked mobile but are still learning running patterns, body positioning etc.
Brisbane’s mobile forward line is suitable for applying a strong forward press, but there were no signs that their forward press has become more systematic since 2014. The most positive sign for the forward line was that Josh Green, Lewis Taylor and Dayne Zorko are looking fit, sharp and full of confidence.
Does Brisbane’s backline show signs of improvement?
Daniel Merritt moved to his old position of full back. He’s as good a spoiler as any full back in the game, and he makes forwards think twice about backing back into packs, though his rebounding capacity is limited. Without Joel Patfull’s intercept marking and Pearce Hanley’s creativity, the backline has less rebounding capacity than in 2014.
Brisbane appeared to be trying to counter this deficiency by forcing the Swans wide and flooding their midfielders back quickly to help out. This will be their best strategy to counter-punch, and they did it in a very disciplined way against the Swans, but again it will require supreme fitness to maintain this strategy for four quarters in big matches.
Brisbane’s biggest positive
Both midfields were at full strength, with Mike Pyke rucking to Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker, the Jack brothers, and Tom Mitchell, while Matthew Leuenberger and Stefan Martin rucked to Tom Rockliff, Zorko, the Beams brothers, Daniel Rich and Lewis Taylor. Brisbane won the clearances.
While Leuenberger and Rich looked underdone, the others looked sharp. Zorko in particular may be a major beneficiary of Dayne Beams coming into the team in 2015, since Zorko may get less attention and more freedom to play his creative style.
And Sydney?
It’s difficult to draw conclusions about the Swans because it was their first serious hit-out and they were missing key talls like Ted Richards, Adam Goodes, Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett.
Their replacement tall forward, 101-kilogram Toby Nankervis, got to a reasonable number of contests but did not look particularly agile after the ball hit the ground. He will probably get few opportunities this year.
Sam Reid played but once again looked proppy, rolling an ankle and finishing in the red vest.
The Swans’ midfield looked solid, particularly Kennedy and Parker, but was really just blowing out the cobwebs. The Jack brothers were both quiet.
Down back, Rhys Shaw looked like he’s gotten younger rather than older, but with Nick Malceski gone and so many ageing players, overall the Swans’ backline looks like being weaker than last year.
Brisbane will rely heavily on Daniel Merrett in defence and on having supreme fitness. If they can tick both of these boxes, their running brigade could have them knocking on the gates of the eight by season’s end.
The Swans will certainly be in the eight by season’s end, but their game against Brisbane didn’t really clarify their chances of a top-four finish.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Good article Terry. Given that Sydney never treat NAB Cup games seriously and most likely have to play a diluted Essendon side in round one, they probably aren't setting themselves at being 'ready' until after Easter. Teams that play in prelim finals the previous year are often just 'going through the motions' in practise matches, just worrying about getting a bit of match conditioning and implementing the team game plan. So I wouldn't read anything into Brisbane's midfield, supported by exuberant line players, beating the Swans midfield around the stoppages at this time of year. It's lucky that Merret is such a good spoiler, because he may have to do a lot of it this year. I can't see how a team with no decent players above 6 foot (apart from their rucks) can compete with the top half of the ladder. If they had some elite running backmen and elite mid-sized forwards then yeah, it's possible to be a good side. But they haven't. If Brisbane is kncoking on the door of the finals then it won't be because of their list. Every club will come knocking on Leppitsch's door seeking his contract. I expect they'll finish 15th - 17th.
Gecko
Guest
Paparone's goal in the 4th quarter was kicked from the forward line (as far as I could see). In fact, given that Close seems quite raw and that Merritt will be needed in the backline in Patfull's absence, it's possible that Paparone might become Brisbane's new swing man in 2015. It'll be interesting to see how Brisbane goes in 2015 and any new innovations it adopts, given its unusual combination of great depth in runners but a shortage of key position players.
Don Freo
Guest
I was thinking the same thing when I read your comment. Paparone did play in the back line...probably why Terry got confused by his "running patterns". Daniel McStay, however did play as a key forward.
Peter Baudinette
Roar Guru
Couldn't agree with you more there TomC (which is a pleasant way to start off 2015) The Lions look very much at home in the traditional strip. I generally take the same things away from the Swans first NAB hit out each year. For the past decade they have been coming off a finals series so have been somewhere around 1-4 weeks behind the rest in terms of preparation. For the most part it results in a loss. Skills are woeful across the whole group. They certainly did not run out the game. I would love for them to be at least thereabouts in one area, polished skills or fit. The skills are a worry for mine at this stage of the year. Mainly the errors came from the new kids like Hiscox and Robinson, but seeing Kennedy miss fairly simple set shots was disappointing. The Swans structures were certainly heavily impeded by the absentees, and I just hope we don't face these sorts of outs throughout the year.....all at once. McVeigh was a noticeable absentee left out of the article. He will make a difference either in the middle or as the predictable replacement for Malceski of half back. Rohan showed he has the run and can defend but he just can't deliver the ball like Malceski. Plenty of room for improvement.
TomC
Roar Guru
But the main thing we learnt was that the Lions just look brilliant in the traditional premiership strip.
TomC
Roar Guru
It's interesting how two people can watch the same game and see some things so differently. I thought Paparone was playing in the backline, as was Rich for most of the night, and that their clearances from defence looked very good. Rich didn't seem underdone to me at all. I certainly agree with the rest of the article, though. It's a very exhausting gameplan, which will be hard to sustain. As for Sydney, they obviously were underdone and nothing should be read from the scoreline. I thought Heeney looked ready to contribute at senior level, and Brandon Jack seems to have added some muscle and looked promising as a bullocking forward.
Gecko
Roar Pro
Jax, I haven't seen the stats but much more of the game was played in the Lions' forward half than in the Swans' forward half. And the Lions' midfield were clearly fitter, which showed up in their ability to flood back across half back. The Swans had an amazing number of turnovers across their half forward line. Stephan Martin looked to be the best ruck on the ground. Jack all your points are valid. But some things you can learn from NAB games are: - fitness levels of various players; - which particular tactics they're trying out (I'd suggest most tactics adopted in March are not just experimental but are key planks of their 2015 game plan); - a sense of how various young blokes are progressing
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
There isn't much to learn from ANY NAB cub game. Teams try out different tactics, half the time assistant coaches have the reins and there are usually key personnel missing. There have been times when the Premier side for the year won the NAB Cup. There have also been times when the cellar dwellers have won.
jax
Guest
who won the midfield battle? I missed the game