The season reports started with Melbourne Demons who finished 16th, then Richmond Tigers, Fremantle Dockers, North Melbourne, Sydney Swans, the West Coast Eagles, Port Adelaide and the Hawthorn Hawks. Essendon Bombers finished 8th then we had Carlton and now we have Brisbane.
If you would like to do up any remaining season, please contact us and also give us your comments below on what you think of the review.
The Year It Was
- Finished: 6th with 13 wins and 1 draw
- Kick2Kick Season Prediction: 9th – 12th
What Went Right
It was a dream debut for first time coach and ex Brisbane Premiership captain Michael Voss. After finishing 10th in 2008 many were predicting a baptism of fire for coach Vossy but a lot went right in 2009 for the Lions.
The Lions have had great leadership in the form of captain Jonathan Brown and coach Michael Voss.
The development of young players and a good blend of youth and experience made it the perfect formula for Brisbane. Daniel Rich was a revelation in his first year and rightly so took out the AFL’s rising star award.
James Polkinghorne, Sam Sheldon and James Hawksley are just but of a few of the fresh faced Lions to play this year and more than hold their own against much more experienced opponents.
And the usual suspects of Simon Black, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Bradshaw and Luke Power were solid week in week out.
What Went Wrong
Injuries to the big men in the Brisbane team really tested their rucking depth. At one stage Jamie Charman and Matthew Leuenberger were injured so Mitch Clark stepped up to fill the role.
Also their dependency on both Daniel Bradshaw and Jonathan Brown up forward made it easier for the better teams like Collingwood to predict the Lion’s plan of attack.
Player(s) that Stepped Up
This year it was good to see a marked improvement in Mitch Clark’s game. The potential has been there but the maturity might of been lacking in years gone by. Jed Adcock and Michael Rischitelli might not be household names but its players like these two that have helped get Brisbane to 6th position this year. Definitely the second tier players for the Lions did step it up this year.
I was also impressed with the versatility of ‘big red’ Daniel Merritt and if he continues to improve will fill a role similar to the one Justin Leppitch used to play for Brisbane.
Trade Bait/ Goodbye’s
The Lions have a very young talented list of players that Voss would be hoping to build into a premiership contender in the next few years, so don’t expect to see anything drastic in the way of chopping and changing.
There have been rumours of a trade of Brad Dalziell for Brent Staker but thats all hearsay.
If Mitch Clark continues in his ruck role it may means that either Jamie Charman and Matthew Leuenberger could be looking at other clubs in the future if one of the two don’t get game time.
The Lions have cleaned out some of their coaching staff saying goodbye to Chris Johnson and Craig Brittain and Assistant Coach Wayne Brittain.
Jade Rawlings and Craig McRae have been added to the Lion’s coaching staff.
Improvement Needed by
Players like Justin Sherman, Tim Notting and Troy Selwood need to be looking at more consistent performances throughout the season. Brisbane seem to have a lot of 2nd and 3rd year players that by now should be comfortable in their roles and looking at turning that potential into consistency.
Rhan Hooper needs to step it up and has shown glimpses of that razzle dazzle but could become a Liam Davis like player if he finds solid form.
Loading ...
September 17th, 2009 at 9:43 am
As discussed in the Semi-Finals wash up, Brisbane have a solid key group of seasoned players in Power, Black and the twin B’s but after that the quality drops off a bit and if they can close the gap between the A-listers they would be a 3-5 goal better side.
Notting has retired but your right that the real improvement needs to come from players like Brenean, Hooper, Selwood, Charman etc.
[Reply to Comment]
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Players that we should look at trading…
Jason Roe – Great size for a defender but constantly turns the ball over that results in opposition goals. In one game this year he had 5 clangers that resulted in opposition goals.
Brad Dalziell – Poor user of the ball but is a magnet. Trade him while people still remember his great year in 08. I would take Spangher for him, we don’t need Staker.
Also we should look at trading Hooper, Stiller, Selwood & Charman.
[Reply to Comment]
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
@steve – thanks for taking the time out to comment about your team. Would you be interested in Nathan Brown as a forward by any chance?
To be honest I could only think that Charman and Dalziell would interest any other clubs. I do not know enough of Stiller but Hooper has too much of an attitude problem and these days no one wants someone who continually turns the ball over like Roe.
I think Selwood still has upside, he has continually been injured and rarely played 5-6 games in a row. If he can get his body right, he will be a good foil up forward or in the midfield.
Jermayn´s last blog ..The Modern Day Pharisee
[Reply to Comment]