Drummo's Left (The Building) - Team Round 13 vs Melbourne

A few people have asked me about the name of this site. Well, I decided to foresake the obligatory and hackneyed Lions-related puns (OK, all the good ones have been taken) and name it after a player. And I asked myself: "What is the most prized asset of the Brisbane Lions?" Blacky's ESP? Strawb's hair? Trapper's beard? No, it's the left foot of one Josh Drummond. A kick so penetrating that NASA are constantly enquiring after it's properties. A kick so blistering that teammates are administered copious amount of aloe vera if they get too close.  A kick so smooth and sexy that it has to stop for a cigarette after it gets to it's target...... A bit far? Possibly. But I do have a soft spot for Drummo, a boy from the Sunny Coast who's fought his way from the QAFL to the rookie list and to be now regarded as a probable All-Australian selection.

Anywho, the news that Josh hasn't made the cut for this weekend's game is bittersweet. I'm kinda glad he's not being rushed back, but at the same time worried that the injury is still stroubling him. Still, it's very comforting to see the names Patfull and Merrett back on the teamsheet. Well, kinda (but more on that later). They come in for the injured Selwood as well as Pos Notting who's been omitted. All others have been rewarded for one of the most meaningful wins the club has had in recent memory.

The full teams for this week:

B: Jason Roe (29), Daniel Merrett (21), Jed Adcock (7) 
HB: Joel Patfull (24), Lachlan Henderson (14), Joel Macdonald (26) 
C: Albert Proud (2), Simon Black (20), Daniel Rich (10) 
HF: Michael Rischitelli (35), Jonathan Brown (16), James Polkingorne (31) 
F: Rhan Hooper (33), Daniel Bradshaw (36), Luke Power (6) 
Foll: Mitch Clark (1), Cheynee Stiller (32), Justin Sherman (11) 
Int: Ashley McGrath (9), Scott Harding (5), Jared Brennan (17), Sam Sheldon (3) 
Emerg: Jack Redden (30), Matt Austin (37), Tim Notting (8) 

IN: Daniel Merrett, Joel Patfull 

OUT: Troy Selwood (shoulder), Tim Notting (omit)
 

Source: www.lions.com.au

Is it wrong to think this should be a fairly easy victory? Yes, and no. The Dee's have certainly given us a bit of trouble in recent years, but we match up fairly well on them. It should be noted that last time out Matty Warnock had a fairly good game on Brown.

The worries:

• The break. I was worried about the boys clocking off for the Hawthorn game for this reason, but coming back after a week off could be a bigger concern. Do you begin to forget the good habits that have won you games? Are you dreaming of lying on a hammock as the snags (low-fat, of course) sizzle away on the barbie?
• The opposition. Surely we won't be caught off-guard again? I'm pretty sure Voss will have them switched on, but you can never know. One thing I'm glad of is that it's not being played on one of those sleepy Brisbane winter Sunday arvo's where everyone's ready for a nanna nap.
• The inclusions. I do get a trifle worried when big names return, that the others subconsciously relax a little from the level they've been at for the previous few weeks and leave it to the "stars". And how will the chemistry be back there? One for Leppa to address.

I'd love for the Demons to start clicking and win some matches (becuase I've got a soft spot for them, but more importantly beacuse the more games they win, the less games you'll need to win to get into the finals) but it goes without saying that they can continue thir losing ways for another week. They're not giving up big losses this year though and anyone dreaming of 100 point wins should check their grand delusions at the door. Melbourne can look very good when they move the ball quickly and can hit a few patches where they slam 3 or 4 quick goals on. That said, it should be a pretty comfortable win on Saturday. If Vossy has them focused on performing their roles then all should be well.

Brisbane Lions by 42.

Roe Your Boat - Final Teams vs Hawthorn

Jason Roe comes onto the extended bench, then straight into the team, along with the world's thinnest wrecking ball Troy Selwood. Although he's come in for plenty of flak this year (and rightly so), the one thing Roe does provide is a bit of dash and run through the lines. This is often seen as the way to combat the rolling zone. Will be interesting to see if he makes the most of his chances - it would seem that he has  very few left in his AFL career.

B: Ashley McGrath (9), Tim Notting (8), Jed Adcock (7) 
HB: Sam Sheldon (3), Lachlan Henderson (14), Joel Macdonald (26) 
C: Albert Proud (2), Simon Black (20), Daniel Rich (10) 
HF: Michael Rischitelli (35), Jonathan Brown (16), James Polkinghorne (31) 
F: Rhan Hooper (33), Daniel Bradshaw (36), Luke Power (6) 
Foll: Mitch Clark (1), Cheynee Stiller (32), Justin Sherman (11) 
Int: Jared Brennan (17), Scott Harding (5), Jason Roe (29), Troy Selwood (28) 
Emerg: Aaron Cornelius (44), Jack Redden (30), Tom Rockliff (38) 

IN: Jason Roe, Troy Selwood 

OUT: Josh Drummond (calf), Travis Johnstone (back)

Source: Lions website

Sauce or No Sauce......Changes - Round 12 vs Hawthorn

Well, it's been threatened all week and it would sound as if Merrett will play this Sunday against the little team that could, Hawthorn. It would sound that way, but as posted on BigFooty by semi-regular training attendee The Brown Dog, the big saucehead tweaked his ankle halfway through training which would all but rule him out of the match.  Fugger, eh? In brighter news, Selwood returns afterhis well-publicised bout of concussion.

Here's the named team, from the Lions website, which would have been filled out prior to this catastrophe:

B: Ashley McGrath (9), Daniel Merrett (21), Jed Adcock (7) 
HB: Sam Sheldon (3), Lachlan Henderson (14), Joel Macdonald (26) 
C: Albert Proud (2), Simon Black (20), Daniel Rich (10) 
HF: Michael Rischitelli (35), Jonathan Brown (16), James Polkinghorne (31) 
F: Rhan Hooper (33), Daniel Bradshaw (36), Luke Power (6) 
Foll: Mitch Clark (1), Cheynee Stiller (32), Justin Sherman (11) 
Int (from): Jared Brennan (17), Scott Harding (5), Travis Johnstone (4), Tim Notting (8), Jack Redden (30), Tom Rockliff (38), Troy Selwood (28) 

IN: Troy Selwood, Daniel Merrett, Jack Redden, Tom Rockliff 

OUT: Josh Drummond (calf)

It's fitting that this match is being played in Tasmania as both teams have forward lines with two heads: Brisbane's Brownshaw and Hawthorn's Frankhead (yeah, I made that up - sounded better than "Roughlin"). Anyway, Merrett's untimely re-injury means that our two-headed beast will in all likelihood be partially decapitated as Bradshaw surely will move down to defence in light of neither Roe nor Cornelius being named on the extended interchange bench. I'm not really a fan of this tactic, as both Franklin and Roughhead are different beasts to Fevola, who in case you missed it towelled up everyone that crossed his path last week, even a few towels. No, Buddy is an agile beast, who is showing signs of getting back on track after a slow start to the year. Well slow by his standards anyway. And Roughhead takes a lot of his marks on the lead at full stretch which is very hard to combat. Probably Roughy is more up Big Guns' alley in terms of opponents. This leaves young Lachie Henderson to go with Franklin, which would be a good learning curve for the young bloke.

So, what happens up forward then? Will we then leave Brown to carry more blokes on his shoulders than at the Cirque de Soleil show? Well, there'll be two options I reckon: (a) Roe will be added to the extended bench in the next 24 hours; or (b) Tommy Rockliff will get his chance to impress after a very soild month or so for the reserves. The Lobster was recruited as a Medhurst-like forward, but seems to have thrown off doubts over his stamina and played a bit through the midfield in the QAFL. I suppose there's the third option of: (c) Strawb makes a miraculous recovery. But if they risk him now, I'll personally slap our medical staff with a wet snapper.

But, in all likelihood, we'll get spanked in this game. Why? First, well, see the above. Joel Mac can't surely be expected to mark either of those beasts. Second, it will be colder in Launy then Brad and Angelina's relationship at the moment (no, I don't really know about those things, I just saw it on the news this morning). Probably wetter too (I'll stop before I go down the Are You Being Served? route). Historically we've never really handled the really cold southern winter conditions well. I doubt Sportsbet takes bets on clothing, but I'd be betting good money Brennan wears long sleeves. And thirdly, this club has bit of a history of clocking off before the mid-season break. We can only hope Voss has them up. Hawthorn also have some pretty handy inclusions in ther side with Campbell Brown and Tom Murphy coming in, tempered by the loss of Cyril Rioli.

But how can we win? Pressure in the midfield and keeping the ball moving forward. Luckily we have a pretty good coach for these tactics. He's already raised the issue by telling his players to toughen up. One of the reasons the Hawks did so well last year, was the delivery from the midfield was nothing short of spectacular - by far the best in the league.

Yes, it can be done, but it would be flying in the face of history. Not to mention reality.

Hawthorn by 42.

Epic preview of last weekends Carlton Game

I damn near peed my pants after seeing this:



Pity the dark side won...

Musings and Beginnings

Welcome to Drummo's Left and what will hopefully be a virtual trevor-trove of information, opinion and more about the Brisbane Lions AFC and the great game of Australian Football in general. To those who love footy, I'm hoping this will be a place of humour and insight. And to those who don't love footy, I'm hoping this will be a place of humour and insight, but perhaps not in the manner originally intended.

If you've stumbled upon this site already, well done you, as I'm not even sure I knew I created it. But stick around and hopefully you'll be..... well, not impressed. Actually, if I can get a "meh" I'll consider that a break-even.

As I conclude this post, I'm somewhat dissapointed that I couldn't find a photo of a bloke named Trevor Trove. Oh well. Just use your imagination.