Grand Final thread

[Grantysghost]

You are totally underselling what Fort did yesterday. He competed a lot better than English has done in 7 finals. If Brisbane had English rucking it would have been very hard to win.

Fort was pretty good, held his own all he had to do was compete.
Pushed forward at times too.

Grundy won the day, however their mids were poor.

Letting the Lions have so many uncontested marks was a massive fail by the swans coaches.

[Grantysghost]

Anyone else have the same mind set as me that the Swans and Cats are pretty much mandated a top 8 spot so the other 16 soon to be 17 teams are fighting it out for 6?

History doesn't lie!

Theyre well run clubs no doubt, you do have to consider all the others are pretty well run too. What are they doing differently?

[EasternWest]

Reckon McInerney's reaction after the game with Fort tells us all we need to know about Brisbane's cohesiveness. That's a team that's just "on".

[kruder]

The belief IMO all came off the back last years GF, it was the first time during Fagan's reign that the Lions were more than just out the back flat track bullies.

They played sensational against the pies and backed it up again and this time against an inferior opponent, I'm happy for them they deserved it just for consistency across 6 years of footy but they were more than that yesterday.

The small high half forwards were at it again woofers, they have so much quality in that space If only Lohman made it to the kennel off the back of the Dunkley trade. Plenty of food for thought for us in this space and I'm sure Hannaford and Berry will be high up on the board come draft night.

While I'm on Dunkley he has changed their midfield, has added substance no doubt we just haven't seen the lions apply pressure like that and I think he lead it all finals series while Ashcroft become the cherry on top.

[JanLorMill]

The belief IMO all came off the back last years GF, it was the first time during Fagan's reign that the Lions were more than just out the back flat track bullies.

They played sensational against the pies and backed it up again and this time against an inferior opponent, I'm happy for them they deserved it just for consistency across 6 years of footy but they were more than that yesterday.

The small high half forwards were at it again woofers, they have so much quality in that space If only Lohman made it to the kennel off the back of the Dunkley trade. Plenty of food for thought for us in this space and I'm sure Hannaford and Berry will be high up on the board come draft night.

While I'm on Dunkley he has changed their midfield, has added substance no doubt we just haven't seen the lions apply pressure like that and I think he lead it all finals series while Ashcroft become the cherry on top.

The turn around in a short time from Brisbane was unbelievable. Beaten at home by GWS in round 22, in Melb by Collingwood in round 23. Looked gone in 3rd qtr semi vs Gws. When they found it, there was no stopping them.

[Grantysghost]

Well well well, let the excuses commence.

Longmire :

This is also the second time, after the Bulldogs in '16, that a club has beaten Sydney for the flag after coming from outside the top four.

It will put renewed focus on the pre-finals bye, introduced in 2016. As the Lions built up a head of steam with three-straight games ahead of the Grand Final, Sydney had the week off after winning their qualifying final.


"I'm not going to put it down to that, but it's not the advantage it once was," Longmire said of earning the double chance by finishing in the top four.

[Grantysghost]

He was asked to be fair.

But saying finishing top 4 is not an advantage crikey.

Two home finals straight through. We play our final at the opposition's ground.

[jazzadogs]

Well well well, let the excuses commence.

Longmire :

This is also the second time, after the Bulldogs in '16, that a club has beaten Sydney for the flag after coming from outside the top four.

It will put renewed focus on the pre-finals bye, introduced in 2016. As the Lions built up a head of steam with three-straight games ahead of the Grand Final, Sydney had the week off after winning their qualifying final.


"I'm not going to put it down to that, but it's not the advantage it once was," Longmire said of earning the double chance by finishing in the top four.

What's his excuse for the other two grand finals he got pumped in?

[bulldogtragic]

Well well well, let the excuses commence.

Longmire :

This is also the second time, after the Bulldogs in '16, that a club has beaten Sydney for the flag after coming from outside the top four.

It will put renewed focus on the pre-finals bye, introduced in 2016. As the Lions built up a head of steam with three-straight games ahead of the Grand Final, Sydney had the week off after winning their qualifying final.


"I'm not going to put it down to that, but it's not the advantage it once was," Longmire said of earning the double chance by finishing in the top four.

When you lose your last four GFs by an average of 57 points, you’d think he’d have a better talking point than that.

[Grantysghost]

What's his excuse for the other two grand finals he got pumped in?

I'm sure it's not his coaching.

[Grantysghost]

Finishing top 4 is not the advantage it once was. Fmd Bevo been ahead of the game all this time!

[bulldogsthru&thru]

fmd this statement is a perfect example of how normalised inequality is in the league.

And is this journo now saying it's an advantage to finish out of the top 4 so you get to play 4 in a row??

Funny how this comes up the 2 times a team outside the top 4 won. The other 7 times we've heard nothing.

As for Sydney, keep looking for outside reasons to excuse your shit performances. You'll lose no 5 soon enough.

[JanLorMill]

I’m ok with Longmire giving excuses, masks how bad they have been in the big game. The 100 point loss was the real end of the season for them.
It almost rules them of out of contention with Longmire in charge.

One of biggest loser this season is GWS. Capable of beating all teams especially Sydney and Brisbane but choked.

[JanLorMill]

Anyone else have the same mind set as me that the Swans and Cats are pretty much mandated a top 8 spot so the other 16 soon to be 17 teams are fighting it out for 6?

History doesn't lie!

Theyre well run clubs no doubt, you do have to consider all the others are pretty well run too. What are they doing differently?

Sydney and cats get a great home ground advantage but so do other interstate sides.
Sydney got a leg up with academy picks and Geelong has the COLA(cotton on living allowance).
Seriously both have great systems and are well coached normally.
There must be advantages as the AFL needs Sydney to be good because when they bottom out no one in Sydney goes.

[kruder]

Well well well, let the excuses commence.

Longmire :

This is also the second time, after the Bulldogs in '16, that a club has beaten Sydney for the flag after coming from outside the top four.

It will put renewed focus on the pre-finals bye, introduced in 2016. As the Lions built up a head of steam with three-straight games ahead of the Grand Final, Sydney had the week off after winning their qualifying final.


"I'm not going to put it down to that, but it's not the advantage it once was," Longmire said of earning the double chance by finishing in the top four.

The exact reason why the AFL will keep it, makes the finals more interesting.