The Brisbane Lions’ senior team weren’t the only ones who experienced a difficult afternoon last Saturday, with the Reserves also handed a triple figure defeat in their NEAFL match against Redland.

A severely undermanned Lions Reserves side showed some promising signs early, before being overpowered by the Bombers – 22.15 (147) to 5.10 (40).

“Kind of like the senior team, we started the game OK, but handed Redland a few easy goals early and didn’t take our chances,” Innovation & Development Manager Gary O’Donnell told lions.com.au.

“At quarter time we were down five goals to two, whereas it really should’ve been three goals apiece. That makes it a different game.

“Then, once Redland got hold of us in the second quarter, the floodgates opened.

“We stemmed flow a bit in third, but it opened up again in the last quarter. By then, we didn’t have any fit players.

“Luke McGuane only played three quarters in his return match, which was always the plan, and Polks didn’t finish the game as a precaution. Then one of our Academy boys rolled his ankle, and another was cramping badly so we took him off as well.”

The Club’s growing injury list meant the Lions’ side featured just 14 listed players, but O’Donnell said that was no excuse for a defeat of that magnitude.

“We were undermanned a little bit – we had 14 listed players and eight Academy top-ups who hadn’t had a lot of NEAFL experience – but it was disappointing. It shouldn’t have been a 100-point loss,” O’Donnell said.

Please find below Gary O’Donnell’s appraisal on each of the listed Lions who played against Redland last Saturday.

 

Luke McGuane

 

He got through his first game back from a knee problem and played three quarters. He looked fairly sharp, and showed good strength in his knee and change of direction. He played forward and didn’t have a big influence, but we only had 29 inside 50s for the game. Not a bad comeback.

Jack Crisp

He was OK in patches and got his hand on the ball. Had it 20 times, but probably could have had half a dozen more if he’d been a bit cleaner.

Daniel McStay

Played down back and was under siege for most of the game. He played on an ex-Lion in Daniel Dzufer, who ran him around a little bit and kicked 3-4 goals in second quarter which opened the game up. But Dan is still learning and will be better for the experience.

Darcy Gardiner

Was in the same predicament as Daniel in that our backline was constantly under pressure. He played on Cleve Hughes mostly. Hughes kicked seven, but two came on other blokes and he also got a couple of ‘Joe-the-Goose’ handballs over the top in the goal square. Darcy needs to be a bit more selfish at times and force the bloke with the ball to kick the goal, rather than giving him the easy option of the handball. Ran some good plays, but was under the pump.

Andrew Raines

Would’ve had it about 20 times playing mostly on the wing and a little bit inside as we needed him. He was serviceable without setting the world on fire. He needs to work on his quick steps and closing down the opposition when they’ve got the ball.

James Polkinghorne

Played 75% game time and came off towards the end of the game as a precaution given his recent knee issues. Had 22 touches playing mostly across half-back. He played on-ball for a bit in the third quarter and gave us a little bit of impetus. But like a lot of our senior blokes, we were probably looking for a little bit more out of them.

Jonathan Freeman

Jonno took three contested marks and kicked 1.2, but needs to make the most of his opportunities so that he finishes with three goals. He played in the ruck a little bit as well to get him up and going. He’ll probably do a bit more of that down the track to add another string to his bow.

Michael Close

With only 29 inside 50s had limited opportunities, and finished with five marks and three behinds – which could have all been goals. But one thing with Closey is that he never gave up – so much so that he gave a few frees away late in the game with his intent.

Matt Maguire

Similar to the other forwards, he didn’t have a big day. He had some chances but kicked a couple of points. He also played a bit in the ruck, sharing the role with Freeman when Archie Smith was being rested.

Isaac Conway

Played half-back for first half, then we moved him on-ball when we were running out of legs in second quarter. Still probably hasn’t reached that form he showed in the second half of last year, but it won’t be far away away. Still finding his feet..

Nick Hayes

Nick only got it 19-20 times, but when he got it he was generally clean. Just needs to work on his ability to cover the ground and get more of the ball.

Archie Smith

Archie played his best game so far – we probably had him as our best player. Without setting the world on fire, he had a career-best 13 possessions and took five marks, and looked good at ground level. He’s looking more and more comfortable every week he plays. Is still very much a project, but could develop into a good AFL player if he stays on this current trajectory.

Jordon Bourke

Was probably just an average game given his good form at the start of the season. He played on Dzufer in the second half, and although he quelled him a little, Dzufer still had an influence. That said, he was under a heap of pressure with Redalnd having 60 inside 50s to our 29, so the ball was coming in quickly.

Zac O’Brien

Zac keeps getting the ball. He would have had it 30 times, but his opponent got 30 as well. He tries hard and covers the ground well, he just needs to work on covering it quicker. He plays at a high intensity.