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Chapter 1: What is the significance of the Brisbane Lions vs. Fremantle match?
The feature game of Round 12 is Saturday Twilight at the Gabba. It's the Brisbane Lions, who appear to be teetering against Fremantle, who are on a record 10-game winning streak for the Dockers. Sando, the narrative around this, well, the Lions have invited all the clichéd questions around hunger and exhaustion, and they're all real. How does a coach handle the external noise
when you're trying to get the team back on track.
Yeah. Just for, just for a second, I wanted to focus on that a little bit because it, I think part of it is, is real and there's an argument for that. And there's definitely an argument against it.
Like why, why do you, why do you have to drop off after three or four years of, of sort of being, and I think that's what we call the industry calls the premiership window is it feels like you've got three to four years where you're at your absolute peak. And the potential there to win premierships is a real one.
And then for whatever reason, and there is lots of reasons, while it does drop off a little bit. So yeah, there is that genuine long running belief in the AFL that you can only really stay up for three or four years before that sort of burnout or complacency almost inevitably arrives.
I think you're right, Gerard, it's sort of built around, like when you're contending for premierships every year, there has to be an emotional fatigue. There has to be, you know, eventual physical wear and tear because you go so deep in September each year. Sides watch you closer than any other side. So there is that sort of, almost tactical predictability about how you play.
And then I want to, the mental element, you know, is there a decline in motivation after being up for so long? So part of that, I think emotional fatigue is real because as I said, you play longer seasons, you face that constant scrutiny every week from everyone that's trying to break down how you play and how to beat you.
And then let's not forget as well, every week you are every opponent's grand final.
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Chapter 2: How are the Brisbane Lions coping with external pressures and expectations?
Like everyone sets you to beat last year's premiership team. And I guess you just got, you just get used to living in this real high pressure environment of being the target that everyone's chasing. So inevitably it feels like the urgency just dulls a little bit. Uh, and that emotional edge potentially softens, um, and that hunger. That hunger just suddenly changes a little bit too.
So I don't know. It sounds crazy. I think you can get mentally tired from having sustained excellence. I just think it's something that is real and
But I also think the counter argument is really powerful as well, because I think the really great sporting organizations have the ability to be able to just keep evolving and just keep, and not every club gets it right either, but there's different opportunities to build your list, to change your tactical identity.
But if your culture's great, if you keep regenerating the list, if you've got really strong leadership programs internally where the young players can step into leadership roles, I think you can sustain the success for longer than that three to four years. But I also do think, Gerard, when people say, They've lost their hunger. I want to challenge that because like, this is really important.
Elite footballers, they rarely stop caring. And it's just not correct to say the hunger is lost. It's just, I think this time of year, and Brisbane went through this a bit last year as well. You're just waiting for September. You just want September to come. And that's when that emotional freshness returns, it feels like.
So, yeah, I just think the capacity to be able to continue to play at that high same level constantly, just over and over and over. Yeah, I think the motivation is different for Brisbane. I think before success... It was like, can we win? Like, can we win a premiership? That's really cool because that's the unknown. But then when you win and then you win again, it's like, can we maintain this?
And that's actually a very different pressure to, like, can we win it to can we sustain it? Yeah. I mean, I think the very best dynasties we've seen in the AFL over the last sort of 25 years, they've been three, four, five years because it's just so hard. I mean, it's so hard to remain with that emotional freshness for so long and everything changes and there is stumbling blocks along the way.
But yeah, I wouldn't be riding off Brisbane at all yet. And I do know that hunger in that group would still be at 100%. All right, so what's happened in the past two weeks when you analyse it?
Well, when you look at what they've been doing well, but also too where they've been struggling, I mean, in the last two weeks, they've still won clearances and contested ball, but Geelong dominated the game when they beat them in inside 50 differential, turnovers, front half territory, and they scored against Brisbane from the back half, which is not like Brisbane.
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Chapter 3: What factors contribute to a team's emotional fatigue in elite sports?
It was just so unlike them in that two week block. So you think there's a very clear focus in the review this week? Yeah. So it's everything post clearance really. So contesting clearance is fine, but their defensive structure and system and probably add a bit of that intensity. So what, so.
So when I say add a bit more intensity, Geelong had 19 more tackles than the Lions and the Giants had 37 more tackles. So that's just an inability of intent to pressure and chase and create turnovers. But I also think Fags will review Brisbane's inability to be able to reset defensively once those sort of transition chains started.
So a couple of things to work on for the Lions, but yeah, it'd be a foolish man to write them off just at this point.
All right. Road games for Fremantle this year. Lost down at Geelong, having led big. Won two at Adelaide Oval. They've won at Marvel. They've won at the MCG. Haven't won at the Gabba for a decade. That is a little bit skewed, though. It's not a raw stat. So what will their focus be?
Yeah, they're playing well. Like you said, this is a really hot streak that they're on. I think their focus, and it's what they do really well. So it's the perfect game for Fremantle. They just need to deny Brisbane's controlled back half ball movement. They've got to force contest exits rather than uncontested mark exits out of their back 50.
And Fremantle, which they do so well, they'll just need to own the corridor. And then I think they'll just go back at Brisbane when they can punish those turnovers that they get anything in the front half. So...
It's a part of Brisbane's defence that struggled for two weeks, but yeah, it's a strong part of Fremantle's DNA, the way they can turn the ball over, force your wide, force your slow, create turnovers in the front half. So not much changes for Fremantle this week.
You know, I sort of want to say the four and a half hour, you know, flight from Perth to Brisbane might upset them a little bit, but yeah, But I know someone will text in pretty quickly that I think they go first class now, don't they? They have a charter, I think now.
So even though, yeah, a four-and-a-half-hour flight might disrupt them a little bit, but this is setting up to be a ripper game with the way that Brisbane have played the last two weeks. And as I said, the form that Fremantle have been in, it's just going to be an absolute cracker. What will happen? Oh, gee, I don't know. It sort of feels like...
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