Justin
Leppitsch is not the right man to take the Brisbane Lions forward and his
future as the coach of the Lions needs to be questioned seriously.
He was a
great player for the Lions but he looks out of his depth as a coach in the AFL.
It is easy to use excuses like he hasn’t always had a full strength team to
choose from or he needs better players but he hasn’t been able to work with
what he has at his disposal.
The Lions
play with fear and confusion. There isn’t a clear gameplan present and the team
lacks purpose and direction. Worst of all, a majority of players are placed out
of position or they have change roles constantly.
Brisbane has
had a habit of turning the ball over by hand and foot, moving the ball sideways
or backwards and taking time to make decisions.
Are the
Brisbane players as poorly skilled as they are made out to be?
No. Last
year some of Brisbane’s smaller midfielders were labelled “The Mosquito Fleet”,
which was a nickname also given to Carlton’s midfield in the 1970s. Surely
these Lions players haven’t lost their skill in the space of a year and there
are other good players on the Brisbane list, not just in midfield.
Tom Rockliff
and Dayne Beams are prolific ball-getters. Lewis Taylor, Pearce Hanley and Josh
Green are quick and nippy players who can provide some spark. Dayne Zorko and
Daniel Rich are talented midfielders who can also go forward and kick goals.
Stefan
Martin is as good as any ruckman in the league when he is given the
responsibility. Daniel Merrett is great spoiler of the ball, Harris Andrews and
Marco Paparone are tall defenders with great mobility and Justin Clarke has
shown that he is better at being a running defender than playing as an
old-school key defender.
Brisbane
does lack great tall forwards but if Daniel McStay could stay in the forward 50
and not drop back, he could develop better. Matthew Leuenberger lacks the
courage to play on the ball but if “Leuey” modelled himself of Jarryd Roughead
or past players like Simon Madden or Paul Salmon, he could be a decent forward.
So what are
the issues?
This team
lacks mental strength, structure, and a playing philosophy, which is different
to a gameplan.
The Lions
players must not be limited to playing in a role or restricted to a system.
They need to have the confidence to make their own decisions and be confident
to take the game on. A player can follow a gameplan to a tee but he needs to be
more daring at times.
Brisbane is
clearly not the power it was in the early 2000s but it does not mean that the
current list should be a bunch of quitters or lack determination.
These
players are playing at the elite level and they should have an inferiority
complex regardless of who they play against. If they are playing with fear and
they aren’t willing to make changes, these players should play at a lower
level.
Leppitsch’s
Brisbane side lacks structure and he has too many players out of place. Hardly
anyone players one-on-one footy at the AFL level these days so people should
not expect to see a team with six defenders, three midfielders, three
on-ballers and six forwards. Players should still play in roles that suit their
characteristics though.
Teams need
to look at the style of football or the philosophy that they want to implement.
Brisbane lacks a clear gameplan or style. What the Lions usually do is move the
ball slowly and they chip the football along the wings. If not, the Lions constantly
handball through the midfield before turning the ball over.
The Lions
need to be quicker in their decision making or be more instinctive. Instead of
constantly moving the ball down the wings lethargically, they need to move the
ball quickly down the corridor and rely on kicking as opposed to handballing.
Traditionally
teams would kick the ball long into a contest and perhaps that won’t work too
often in the modern game but it is still a useful concept. Even if a player can’t
kick to a contest, he should kick it into a space in which a teammate can run
into.
Under
Leppitsch, there have been very little signs of improvement. Regardless of what
Brisbane does in the trade period and in pre-season, “Leppa” doesn’t look like
the man to take the Lions forward. Having better players won’t be enough to
make him a successful coach.
He needs to
resign or the board need to give him the sack.
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