I saw Brisbane last week and I was really impressed with
them. The Lions in the second half played really well against Melbourne,
and it will be interesting to see if they can carry that forward against a much
better team.
Brisbane were good and haven't got their
due. They're a very young team, and they looked excellent on the spread
from clearances.
Their handpasses, particularly in the second half, were top notch.
Young Claye Beams, the brother of Collingwood star Dayne,
was terrific and club stalwart Simon Black was best on ground.
What Michael Voss did that was also very smart was he put
last year's best and fairest winner Tom Rockliff up forward. He took ten marks
and kicked 3.5 in a masterstroke move.
Now Voss won't be able to do that every week, but if they
can afford to do that again it's a nice card to have up your sleeve.
They'd be delighted with the way they played.
Carlton, on the other hand, had a slow start and just did
enough to get the win over the Tigers on Thursday night last week.
Jarrad Waite was reported in the opening minutes and played
accordingly, and as such didn't play well.
I would think he would be better after he got a reprieve at
the tribunal, and he will be a dangerous forward for the Blues.
The good news for Carlton fans is they still won even though
he had a down week.
Marc Murphy was very good after a slow start
Preseason is about fitness, as everyone keeps on going on
about, but it's also about confidence and Carlton's slow start was almost
predictable last week given the poor run they had coming into the match.
Guys need touches to get going and, while Murphy took his
time to get involved, once he got the feel for it again he ended up with over
30 possessions.
Preseason confidence might not affect your season overall,
but it can be very important to your first couple of games and Carlton did well
to recover after looking shaky early.
Make sure you catch Brisbane v Carlton Melbourne 7.30pm
(AEST), Adelaide and Perth 7pm (local timnes) on Channel 7, and Sydney and
Brisbane at 7.30pm (AEST) on 7mate.
