Brisbane Lions 2013 report card

DO THE Lions get a pass for the 2013 season? See our verdict and have your say.

SNAPSHOT

Wins: 10
Losses: 12
Draws: 0
Ladder position: 12
%: 89.6

WHAT WENT RIGHT

What could have been another year from hell quickly became the start of something special at Lion land. Brisbane started the season where they left off last year, losing eight of their first 11 games, but stormed home to win seven of their last 10 - beating Geelong along the way - and almost snare a finals berth. The emergence of Irish import Pearce Hanley as a future AFL star added further depth to the Lions' growing midfield stocks.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Struggled to get their best team out on the park with anything approaching regularity. Simon Black missed most of the season, Jonathan Brown managed just 15 games and has again gone under the knife, Brent Moloney almost played only 15 games and Daniel Merrett went down in Round 22, when finals were still possible.

BEST-AND-FAIREST

1 - Joel Patfull
2 - Pearce Hanley
3 - Jarrad Redden
4 - Tom Rockliff, Dayne Zorko

PREMIERSHIP CLOCK

There were promising signs towards the end of the season, but the Lions are still well and truly locked out of their next premiership window. Too often the load has been shared between the team's ageing gang of veterans, with a lack of consistency the disappointing trademark of the rest in 2013.

ROBBO'S VERDICT

A calamitous year where the coach was sacked and the chairman will go. On the field, won the same amount of games as last year (10) but signs in the second half pointed to real improvement. The new coach will have something to work with, although if anyone knows a key forward ring reception.

THE LIST
Elite: Pearce Hanley
Big improvers: Matthew Leuenberger
Going, going: Jonathan Brown, Aaron Cornelius, Simon Black
Gone: TBA
Trade bait: Billy Longer, Sam Docherty, Patrick Karnezis

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 27: Stewart Crameri of the Bombers runs down the wing during the round 14 AFL match between the West Coast Eagles and the Essendon Bombers at Patersons Stadium on June 27, 2013 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images) Source:

WHAT THEY NEED

A big man up front to replace the ailing Jonathan Brown. The Lions have reportedly entered the race for Essendon's Stewart Crameri, who would provide some relief even if Brown manages to drag his battered body around for another season.

STATS THAT MATTER

Club leaders

Kicks: Pearce Hanley 296
Handballs: Tom Rockliff 284
Contested possessions: Tom Rockliff 233
Marks: Joel Patfull 114
Contested marks: Jonathan Brown 26
Clearances: Tom Rockliff 97
Inside-50s: Pearce Hanley 96
Rebound-50s: Jed Adcock 107
Frees for: Matthew Leuenberger 35
Frees against: Matthew Leuenberger 33
Goals: Jonathan Brown 28
Goal assists: Dayne Zorko 17
Time on ground: Joel Patfull 2505
Players used: 38

TEAM STATS: (total/percentage + AFL rank)

Disposals: 342.7 (15th)
Contested possession differential: -7.2    (16th)
Tackles: 63.5 (10th)
Clearance differential: -3.4 (16th)
Inside-50 differential: -3.5 (13th)
Scoring % inside 50: 48.5% (14th)
Av points for: 87.4 (14th)
Av points against: 97.5    (15th)
Av winning margin: 20
Av losing margin: 35

DID YOU KNOW?
Joel Patfull lost 15.5% of his defensive one-on-one contests this season - the fifth-best percentage of the top-50 players in the AFL to be involved in a defensive contest.

Sport Foxer