'This vision haunts me!' Brutal issue could cost Brisbane dearly as ...

28 May 2023
Adelaide vs Brisbane

Brisbane star Daniel Rich “is in trouble” after his lack of pace was exposed in the loss to Adelaide, Fox Footy’s David King has warned.

King said vision of Rich being easily gapped by Crow Lachlan Murphy from a stoppage – which results in an Adelaide goal, was a worrying sign for Brisbane coach Chris Fagan.

And it’s something the club needs to address before finals, King warned.

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“There’s one problem they’ve got and I look at Daniel Rich – he had a reasonable game today, his numbers are strong, he started well, kicked a big goal,” he said on First Crack.

“This vision haunts me – it’s been the same over the last few years; he’s not getting any younger and he’s never been quick.

“Any time he’s in this situation (one-on-one at half back at stoppage), he’s in trouble.

“If you do play slingshot football against the Brisbane Lions, this is an issue – it’s going to be an issue through a finals series.

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“I’m not sure whether you can have him playing halfback.

“I’m not sure in that situation you can have him on effectively your second last line of defence and allow the opposition to put their speedy half forward flankers against him.

“That might cost you two goals in a prelim and that’s enough.”

King said his criticism of Rich was not in a bid to prematurely retire the 32-year-old Lions veteran – rather encourage a positional or tactical switch to avoid the scenario where an opponent can stream goalside.

“I think they’ve got problems there that they need to recognize,” he said.

“I’m not saying drop him, that’s the end of him. But maybe in that instance he needs to swap with another player or they need to hold one out the back to cover for that.

“If you don’t cover that, that’s too easy.

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“Teams you play at the pointy end of the year can move the footy like you can, score like you can. A little asterisk has to go on that position for that player.”

Fellow First Crack panellist Ben Dixon said he was concerned Rich was “exposed” by the Crows.

“Rich looked and saw him (Murphy) and goes, ‘I can’t go with him’ so he cut down the middle,” he said.

“There’s a couple of instances there I think they exposed him off slingshot.

“He’s going to be red jumper soon enough.”

Rich endured a tough clash against the Crows after a couple of errors by foot resulted in Adelaide goals on the rebound.

But he still managed 24 disposals, five clearances and a long-range goal from the centre square.

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