The Lions dominated the ruck duel against Port Adelaide on Sunday with Stefan Martin amassing 51 hit-outs but the midfielders failed to make use of the advantage losing the clearance count 34-52.
“We missed a lot of tackles during the game and even though we were getting our hands on the ball in the centre bounce and centre clearance we weren’t really able to gain any ascendency in there,” Assistant Coach Murray Davis told LionsTV in this week’s Vero Coaches Wrap.
The loss of senior defender Daniel Merrett to gastro in the lead-up to the game severely reduced the average experience of the Lions' backline, but Davis said the heat they were placed under was a result of what was happening in the middle.
“A lot of it is to do with the follow up work – it’s something we’ll continue to keep working on with the players.
“It’s not good enough to be able to win the advantage in the centre bounce and then not being able to get the ball going forward our way.
“It really put our defence under the pump and with Dan Merrett ruled out prior to the game we were fairly young down back.
“It put them under a lot of pressure from not being able to gain some ascendency in the midfield.”
Find out what else Murray Davis had to say in the video above.
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