The match ups don't get much bigger than a date with the Melbourne Demons for our first home game of the year. Watch two of the best midfields in the competition go head to head, get your tickets here.

Who: Brisbane Lions vs Melbourne Demons
Where: The Gabba
When: Friday 24 March at 6:55pm

Gates Open: 5:30pm
On-Field Warm Up: 6:05pm 
Light & Pyro Show: 6:27pm
Lions Runout: 6:44pm
Bounce: 6:55pm

General Public On sale: BUY HERE

Brisbane Lions Members: REDEEM HERE

PLAN YOUR TRIP
The Gabba is a public transport destination! For any event public transport will get you the closest to your gate.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Public transport is the best way to get to The Gabba.

Travel for FREE within the Brisbane City Council shire by showing your pre-purchased event ticket on Queensland Rail City Network trains (excluding Airtrain), Brisbane City Council buses or a special event shuttle service from 4 hours prior to the event.

PARKING
Gameday parking is now run through third-party company, GetParked, and can be purchased here.

Keep your eyes peeled here for updates on all the fun things you can get up to at our home games this year.

LIONS SHOP

Lions Shop Main Store will be open from 10:00am.

Lion Park Pop-Up Marquee will be open from 5:00pm  selling all the latest merch, including 2023 Member cap and scarf redemption.

Lions Shop Outlets will be open throughout the Gabba at gates 2, 4, 7, 9, upper 4, upper 7 and AreaVIP

LION PARK - Open outside Gate 2 from 5pm

Kids Activities > This week in Lion Park outside the Gabba, treat the kids to face painting, bungee trampolines and handball target practice.

Hyundai With Kylie > Have a chat with our dedicated Hyundai sales rep, Kylie, and see how you can get the best deal on a brand new Hyundai.

Gettin' Jiggy With It > The Triple M DJ is back for 2023 to set the vibe as you arrive for game day.

Mac For A Match > To celebrate the Brisbane Lions v Melbourne Demons match, you can score yourself a free Big Mac, thanks to Macca’s! It’s simple: if the Lions win, lose or draw, you win! Its Mac for a Match but better, everyone wins! Fans with a game-day ticket can pick up a free Big Mac the following Monday after 10.30am – lunch sorted!

Macca's Kick 2 Kick > Hey footy fans, Macca’s Kick 2 Kick is back! Stick around after the final siren to get on the ground with Macca’s Kick 2 Kick.

FOOD & DRINK 

Gabba food and beverage outlets will be open on all levels and gates. For the best footy food experience treat yourself to the suite life at AREAVIP, GG or The Verandah.

Watch: Live on Seven and stream on Kayo.

Our last match up with Melbourne was one of our greatest Club wins of the last few years. The team came from behind to break the MCG hoodoo and progress through to the 2022 Prelim. It was Eric Hipwood that stood tall, kicking a bag of four goals. And the strategic move of putting Jarrod Berry in the middle on Clayton Oliver that ultimately helped the game swing into our favour.

Relive our Demons rivalry here.

On a wild Friday night when a power outage plunged the Gabba into darkness and halted play for almost 40 minutes, Brisbane bounced back from its opening round loss to defeat Melbourne by 11 points.

With the Lions surging towards victory and holding a 40-point advantage midway through the final quarter, power to the whole stadium was cut, pitching the players into darkness and the stadium into chaos.

In scenes reminiscent of the infamous St Kilda-Essendon power outage at Waverley Park in 1996, players and officials were forced to leave the ground.

When they returned 38 minutes later to play the match out, the tide completely turned with Melbourne kicking five unanswered goals to give the hosts a scare, but it wasn't enough as Brisbane held on 14.9 (93) to 13.4 (82).

After a listless showing against Port Adelaide just six days earlier, the Lions were full of energy and endeavour from the outset, racing to an early lead and never looking back.

On a dark night for the Demons, they not only lost the four premiership points, but also skipper Max Gawn in the opening minutes to a knee injury after some friendly fire from Jack Viney.

Playing without their leader for most of the night, the Demons were mauled around the stoppages as Brisbane hunted in packs and showed a hunger that was missing last weekend.

Father-son pick Will Ashcroft was magnificent in his second game, finishing with 31 disposals, including nine clearances, and kicking a goal to be among the best players afield.

Lachie Neale (27 and eight clearances) and Josh Dunkley (26 and nine clearances) also had big impacts as Brisbane won the clearance count decisively (60-32).

Their first quarter set the early tone and it was quickly evident this was a different team from the one that lost to Port.

Jarrod Berry started on Clayton Oliver at the first bounce, and kicked an early goal, as did returning former skipper Dayne Zorko, whose infectious energy at half-forward made a big difference at ground level.

The home team kicked two goals from forward 50 stoppages as Joe Daniher first laid one on for Zac Bailey with a deft tap and then kicked his own after grabbing it out of the ruck and snapping truly.

Brisbane possibly should have led by more than its 25-point margin at quarter-time, dominating centre clearances 8-1 and inside 50s 21-6, but some sloppy ball movement cost them.

Melbourne worked hard in the second quarter to bring the game back on an even keel, with Ben Brown, twice, and Bayley Fritsch on the stroke of half-time kicking exquisite goals from difficult positions.

Big blow for Big Max
In almost the worst possible start for Melbourne, it lost skipper Max Gawn inside the opening 10 minutes. Gawn had contested a centre bounce against Lion Oscar McInerney and in the ensuing scramble for the ball, teammate Jack Viney fell across his left knee. Gawn left the field and headed straight to the dressing room, only to return minutes later with his knee iced and was out for the night. Big Max couldn't hide his emotion on the boundary line, looking devastated with the injury.

The night the lights went out - again
You could hardly believe it was possible – but for the second time in four years the Gabba lost power and was pitch black. Just like cricket's Big Bash League in 2019, when the Brisbane Heat were hosting the Sydney Thunder, the stadium suddenly went dark early in the final quarter. With players leaving the field and lights slowly coming back on, the crowd was entertained with a version of karaoke as Country Roads by John Denver and Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond rang around the ground. Thankfully the players returned to resume 38 minutes after the initial outage to play the game out.

The Magician back with a bang
After missing both pre-season matches and the opening round with a hamstring tendon injury, Dayne Zorko returned in sizzling fashion. Starting at half-forward, Brisbane's former skipper made his presence felt early with manic pressure and then found space when his team had the ball to prove the perfect link between the midfield and forward line. His right foot snap for a first quarter goal got the crowd hyped, as did his superb finish on the run from 40m in the third. Zorko finished with 22 disposals (at 91 per cent efficiency) and two goals and again proved what a difference-maker he can be for the Lions.

BRISBANE                6.2       8.4       13.5     14.9 (93)
MELBOURNE            2.1       5.2       7.3       13.4 (82)

GOALS 
Brisbane: Daniher 4, Zorko 2, Cameron 2, Bailey 2, McInerney, Berry, McCarthy, Ashcroft
Melbourne: Brown 4, Fritsch 3, Petracca, Oliver, Neale-Bullen, McDonald, Hunter, Chandler

BEST 
Brisbane: Zorko, Ashcroft, Neale, Andrews, Dunkley, Daniher, McKenna
Melbourne: Oliver, Lever, Brayshaw, Fritsch, Brown

INJURIES 
Brisbane: Berry (shoulder)
Melbourne: Gawn (knee)

LATE CHANGES
Brisbane: Nil
Melbourne: Steven May replaced in selected side by Adam Tomlinson

SUBSTITUTES 
Brisbane: Deven Robertson (replaced Dayne Zorko in the fourth quarter)
Melbourne: Jake Melksham (replaced Max Gawn in the first quarter)

 Crowd: 30,047 at the Gabba