With defender Josh Drummond ruled out with a quadriceps injury, versatile utility Robbie Copeland returns from an ankle injury and has been named in a back pocket.
The Lions' forward line is still without Ash McGrath and Mitch Clark, but Saturday night's named side contains three All-Australians in the attacking arc (Jonathan Brown, Luke Power and Nigel Lappin), along with a two-time leading goal-kicker (Bradshaw) and two athletic young up-and-comers (Jared Brennan and Rhan Hooper).
"People have been talking for a while about our forward line and once we get everyone up and running, we'll be even better," Bradshaw said.
"But we're still pretty strong at the moment, especially with Jamie Charman able to go forward and kick a couple of goals like he did on the weekend against Collingwood.
"With Charmo, myself and Jared down there, it makes it harder for other teams to zone off and have three or four guys contest the packs with Brownie.
"It's only round three and we've got plenty of improvement to come."
Not surprisingly, the Swans made no changes to the side that thumped Port Adelaide by 68 points.
Teams:
BRISBANE LIONS
B: Robert Copeland, Daniel Merrett, Joel Macdonald
HB: Anthony Corrie, Joel Patfull, Colm Begley
C: Tim Notting, Jed Adcock, Travis Johnstone
HF: Luke Power, Jonathan Brown, Nigel Lappin
F: Daniel Bradshaw, Jared Brennan, Rhan Hooper
Foll: Jamie Charman, Simon Black, Michael Rischitelli
I/C: Lachlan Henderson, Matthew Leuenberger, Albert Proud, Justin Sherman
EMG: Troy Selwood, Cheynee Stiller, Scott Harding
SYDNEY SWANS
B: Tadhg Kennelly, Leo Barry, Martin Mattner
HB: Craig Bolton, Ted Richards, Kieren Jack
C: Jarrad McVeigh, Brett Kirk, Amon Buchanan
HF: Ryan O'Keefe, Michael O'Loughlin, Jude Bolton
F: Luke Ablett, Barry Hall, Heath Grundy
Foll: Darren Jolly, Adam Goodes, Jarred Moore
I/C: Ed Barlow, Paul Bevan, Craig Bird, Lewis Roberts-Thomson
EMG: Luke Brennan, Ben Mathews, Nick Smith
On the punt:
UNiTAB punters obviously liked the look of the Lions in last week's win over Collingwood. The Leigh Matthews-coached side is at a $1.65, significantly shorter than a Swans side ($2.15) that thrashed last year's grand finalist in round two.
The Brownlow Medal market continues to fluctuate at this early stage of the season, with Jonathan Brown now out to the fourth line of betting at $13. Geelong's Gary Ablett is favourite at $8. At $4, Brown trails only Hawthorn's Lance Franklin ($3.75) in Coleman Medal voting.
Key match-up:
Simon Black v Brett Kirk: According to Leigh Matthews, Black is normally the first Lions midfielder tagged. And against the Swans it's normally Brett Kirk who gets the job. Kirk is a fine ball-getter in his own right but it's likely his defensive skills will come to the fore on Saturday night. If Black can escape the tag and exert an influence as he did against West Coast in round one and in the second half against Collingwood last week, the Lions will be in with a huge chance of making it successive wins.
Odds and sods:
*** The Lions have not beaten the Swans since round one, 2004, the club's longest active non-winning streak. Somewhat strangely, the Lions' next longest current run without a win is against Richmond, dating back to round 14 of the same year. During this time, the Tigers have collected the wooden spoon twice.
*** The Swans have enjoyed a well-publicised run of good fortune with injuries in recent years and it's reflected in their consecutive games streaks. Adam Goodes will take his tally to 194 games, while Kirk will make it 133 on the trot. All up, the Swans have six players with equal to or more straight games than the Lions' resident ironman Tim Notting, who will play consecutive game number 64. Jed Adcock, with 30 straight games under his belt, is the Lions' next best.
*** Prior to last year, the Lions hadn't played in a draw since finishing with scores locked against North Melbourne in round three of 2003. Of course, 2007 delivered tied results against Richmond (round 10) and the Swans (round 20). For the Swans, it represented a first draw since round five, 2002 against St Kilda.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
