THE BRISBANE Lions will go into Saturday night’s match against the Sydney Swans with just one specialist ruckman after leaving Jamie Charman out of the team selected on Thursday night.
Charman has been replaced on the interchange bench by running defender Jason Roe, who will play his first game of the season.
Youngster Matthew Leuenberger will have chief ruck responsibilities with support from Mitch Clark.
The Swans named full-forward Barry Hall despite being under an injury cloud with a quad problem.
Lions vice-captain Luke Power said his side had to be ready to match the tight-marking Swans in the one-on-one contests.
"Usually they go with four or five match-ups in the middle," he said. "You'd say Travis (Johnstone) will get someone and Daniel Rich probably as well. We just have to be ready for that and be able to counter-attack.
"I don't think our entry into our forward 50 has been all that great at this stage. Hopefully we can continue to work on that and start giving ourselves a chance to kick bigger scores."
THE TEAMS
Brisbane Lions
B: Ashley McGrath, Daniel Merrett, Joel Patfull
HB: Luke Power, Joel Macdonald, Josh Drummond
C: Bradd Dalziell, Simon Black, Daniel Rich
HF: Michael Rischitelli, Jonathan Brown, Justin Sherman
F: Travis Johnstone, Daniel Bradshaw, Mitch Clark
Foll: Matthew Leuenberger, Albert Proud, Jed Adcock
I/C: Rhan Hooper, Cheynee Stiller, Jason Roe, Troy Selwood
Sydney Swans
B: Craig Bolton, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Martin Mattner
HB: Rhyce Shaw, Heath Grundy, Kieren Jack
C: Jarrad McVeigh, Brett Kirk, Nick Malceski
HF: Ryan O’Keefe, Ted Richards, Craig Bird
F: Paul Bevan, Barry Hall, Jarred Moore
Foll: Darren Jolly, Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton
I/C: Luke Ablett, Jared Crouch, Brett Meredith, Jesse White
ON THE PUNT
Not a lot of value for Lions fans looking to make a wager this week. Despite not winning a game against the Swans since 2004, the TAB has installed the Lions as $1.50 favourites. The Swans are coming off a 38-point victory upset of premier Hawthorn and Hall's inclusion keeps the scales as an even-money bet.
For those with a few dollars burning a hole in their pocket, don’t despair. North Melbourne’s $2.30 to beat Hawthorn looks mighty tasty, and plenty of punters out there obviously think the same with their price on the way in. The Kangaroos love a good backs-to-the-wall victory and after this week’s turmoil, the scene is perfectly set. Throw in Hawthorn’s winless start to the season and a mounting injury toll and this is where the value lies.
KEY MATCH-UP
Daniel Merrett (Lions) v Barry Hall (Swans): With Hall named and rated by coach Paul Roos as an 80 per cent chance of starting, this is clearly the key battle of the night. Hall is one of the few players in the league that can match Merrett for strength and has had more than his share of victories over the Lions vice-captain. If Merrett can keep him quiet, the Swans may just wonder where their goals are going to come from. Also keep an eye on warriors Simon Black and Brett Kirk going toe-to-toe in the centre of the ground. Both are classic, relentless in-and-under players.
ODDS AND SODS
The Lions have had trouble cracking the Swans' defence in the past five years. Since winning in round one of 2004, they have not managed to kick more than 11 goals in any encounter between the teams. On two occasions the Lions have managed just 6.4 (40).
The Lions have dominated third quarters in rounds one and two. Against West Coast and Carlton they have kicked a combined 15 goals to three. But the respective first halves have been a problem, with 25 and 41-point deficits.
The contest in the centre is intriguing if AFL statistics are anything to go by. Swans ruckman Darren Jolly clearly leads the league’s hit-outs with 70, while Power is not only second in centre clearances (17), but first in contested possessions (29) and overall disposals (68).
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
