It will be ‘Operation Stop Jack Macrae’ this week as the Lions prepare to take on the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium Thursday night.

The Dogs midfielder has averaged 36 possessions a game in his last nine games against the Lions, going 29-32-47-28-45-40-32-39-32 on the stats sheet during the Chris Fagan era at the Lions.

In the same stretch Macrae has polled seven times in the Brownlow Medal for 14 votes – and one game was a final when votes were not awarded.

While the football media is saying Macrae has been below his best in the first two rounds, his numbers have still been good. He had 33 possessions and a goal in their 50-point Round 1 loss to Melbourne, and 25 possessions in the 51-point Round 2 loss to St.Kilda.

He’s certainly one player who warrants plenty of attention in match planning as the Lions look to improve on a 3-6 record in nine games against the Dogs under coach Fagan, and an aggregate 25-35 record going all the way back to 1987.

Significantly, the Brisbane have a combined 18-13 record against the Dogs at home but have gone 7-22 against the Dogs away, and have never beaten them in three games away under Fagan. They lost by 14 points at Marvel in 2018 and by 16 points and 19 points in Ballarat in 2019-21.

The Lions this week will have inside information from two prominent ex-Dogs – boom signing Josh Dunkley, a premiership player in red, blue and white in 2016 and club champion last year, and 2023 coaching addition Dale Morris, a 253-game Dogs champion from 2005-19 including the 2016 flag and a Dogs assistant-coach until the Covid outbreak in 2020.

Even backline coach Jed Adcock, Reserves coach Ben Hudson and Academy coach Mitch Hahn are ex-Dogs.

They’ll look back fondly on their last meeting on a Thursday night in Round 16 last year at the Gabba, when they came from 18 points down early in the second quarter to win 16-12 (108) to 9-13 (67). Lachie Neale (33 possessions, one goal), Charlie Cameron (four goals) and Jarrod Berry (23 possessions, two goals) took the Brownlow Medal votes.

Brownlow Votes

Lions Hall of Famer Jason Akermanis, who finished his career with 77 games at the Dogs from 2007-10 after being sacked midway through 2006 by Lions coach Leigh Matthews, is Brisbane’s leading vote-getter against the Dogs with 11. And he polled two votes for the Dogs against the Lions.

Michael Voss (10) is next on the list, ahead of Nigel Lappin (8), Simon Black (8), Lachie Neale (7) and Tom Rockliff (7). Jack Macrae shares top spot on the equivalent Dogs list with 14, while Chris Grant, now the club’s football director, polled 12 games against Brisbane.

Big Possession-Winners

Only once in club history have two Brisbane players had 40 possessions in the same game, and only once have six players had 30 possessions in the same game.

It was the same game … Round 9 1991 at Whitten Oval. David Bain and Michael McLean each had an even 40 to head Martin Leslie (35), Danny Noonan (32), Brenton Phillips (31) and Matthew Ryan (31). And still they lost by five points.

Bain and McLean share the club record for possessions in a game against the Dogs with Tom Rockliff, who 40 in Round 13 2012 at Marvel, when the Lions won by 58 points.

Jack Macrae’s 47 touches in Round 8 2018 is the highest by a Dogs players against Brisbane.

Wins & Losses

Brisbane’s biggest win over the Dogs is 87 points at the Gabba in Round 1 1996 – their first game under coach John Northey. Michael Voss had 33 possessions and kicked two goals for three Brownlow votes, while Matthew Clarke (15 possessions, 1 goal, 16 hit outs) for two votes, and Shaun Hart collected two votes for 23 possessions and a career-best five goals. It was the AFL debut for Queensland favorite Danny Dickfos and WA draftee Troy Johnson.

The biggest loss was only two seasons on in Round 9 1998, when they copped a 91-point hiding at Princes Park in Round 16 1998 after trailing 1-1 to 11-2 at quarter time. It was Roger Merrett’s fifth game as caretaker coach and Richard Champion’s 150^th game. Chris Scott ( 34 possessions, 1 goal) was a rare winner for the Lions as Brett Montgomery had 33 possessions and kicked three goals for the Dogs.

Highs & Lows

In Round 22 2003, just before a third consecutive finals campaign, the Lions scored 26-14 (170) at Marvel Stadium in an 84-point win – the club’s highest score against the Dogs. Best afield Ash McGrath kicked six goals, and Alastair Lynch and Shaun Hart four apiece.

Curiously, Brisbane’s lowest score against the Dogs was a winning score – the lowest winning score in club history. And it came 15 weeks after they posted their biggest win against the Dogs. It was 4-12 (36) to 3-4 (22) in Round 16 1996 at Whitten Oval in conditions coach John Northey described as “an absolute disgrace” and “not good enough for AFL football”.

The ground was a quagmire. Jason Akermanis (two goals) was the only multiple goal-kicker while Nigel Lappin (26 possessions) and Andy Gowers (24 possessions) were in the votes.

The game, played five days after five Brisbane players and the club were fined $25,000 for an eight-second melee against Essendon, prompted a memorable tongue-in-cheek comment from Northey: “If we got fined like last week we’d be in real trouble because it was like a two-hour melee”.

OTHER SPECIAL MOMENTS

Carrara Chaos – The Bears beat the Dogs 10-12 (73) to 9-17 (72) in Round 7 1988 – but only after a premature ground invasion by local fans. Dogs forward Simon Beasley, who had already kicked 10 goals, still a club record against Brisbane, had marked three seconds before the final siren on the tightest of angles. He was quickly surrounded by invading fans who thought the game was over, and after electing to take his tough shot rather than waiting for officials to clear the ground. Even the goal umpire had trouble tracking the ball, which sailed across the face of goals for no score.

Footy Under the Roof – The Lions played their first game under the roof at what was then called Colonial Stadium, now Marvel Stadium, in Round 2 2000. Such was the fascination that at the end of a light training run the day before the players had tried without success to kick the ball into the roof. After trailing by 30 points at quarter-time the Lions won 21-13 (139) to 17-8 (110) thanks chiefly to seven goals from best afield Daniel Bradshaw – a club record against the Dogs - and strong contributions from Shaun Hart (20 possessions, two goals, two votes) and Michael Voss (23 possessions, one goal, one vote).

Coach Blakey – John Blakey, former Fitzroy star and North Melbourne dual premiership player turned Lions assistant-coach, took charge of the Lions against the Dogs at Marvel in Round 18 2005 when Leigh Matthews was absent following his mother’s death. It was Luke Power’s 150^th game but there were no celebrations – they lost 18-15 (123) to 23-13 (151).

Two Ticks & One Cross – Michael Voss, Robert Copeland and a defecting Queenslander now a Lions favorite each had a night to remember at the Gabba in Round 12 2006. But not all were good. Voss qualified for AFL life membership, Copeland played his 100^th AFL game and Mitch Hahn, a Windsor-Zillmere junior who played 188 games with the Dogs from 2000-11, was carried from the ground in his 102^nd game after hyper-extending his knee. He missed almost 12 months.

Welcome ‘Home’ – Jason Akermanis played his first game for the Dogs against the Lions at the Gabba to a mixed reception in Round 11 2007. He had 14 possessions and kicked two goals in a 23-point Dogs win.

Gabba Double Ton – The Gabba hosted its 200^th AFL game in Round 20 2008, with the ninth-placed Lions needing to win their last three games to make the finals after a 1-5 run. Six points down at three-quarter time against the third-placed Dogs, they kicked 5-4 to 2-5 in the final term against the third-placed Dogs to win by 11. Jared Brennan was best afield.

The Perfect Entrée – The Lions launched their Hall of Fame at a gala dinner in Melbourne on 2 June 2012 after an afternoon game against the Dogs at Marvel. They ensured it was a bumper day when, wearing an old Fitzroy jumper, they kicked 10-1 to 2-6 after halftime to win by 58 points. Tom Rockliff was best afield with 40 possessions and kicked two goals, while Ash McGrath (five goals), Dan Merrett (four goals) led the scoring, Pearce Hanley was another standout, and Dayne Zorko had 29 possessions in his sixth game. It was their first win against the Dogs in Melbourne in almost nine years.

Who’s That? – Long-time Lions captain Jed Adcock, now on the Lions coaching staff, played his second game for the Dogs and his only game against the Lions at Marvel in Round 5 2016. Wearing jumper #44 after playing his entire Brisbane career in #7, he had 16 possessions in a 53-point Dogs win. He played Rounds 4-5-6-7-8-9-19 before retiring.