BUOYED by the inclusion of Brownlow Medalist Simon Black, the Brisbane Lions will take on arch-rival Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night in a match in-form utility Jed Adcock says could define their season.
After three straight victories, the Lions find themselves just half a game out of the top eight and in the finals frame should they keep stringing wins together.
Black is the only change to the side that walloped Carlton by 117 points last week, coming in for Will Hammill.
”Our next six weeks for us are huge, all against top six or eight sides, and it starts this week,” Adcock said.
”There’s no bigger game for us really than Collingwood at the MCG.
”We’ve shown the form and now we’ve got to keep it going. We beat West Coast in Perth and then Melbourne and Carlton, who are a little bit down the ladder – but our win against Carlton was a substantial one.
”We are playing confident footy and we’ve got back the form we showed earlier in the season.”
BRISBANE LIONS
B: Joel Macdonald, Daniel Merrett, Jason Roe
HB: Jed Adcock, Josh Drummond, Joel Patfull
C: Tim Notting, Nigel Lappin, Cheynee Stiller
HF: Robert Copeland, Jonathan Brown, Troy Selwood
F: Michael Rischitelli, Matthew Leuenberger, Jared Brennan
FOLL: Jamie Charman, Simon Black, Luke Power
I/C: Ashley McGrath, Scott Harding, Wayde Mills, Rhan Hooper
EMG: Richard Hadley, Colm Begley, Matthew Moody
COLLINGWOOD
B:Ben Johnson, Shane Wakelin, Harry O’Brien
HB: Heath Shaw, Tyson Goldsack, Nick Maxwell
C: Martin Clarke, Scott Burns, Paul Licuria
HF: Dale Thomas, Travis Cloke, Leon Davis
F: Alan Didak, Anthony Rocca, Tarkyn Lockyer
FOLL: Josh Fraser, Shane O’Bree, Dane Swan
I/C: Guy Richards, Ryan Lonie, Scott Pendlebury, Simon Prestigiacomo
EMG: Brad Dick, Ben Reid, Alan Toovey
On the punt:
The Lions’ three-game winning streak hasn’t yet swayed the punters, with the $3.20 being offered about a win on Saturday night representing excellent value. Come to think of it, has any team ever started at 3/1 a week after winning by 117 points? The Lions are also paying a healthy $13 to win by 40 or more points.
Those who took the $17 about Jonathan Brown’s Coleman Medal chances a fortnight ago must be smiling – after kicking a club-record 10 goals against Carlton, the big forward is into outright favouritism at $3.25. Brown’s Brownlow Medal price is still plenty attractive at $51 for a win and $13.50 for a top-three finish.
Key match-up:
Jonathan Brown (Lions) v Shane Wakelin (Collingwood) – Wakelin and Simon Prestigiacomo loom as the men most likely to mark Brown. One thing is for sure, it’s not going to be the 82kg Tyson Goldsack, as the named teams would suggest. Whoever matches up on Brown has his work cut out for him. The gun centre-half-forward has kicked 24 goals in the last four games and seems to be improving by the week.
Odds and sods:
- The Lions will be hoping history doesn’t repeat itself on Saturday night. The last time they played the Pies in Melbourne on the back of a three-game winning streak, Brown entered the match in career-best form, having kicked 26 goals from his previous four outings. He subsequently suffered a hip injury and missed the rest of the season.
- The Lions’ kicked 20 goals in beating Collingwood in the 2003 grand final – but only three of them belonged to players who will be in action on Saturday night. Brown booted two, with Norm Smith Medalist Black kicking one. Notable absentees will be Jason Akermanis (five), Alastair Lynch (four) and Blake Caracella (two).
- Six Lions players will step onto football’s biggest stage, the MCG, for the first time on Saturday night. Rhan Hooper, Cheynee Stiller and Wayde Mills are all second-year players, while 2006 draftee Matthew Leuenberger only debuted three weeks ago. Josh Drummond and Daniel Merrett are the most “experienced” of the newcomers, having played their first AFL games in 2005.
