THE INCLUSION of co-captain Chris Johnson is the only change as the Brisbane Lions look to make it six wins on the trot against an unchanged Hawthorn side at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
Johnson returns from a foot injury to replace Ash McGrath, who broke a bone in his arm during last week's 37-point win over the Kangaroos.
In-form defender Troy Selwood believes the Hawks, fresh off a 63-point win over Essendon, will provide a good measuring stick for the Lions – in more ways than one.
"At the start of the year, I thought Hawthorn would be a pretty big improver – as most people probably did," Selwood said.
"But I didn't think they were advanced as what they are. They've played some great footy and it's going to be another really tough contest for us.
"Hawthorn has an amazing second tier of players who have really stepped up their play and their leadership – and that's something we've been trying to develop ourselves.
"Over the last five weeks everybody has been contributing for us, not just the senior guys, and hopefully we can keep that going."
The Lions will wear their Fitzroy heritage jumpers – the strip in which they started their current winning streak with a Round 14 upset of West Coast at Subiaco.
BRISBANE LIONS
B: Joel Macdonald, Daniel Merrett, Jason Roe
HB: Jed Adcock, Joel Patfull, Robert Copeland
C: Tim Notting, Nigel Lappin, Cheynee Stiller
HF: Wayde Mills, Jonathan Brown, Troy Selwood
F: Rhan Hooper, Matthew Leuenberger, Jared Brennan
FOLL: Jamie Charman, Simon Black, Luke Power
I/C: Michael Rischitelli, Colm Begley, Chris Johnson, Matthew Moody
EMG: Scott Harding, Mitchell Clark, Will Hamill
HAWTHORN
B: Grant Birchall, Stephen Gilham, Brent Guerra
HB: Campbell Brown, Trent Croad, Joel Smith
C: Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Rick Ladson
HF: Chance Bateman, Tim Boyle, Shane Crawford
F: Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Richard Vandenberg
FOLL: Robert Campbell, Luke Hodge, Brad Sewell
I/C: Ben Dixon, Ben McGlynn, Clinton Young, Simon Taylor
EMG: Xavier Ellis, Danny Jacobs, Travis Tuck
On the punt
Surprisingly, given their rich form, UNiTAB has the Lions second-elect at $2 even. A Lions win by 40 or more points is even more attractive at $7. A 27-point win over West Coast in Round 14 represents the Lions' smallest winning margin of the last five weeks.
Jonathan Brown's shortening to $2 Coleman Medal favourite is matched only by the reduction in his Brownlow Medal price. A fortnight ago the big forward was $51 for football's highest individual honour; now he's a comparatively slender $18. The Lions have been wound in to $2 to make the finals.
Key match-up
Jamie Charman (Lions) v Robert Campbell (Hawthorn) – In many ways Charman is the Lions' barometer. The physical big man has been good all year but in the past four weeks he's been exceptional. Charman has an uncanny knack to win his own clearances but it's around the ground that he'll look to assert his superiority over Campbell and Simon Taylor. The Hawks big men are handy at the stoppages but don't exert much influence in general play.
Odds and sods
*After winning only two of their first seven matches against the Hawks, the Lions have won 10 of the next 11 for an overall mark of 12-6. The last time the Lions lost to Hawthorn was by 46 points at the MCG in Round 5 of 2006. Coincidentally, the Lions wore their Fitzroy heritage guernsey that day – just as they will this weekend.
*As a measure of how far the Lions have come in the last 12 months, in 2006 they amassed 1844 points while conceding 2239. Unless something goes horribly wrong in the last four games of the year, both of those statistics will be comfortably beaten. The Lions currently have 1669 points for and only 1476 points against. The latter figure is fifth best in the league, narrowly behind Hawthorn (1469).
*In a similar vein, six Lions have already amassed 200 or more kicks this year – equalling the tally for all 22 rounds of last season. On the goal-kicking front, Jonathan Brown is now equal with the club-leading 59 goals kicked by Daniel Bradshaw a year ago and must be rated more than a silly chance to break Alastair Lynch's all-time club record of 78 majors for a season.
