FORM GUIDE
The Brisbane Lions backed up their first win at home for the season in Round 11 with another win last weekend against the Western Bulldogs on the road at Etihad Stadium to go back-to-back for the first time this year.

It is also the first time that the Lions have won consecutive games under Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch.

Leppitsch identified this period of the fixture as a chance for the Lions to play some teams around them on the ladder and get some wins on the board, and the players have responded to their coach’s confidence.

The Lions get a chance this weekend to make it three straight wins when they take on the GWS Giants at The Gabba on Saturday night.

The recent wins for the Lions have improved their record 3-8 and they now sit 16^th on the ladder.

GWS had a couple of shocking weeks either side of their bye with big losses to both Richmond and West Coast but have steadied the ship with their last two outings. They pushed Hawthorn all the way at the MCG in Round 11 and were within one point of Essendon midway through the final quarter before finally succumbing by fifteen points to the Bombers.

At the moment the Giants just lack a bit of polish and composure at the key stages of matches and with their last win coming way back in Round Three against Melbourne they will be getting evermore desperate to turn potential into results.

The Giants record is currently 2-9 and they sit 18^th on the ladder.

TEAM SELECTIONS

The Lions Match Committee has made no changes to the team that faced the Western Bulldogs last weekend. Leppitsch appears to be a believer in not changing a winning side and has backed the same players for the job this weekend.

The Giants have made a number of changes with Jed Lamb, Kristian Jaksch and Rory Lobb all omitted while exciting half back Curtly Hampton misses with a shoulder injury.

Coming in to replace them is Josh Hunt, Jeremy Cameron and Joshua Kelly. Co-Captain Phil Davis also returns to the Giants’ senior side for the first time since suffering a serious kidney injury in Round One against the Swans.

Good luck to Davis in his return to AFL and hopefully it is incident free match for him with an extended run in the senior side for the remainder of the season.

CONGRATULATIONS DAYNE ZORKO
A big congratulations goes out to the electrifying Dayne Zorko who will celebrate his 50^th AFL match on Saturday night. Making his achievement even more remarkable is the fact that he has played 50 consecutive games since his debut match against Collingwood in Round Seven in 2012.

Zorko has been in fantastic form this season for the Lions and continues to develop a brilliant understanding on the field with both Josh Green and now also Lewis Taylor with each passing week.

This should be just the first of many milestone games for Zorko as a representative of the Brisbane Lions.

KEY MATCH-UPS
The Giants are taking the long-term view with their development but have shown their cards in relation to their future forward line set up with Jonathon Patton and Jeremy Cameron seen as key pillars.

Patton is enjoying his first relatively full season of game time after missing most of 2011 and 2012 with knee injuries and is improving with each passing match. He will more than likely see Matt Maguire go to him, making for an entertaining duel deep in the Lions’ defensive fifty. I think that we can also expect to see Justin Clarke either rotate onto Patton or coming over the top as the third man up when the longer entries are directed Patton’s way.

Cameron was an All-Australian last season, with his fantastic 62-goal haul also seeing him finish third in the Coleman Medal. He has found the going a lot tougher in season 2014 due to a combination of injuries and the opposition paying much closer attention to him. I think we will see Joel Patfull go to him for the evening and with Patfull in unbelievable form the past few weeks Cameron will have a tough night out at the Gabba.

Devon Smith has been a shining light in a tough season for the Giants whether running through the midfield or resting forward. He has kicked 17 goals in the 10 matches that he has played and we can expect to see either one of Jed Adcock or Ryan Harwood keeping him quiet when he does go forward throughout the match.

Make no mistake about it; Stefan Martin was immense last week against the Bulldogs. Coming in to fulfil the ruck duties in the Lions’ hour of need (off the back of only two NEAFL appearances) he displayed a great work ethic and competitiveness against the reigning All-Australian ruckman Will Minson. He gave the Lions every opportunity to win the ball in the centre of the ground and will be required to provide a similar effort again this week against two-time premiership player Shane Mumford.

Mumford is something of a barometer for the young Giants and they all walk taller when he is getting on top in the middle. Daniel Merrett will again be called on to pinch hit in the ruck at various stages throughout the evening to give Martin some relief.

Tom Rockliff and Jack Redden are the accumulators in the middle of the ground for the Lions and they will face a combative evening against Callan Ward and Dylan Shiel who love the physical aspect of the contest. While Redden was a stand out last weekend Rockliff had a quieter game and will be determined to bounce back in front of his home crowd.

On one wing we may be treated to a gut-running feast between two silky ball users in Dayne Zorko and Will Hoskin-Elliott. Zorko knows how to get forward and kick goals and he should look to exploit this potential match-up by dragging the younger Hoskin-Elliott deep into the Lions forward fifty.

Lewis Taylor could face the 2012 number one draft pick in Lachlan Whitfield on one forward flank for the Lions. Taylor has grown in stature with each passing game this season and is now beginning to find the goals in combination with Zorko and Josh Green. Whitfield played arguably the finest game of his career two weeks ago against the Hawks and has enormous potential and upside for the Giants as both a rebounding half back or midfielder. A potential match up between young guns for their respective sides awaits both sets of supporters.

Heath Shaw was traded to GWS at the end of season 2013 on a big money move, and has been named to start on Josh Green on Saturday night. Green should have Shaw covered in a foot race but will need to apply plenty of defensive pressure to make sure that Shaw cannot easily run and carry from the Lions attacking fifty. Shaw loves to get forward as a backman and kick long goals and should he find himself too far up the ground then it is imperative that Green gets himself back to the Lions forward fifty to provide another goal scoring option.

The Lions key forwards of Jonathan Brown and Daniel Merrett will more than likely find themselves opposed to Phil Davis and Tim Mohr. Both Davis and Mohr have missed significant playing time this season having only played one and two games respectively. Brown and Merrett should have the advantage in both fitness and form and look to impact the scoreboard as often as possible when the Lions are attacking.

Rohan Bewick had a career best 30 disposals last weekend and it appeared that the Bulldogs left him to his own devices. You would doubt that he will be given as much freedom this weekend and could very well find himself on Tom Scully when the teams line up for the first bounce. Scully is noted as one of the hardest running players for the Giants so Bewick could well find himself in a running duel cover the length and breadth of The Gabba.

STATISTICS
The Lions have won the only two encounters between the teams by 92 points in 2012 and 60 points last year.

One important aspect for the Justin Leppitsch and the coaching staff to be aware of is that the Giants are ranked second in the AFL, behind only Hawthorn, for clearances averaging 41.5 per game. The Lions in contrast are ranked 14^th in the league averaging 37.7 per match.

Both teams have struggled to take marks inside fifty with the Lions ranked 18^th in the league averaging 6.7 per match, with the Giants only fractionally better averaging 8.9 per match.

A quirky fact for those who like left-field statistics is that Daniel Merrett is the leading goalkicker in the contests between the Lions and the Giants with a total haul of nine. One would expect Merrett to add to his tally on Saturday night.

LIONS RESERVES
Last weekend the Lions reserves played Redland Bombers and suffered a 31-point defeat at Coorparoo.

The Lions had a one-point lead at three quarter time but Redland used the advantage of a strong tail breeze in the final quarter producing a seven goal to two effort. The Lions will be left to rue some inaccuracy in the final term that saw the Bombers run away with the victory.

A pleasing aspect of the game for Lions fans was the return of Lions veteran Ashley McGrath who kicked four goals on the afternoon and moved well in his return to football.

Lions Reserves Coach Leigh Harding saved special praise for 2013 draftee Daniel McStay who had 20 disposals, seven marks and seven tackles, claiming it was McStay’s best game for the club.

This week the Lions reserves take on UWS Giants at 1:30pm at Giffin Park, Coorparoo as a curtain raiser to the senior sides clashing at the Gabba later that evening.

With the Lions reserves now sitting three games outside the top six a win this weekend is an absolute must.

Carl Nimb is an independent writer and Lions Member (#2604559) who will contribute to lions.com.au throughout the season.

You can follow him on Twitter @CarlNimb