THE unofficial AFL title of tackling kings is often said to be held by the Sydney Swans, but is under threat from a Brisbane Lions outfit taking pride in their hard-nosed competitiveness.
Elusive forward Anthony Corrie on Wednesday revealed the "bold and brave" Lions wanted to make effective tackling a trademark of the club as they search for their first finals campaign in four years.
Statistics back up Corrie's words with the Lions having pulled off an AFL-leading 493 tackles in eight matches - an average of 62 per game - marginally ahead of the Swans (487).
The Lions are well clear of premiership favourites Geelong (453) and Hawthorn (410) in the tackling stakes.
Co-captain Luke Power is the club's leading tackler with 48, fourth in the league, and one more than inspirational Swans skipper Brett Kirk.
The Saints have completed 427 tackles, but boast the competition's two leaders in the category with Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball.
Hayes is rated as the most effective tackler in the competition with 60, 10 ahead of Ball.
The Lions meet the Saints on Sunday at the Gabba and Corrie said the home team were desperate to continue their improvement in shutting down their rivals.
"That's what we've worked on, our tackling technique and tackling pressure," he said on Wednesday. "We want to try and be the most competitive team in the competition.
"That's the trademark of our club at the moment.
"We are confident. We average (60) tackles a game which is a credit to us and we've got to get our chasing pressure up again which is one of the little things that helps us win games."
The Lions have also improved their attack, with their quick ball movement a feature of Saturday's 33-point win over Carlton.
"We're trying to play bold and brave and move the ball on quickly as well as do all the hard things at the same time as well," Corrie said.
"Try and make it really congested so they can't get that fast flow as well."
Both teams hold a 4-4 win-loss record after eight rounds but St Kilda are struggling on the injury front with Steven Baker (knee) and Nick Riewoldt (knee) in doubt and Xavier Clarke (hamstring), Matt Maguire and Fraser Gehrig sidelined.
Corrie, one of four Aboriginal players lining up for the Lions in the AFL's Indigenous Round, said his club were preparing as though key forward Riewoldt would play.
"We've got to try and defeat the teams around us and we're not going to take them as easybeats, they have a good strong list," he said.
"They are (understrength) but they will have a more mobile forward line.
"They had their three big forwards up forward and they struggled at ground level.
"They will have more mobility and it will be a really quick game I reckon."
