FORM GUIDE
The Brisbane Lions travelled to the MCG last weekend to take on a Richmond outfit that has this season failed to back up their stellar 2013 form. While the contest was close throughout most of the afternoon, the Tigers did get themselves out to a quick lead that they held onto for the four quarters.

The difference ultimately between the two teams was their delivery into the forward fifty and also their ability to finish once they did get the ball in front of the big sticks. Tiger Tyrone Vickery helped himself to four goals in what was his best performance for the season. The 25-point final margin to the Tigers reflected this one stand-out effort by a key forward on the afternoon.

The Lions currently have a 4-11 record and sit 17^th on the ladder.

The Lions are back in front of their faithful fans at the Gabba for the Saturday night fixture at 7:40pm against the West Coast Eagles.

West Coast hosted the Sydney Swans last weekend in tough conditions in Perth and became another statistic in the Swans’ eleven game winning streak. While competitive during the first half, the Eagles were unable to sustain their effort as the afternoon wore on and the Swans collected the four premiership points. The Eagles are now desperate for a win as they currently sit two games behind eighth place on the ladder.

The Eagles currently have a 6-9 record and sit 11^th on the ladder.

TEAM SELECTIONS

The Lions Match Committee has once again been forced to make one change with Tom Rockliff missing through suspension and Mitch Golby coming in to replace him.

Adam Simpson and the Eagles coaching committee have made a number of changes starting with Sharrod Wellingham and Jamie Cripps both omitted. Dean Cox has been rested with soreness and Matt Rosa goes out with a pectoral injury that has ended his season. Josh Kennedy will also miss the clash through suspension.

Coming into the squad to replace them is Nic Naitanui, Simon Tunbridge, Ashley Smith, Dominic Sheed and Callum Sinclair.

CONGRATULATIONS MITCH GOLBY AND XAVIER ELLIS
Congratulations to Mitch Golby who this week plays his 50^th career game for the Lions. He gets the chance to celebrate his first milestone for the Club in front of his home crowd at the Gabba.

Congratulations also to Xavier Ellis from the Eagles who will play his 100^th career game at his second club after beginning his career at Hawthorn where he was part of the 2008 Premiership winning team. It is a great effort from Ellis after several seasons ruined by injury.

KEY MATCH-UPS
West Coast have gone tall in the forward line to stretch the Lions’ defence and will also have the benefit of their resting ruckman providing additional targets.

Jack Darling, Callum Sinclair and Nic Naitanui have all been named in the Eagles forward line so we can probably expect Matt Maguire, Justin Clarke and Joel Patfull to line up on them initially. The dangerous Mark LeCras will be lurking at their feet for anything that drops off the packs and Jed Adcock should expect to be given the job of handling him.

Waiting on the bench for his opportunity is Jeremy McGovern who has shown some promising signs this season and Darcy Gardiner should also expect to be lining up down back with the height West Coast has on its books. It will be interesting to see how the backline is shuffled throughout the evening to control the Eagles forwards.

Moving to the midfield, the Eagles will be using Scott Lycett in the ruck in tandem with Naitanui, and possibly Sinclair, which means that Stefan Martin will be up for another huge night in the centre of the ground. Martin has been sensational since assuming the ruck mantle after injuries to Matthew Leuenberger and Trent West and the Lions need another great effort from him on Saturday night.

Pearce Hanley will be the Lions’ most experienced midfielder on the evening with youngsters James Aish, Ryan Lester, Mitch Golby and Claye Beams supporting him in the fight to win the football and move it forward. Facing off against this pride of Lions will be Eagles midfield general Matt Priddis along with Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff and Chris Masten.

The Lions Mozzie Squad of Dayne Zorko, Josh Green and Lewis Taylor have been in good form, and getting better with every outing this season forming an excellent relationship on the field. They will again be expected to get forward as often as possible and hit the scoreboard when they get their opportunities. They will most likely find themselves opposed to Sam Butler, Xavier Ellis and Jacob Brennan.

Daniel Merrett and Michael Close will again provide the height for the Lions in the forward fifty. While they found the going tough last weekend at the MCG they did compete well throughout the afternoon and need to bring the same effort and get reward on the scoreboard on Saturday. Eric MacKenzie took Lance Franklin out of the game last week and will be sent to do the job on Merrett. MacKenzie’s partner in crime Will Schofield will play on Michael Close and will be looking to run off Close at every opportunity.

Shannon Hurn is a weapon that the Eagles use for his booming kick off the half back flank and Ash McGrath might be sent to him due to his experience and ability to kick goals.

STASTISTICS

Historically this clash is one that West Coast has the edge on the Lions overall and, surprisingly, at the Gabba.

The clubs have played each other a total of 42 times with West Coast holding the overall advantage 29-12 with one draw in the mix. On top of this the Eagles also lead the Lions head-to-head at their Gabba clashes 9-8.

Of the past five clashes between the clubs the Eagles hold a 3-2 record with a couple of very memorable clashes that stand out.

The Round 10 contest in 2012 at the Gabba will live long in Lions fans memories after a magnificent comeback against the odds with the two point win coming almost from the final kick of the game – that being a mammoth James Polkinghorne torpedo. Jed Adcock, Tom Rockliff and Josh Drummond were the stand out performers on that afternoon.

The Round 23 clash in 2011 was a win to the Eagles and the Round 19 match in 2010 was a win to the Lions and both results were within two goals.

West Coast have struggled to find form this season after a stunning start to the campaign, but have shown they enjoy beating up on the teams at the lower end of the ladder. They have taken the Western Bulldogs, GWS Giants, Melbourne and St. Kilda to the cleaners in the earlier rounds and may be viewing the Lions as a potential easy beat.

But if the Lions bring the effort and intensity of their last home game against North Melbourne, then the Eagles will find the going tough on Saturday night.    

One further aspect of this contest is that this will be the first time that the Lions have run out without any of Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden or Daniel Rich since 2008.

LIONS RESERVES
Last weekend the Lions Reserves headed down to West Sydney to take on the UWS Giants in a curtain raiser to the GWS and Adelaide Crows game at Spotless Stadium.

It was a tough afternoon for the Lions reserves going down by a massive 127 points as the UWS Giants claimed top spot on the NEAFL ladder. The Lions found it hard to prevent the Giants from scoring on the afternoon with Jed Lamb kicking six goals for the Giants along with seven of his teammates who kicked multiple goals on the afternoon.

The Lions only had 13 listed players available for selection and had regular Academy top-up players involved with the Under-18 carnival in Melbourne. Brent Moloney and Matthew Leuenberger only playing a half of football and Archie Smith being concussed during the game compounded the issue of fit players available to the team.

This week the Lions are back at home in Queensland to play another curtain raiser at 3:30pm at the Gabba with the NT Thunder the visitors. The match will be a big test for the Lions Reserves with the Thunder currently third on the ladder and coming off a big 73 point win over Redlands last weekend.

The Lions Reserves currently have a 3-9 record and sit 10^th on the ladder.


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