The Cats have only lost a couple of times at their home ground over the past five seasons, and are yet to taste defeat there since the venue’s recent redevelopment.
The Lions know all too well the difficulties of playing at Simonds Stadium, having lost their past five encounters there by an average of 62 points.
In fact, the Lions haven’t won at Simonds Stadium since 2003 – the Club’s last premiership-winning season.
Three of the Club’s four lowest scores in merged history were also ‘achieved’ against the Cats in Geelong.
As difficult as the task may be, the Lions will approach Saturday’s final home-and-away clash with some confidence knowing that they were able to defeat Geelong two months ago in one of the most remarkable matches in recent memory at the Gabba.
Assistant Coach Adrian Fletcher says the Lions won’t be intimidated by the enormity of the task ahead.
“We love going to Geelong. We want to get down there and show that we can compete with the top four teams,” Fletcher told LIONSTV as part of the Vero Coaches’ Wrap.
“We know Geelong’s an elite outfit and have a sling-shot game-style.
“We’re going to have to make sure our pressure in our forward line is really good.
“It’s a longer ground, and a skinnier ground, so we’re going to need our talls to come up and mark it on the wings.”
Fletchers also said the Lions also have a couple of options waiting in the wings to replace injured stand-in forward Daniel Merrett.
“We’re going to have to replace (Brown and Merrett), but Jordy Lisle comes into contention and Sam Michael is a big rooster,” he said.
