The Brisbane Lions Reserves will host their second NEAFL match of the season at the Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex this Saturday against a hungry Southport side desperate to keep their 2014 Finals dream alive.
The Lions’ remain unbeaten in regular season matches played at Burpengary – albeit there’s only been one – winning their Round 10 NEAFL clash against the Gold Coast by 61 points.
The results weren’t quite as favourable during the pre-season, when both the senior and reserve sides suffered back-to-back practice match defeats against the Sydney Swans and Aspley respectively.
Although the Lions have only visited the new Burpengary complex a few times, the Club is hoping to get greater exposure to the venue in the future.
“The Senior Coach (Justin Leppitsch) prefers that we play there, mainly because it’s a bit bigger than Coorparoo and is a similar size to the AFL grounds,” Innovation & Development Manager Gary O’Donnell told lions.com.au.
“It gives us a good opportunity to practice our game plan and how we want to move the ball on an AFL-sized ground.”
The Reserves will face stiff opposition in local Queensland heavyweights, Southport, who handed the Lions a five-goal loss earlier in Round 7 on the Gold Coast.
“They were terrific when we played them earlier in the season at Broadbeach,” O’Donnell said.
“On that day we fielded a very strong side, and had a lot of AFL experience. But they got in our face with their pressure.
“They had no right to beat us that day, but they did. They were very impressive.”
With the senior side hosting the Adelaide Crows on Saturday, all Lions fans are encouraged to head to Burpengary at 1:30pm on Saturday to help create a good atmosphere for the NEAFL clash.
Lions back at Burpengary
The Lions Reserves will host Southport at Burpengary on Saturday afternoon