Many final-round matches of footy seasons are inconsequential; ladder positions are set, finals spots locked up, and both sides essentially go through the motions whilst trying to avoid injuries.

In stark contrast to that norm, Saturday’s clash between cross-conference heavyweights the Lions and Swans Reserves is anything but a dead rubber, in fact, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

A Brisbane win will guarantee them the Northern Conference minor Premiership, while the southerners need a victory to have a chance of overtaking league leaders Queanbeyan in the Eastern Conference.

Brisbane sit equal with NT Thunder atop the ladder with 56 points, but the Lions have a vastly superior percentage. Therefore if both teams win this weekend, the Lions will finish first.

Lions Reserves coach Nathan Clarke is matter-of -fact about the final regular season fixtures; “If we win, we finish top, if we lose we’ll most likely finish second, that’s basically it.”

It would take a monumental upset for the Thunder to lose to Redlands tomorrow night, the match taking place in Darwin where NT is nigh-on unbeatable.

If the Lions lose on Saturday it’s more than likely they’d face the daunting trip to the NT capital in the second week of the finals. But second-year Coach reckons it might not be such a bad thing.

“If we finish second we’d probably have to trek up to Darwin to play NT, which would be tough,” Clarke explained.

“But the positive of that is it would be a really intense test for our younger guys in a high-stakes game, and a good experience for the boys who are pushing for spots in the senior side late in the AFL season.”

While tomorrow’s game isn’t a final, there’s no doubt it’s the Lions’ most important match-up of the year to date.

The meeting’s all the more tantalizing considering the teams have split their 2012 contests one-apiece; the Swans were 34-point round 8 winners, before Brisbane exacted revenge by three goals in round 15.

Intriguingly, the respective victories were recorded by the away team (Swans at Yeronga, Lions at SCG), but Clarke reckons home ground advantage will be a factor this time around.

“Although we’ve beaten each other away from home this year, I certainly think it’s a positive for us that the game’s in Brisbane,” Clarke reasoned.

“It’s a bit warmer up here than they’re used to in Sydney and we’ve been playing at Yeronga all year, so I think it stands us in good stead; I’d much rather be playing up here than in Sydney.”

The Lions are fresh from a week off, and they’ll be bolstered by the inclusion of defensive lynchpin Steve Wrigley and goalsneak Todd Banfield, who’ll both be eager to impress and earn a senior recall.

On the flipside, it’ll be Brisbane’s second game for the year without Jordan Lisle, but Clarke is confident his troops can get the job done without their leading goal kicker.

“Jordy’s a big loss no doubt, but it’s good to see him up in the top flight,” Clarke said.

“I’m still confident we can kick enough goals to beat them; we’ve got Ace [Aaron Cornelius], and James Hawksley and big Sam Michael will spend time up forward too.

“It should be a great game, I’d urge the fans to come out and give the guys as much support as possible.”

The game gets underway at 1:30 pm Saturday August 18 at Yeronga.