After slogging it out against Geelong in dreadful conditions last week at the Gabba, the Brisbane Lions are prepared for a vastly different style of match this Saturday afternoon against Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

Speaking prior to the Lions’ final training session in Melbourne on Friday, Assistant Coach Gary O’Donnell said he expected a fast-paced encounter with the Bombers.

“Traditionally we haven’t had a lot of good results (at Etihad Stadium) - at least not in the recent past,” O’Donnell said.

“It’s a very quick deck and Essendon move the ball very quickly. Some of the faster teams do that at Etihad.”

“So we have to get our first hands on the ball, these days its contested ball situations decide games.”

But O’Donnell said it’s also critical that the players use the ball effectively - a trait that severely lacked last week against the Cats.

“It starts (with the contested ball), and then it becomes more about being able to convert that into scores I suppose,” O’Donnell said.

“We also need to have our forward setup to allow Jonathan Brown to get away (from his opponent).”

“Probably in the few games Browny has played, the conditions haven’t been real flash for both us and him. But we get perfect conditions at Etihad tomorrow, so we are looking forward to it.”

The inclusion of hulking teenage ruckman Billy Longer will no doubt provide Brown with another ally in attack.

“Billy is a great character and provides a lot of morale to the team,” O’Donnell said.

“He has still got a lot to learn, but we think he is going to be a very good player for us. So it’s really good for him to be back in the side and for us to have two ruckman in the side.”

“With our selection over the last few weeks, we decided to go with one ruckman and one part-time ruckman.”

“We are going with two this week and if Billy gets his hand on it, he is a very good mark. He has a good pair of mits. So hopefully a couple can fall in his lap in the forward line as well.”