At the beginning of the 2012 season, the anticipation towards QClash 3 was even more significant considering Lions superstar - and reigning Marcus Ashcroft Medallist - Simon Black was expected to become just the fourth player in Club history to notch up 300 games against Queensland’s newest AFL team.

However, a broken hand suffered against Carlton in Round 2 set Black’s looming milestone back for another 3-4 weeks.

But, as it turns out, the Lions members and supporters who turn out for this Saturday night’s match at the Gabba might yet be able to witness a milestone of a different kind, with skipper Jonathan Brown still two goals shy of 500 goals.

It might be a sense of ‘Groundhog Day’ for those who were at the Gabba back in Round 17 last year when Brown was first expected to become just the 49th player in the history of the game to reach the significant figure.

But another facial fracture ended up robbing the three-time Club Champion - and the local Lions fans - of this potential celebration.

It then looked likely that Brown would bring up his 500th goal away from home when he returned from injury last week against Fremantle at Subiaco.

However, he was held goalless against the Dockers after receiving very limited opportunities up forward. In fact, the Lions were only able to penetrate their forward 50m a total of 20 times - which was an AFL record low.

So Brown was still left stranded on 498 career goals on his return home from Western Australia.

This once again opens the door for local Lions fans to potentially share in the celebration if he reaches the elusive target this Saturday night during his first ever match against the Gold Coast.

Brown has long been waiting to line-up against his team’s local rivals after missing the Club’s first two matches against the SUNS last year through injury.

The imminent milestone only adds to the excitement surrounding the centre half-forward’s QClash debut.

Some conspiracy theorists might suggest that Brown purposely didn’t contribute to the scoresheet last week so that he could instead reward his home crowd - with his comments leading into the team’s match against Geelong in Round 17 last year supporting this outlandish theory.

“Hopefully I can notch up the 500 this week in front of my home crowd,” Brown said leading up to his first real crack at the milestone.

“They’ve always been fantastic supporters of me and I just hope I can give them something to cheer about.”

“I actually deliberately missed a shot in front of goals last week against Hawthorn so I could do it in front of my own home crowd,” Brown laughed. “Well, that’s my excuse anyway.”

In all seriousness, the past nine months has only proven how difficult it is to kick a single goal in AFL football - let alone 500.

Only three other players have achieved this feat in 126 years of combined Club history - Alastair Lynch (633), Jack Moriarty (626) and Bernie Quinlan (576).

It is absolute elite company that Brown is set to join, and there is every chance that we might never see another Lions player achieve this amazing feat in our lifetime.

So don’t miss your chance to be a part of history by lending your support for the Lions - and Browny - from the stands this Saturday night at the Gabba.