FORM GUIDE
After a solid period of form culminating in back-to-back wins, the Brisbane Lions were well and truly humbled last Sunday afternoon at the Gabba.

A 105-point thrashing at the hands of the Adelaide Crows was a poor showing in front of the home crowd faithful, and Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch would have been severely disappointed.

It was the type of result that can and does happen from time to time with a young side on the rebuild and it would certainly have been looked at as a learning exercise to this group of Lions.

Vice-Captain Tom Rockliff can hold his head high as he tried valiantly all afternoon amassing 40 disposals, 10 marks, 10 tackles and also kicked a goal in a solo cameo against the Crows.

The Lions currently have a 6-13 record and sit 15th on the ladder.

Collingwood travelled to Perth last weekend to face a resurgent West Coast Eagles outfit, who are making a late charge for September action. The Eagles were hot out of the blocks early and put the foot down after half-time to thump the Magpies by 60 points.

It was a result that leaves Collingwood desperately searching for wins in the final three rounds to make the finals.

The Magpies currently have a 10-9 record and sit 9th on the ladder.

This game kicks off at 7:40pm at the MCG on Saturday night.

TEAM SELECTIONS
The Lions Match Committee has resisted bring ruckman Matthew Leuenberger back into the senior side, and opted for just the one change from last weekend’s team – with Claye Beams coming in for Nick Robertson who has been omitted.

Nathan Buckley and the Collingwood Coaching Committee have included some big names in Dane Swan, Brodie Grundy, Luke Ball and Ben Sinclair for Saturday nights clash. Out of the team goes Sam Dwyer with a hamstring injury along with Clinton Young, Tony Armstrong and Jesse White who have all been omitted.

CONGRATULATIONS TOM ROCKLIFF, ALEX FASOLO AND JARRYD BLAIR
Congratulations to Vice-Captain Tom Rockliff who this week plays his 100th AFL game at the home of football, the MCG.

It is a magnificent effort from the hard-nosed midfielder considering his early setbacks in the Draft. He is fast becoming one of the elite AFL midfielders. The Lions know that they have a special talent in their ranks and also a player that loves the city of Brisbane.

For Collingwood Alex Fasolo will line up for his 50th game while Jarryd Blair will play his 100th for the Magpies.

Well done to all players in their milestone matches this weekend.

KEY MATCH-UPS
The big Collingwood target in the forward line, as always, will be Travis Cloke – and he is starting to get some support with Ben Reid recently back in the side. The Magpies pair can probably expect Matt Maguire and Justin Clarke to go to them respectively, with Joel Patfull as always marshalling the troops in the backline.

One of the biggest forward line dangers for the Lions is young Magpie Jamie Elliot, who has a fantastic leap and an uncanny ability to kick clutch goals. Elliott requires a match up with pace and one that can also prevent him from getting to much time to launch for marks and he may very well have one of Ryan Harwood or Captain Jed Adcock lining up on him.

The Magpies have recalled ruckman Brodie Grundy and he will be used in combination with first choice ruckman Jarrod Witts to go up against Lions big man Stefan Martin. Martin has been a revelation for the Lions this season in the absence of both Matthew Leuenberger and Trent West and on Saturday he has yet another challenge ahead of him with tandem Collingwood ruckmen on deck. Daniel Merrett will have to give Martin assistance at various stages during the night when not playing in the forward line.

Tom Rockliff is having an All-Australian worthy season in the middle of the ground for the Lions and this weekend he will be up against two of the stars of the AFL in Collingwood Captain Scott Pendlebury and Dayne Beams. Dane Swan and Luke Ball are also back into the Magpies side this weekend giving them additional ball winning ability so the Lions, through Pearce Hanley, Claye Beams and also James Aish, will need to be at their best in the contest.

Rockliff should expect to have Brent Macaffar joined to his hip for the evening as the Magpies number one tagger has done a brilliant job. It could prove to be a tough night for the Lions number one ball winner.

Both sides have plenty of run and energy on the wings and flanks with Sam Mayes, Dayne Zorko, Josh Green and Lewis Taylor for the Lions going head-to-head with Jarryd Blair, Steele Sidebottom, Heritier Lumumba and Alex Fasolo. All those players love to run and carry the footy and every single one of them loves a goal when they get the chance. It is certainly a dynamic mix for the all supporters to watch.

The Lions forward line will again comprise of key talls Michael Close, Jonathan Freeman and Daniel Merrett with the added flexibility of Daniel McStay who will swing between the forward line and backline as the Lions need. Close and Merrett can expect Lachlan Keefe and Jack Frost to go to them while Freeman in his second game will probably see Tyson Goldsack lining up on him. McStay has the opportunity to play almost as a spare with the Magpies not really having a fourth tall option at that end of the ground.

STATISTICS
The Magpies lead the past five clashes 4-1 with the last meeting between the two sides coming way back in Round 10 last season, which the Magpies won by 49 points at the Gabba.

A concern for both Senior Coaches heading into this one is their respective teams’ inability to impact the scoreboard in recent weeks. Since Round 13 the Magpies are scoring at an average of 76 points per game, while the Lions average in that same time period is a lowly 67 points. This is definitely not the level of scoring that the fans will be hoping to see at the MCG on Saturday night!

In addition to this, the contested possession category for both teams was well down on both their respective opponents last weekend and across the season overall. The Lions are currently ranked 18th for contested possession averaging 126.2 per game compared with the Magpies who are currently ranked 10th with an average of 136.6 per game.

Playing at the MCG in recent times has become a rarity for the Lions and even more so when the game has been played under lights. As was pointed out earlier this week on the website, the Lions are playing their first night game at the MCG in almost three years and they have a total of 15 players that have yet to do so. This could actually be a positive as these young players won’t be burdened by Brisbane’s poor recent record at the ground where they have lost their last three consecutive games and seven of the last eight.

While the Finals are not a consideration for the Lions they do have the opportunity to say who makes it and where they do finish in the top eight. Collingwood will be more desperate than usual for a win on Saturday night as they fight with half a dozen other teams for September action and a loss to the Lions could be fatal to the Magpies finals aspirations.

LIONS RESERVES
Last week the Lions Reserves headed to the Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex to face the Southport Sharks. The Lions Reserves put in a great effort on the day to record a commanding 73-point win over the Sharks, after fielding one of the strongest Lions teams for the season.

The big win by the Lions Reserves was set up with a 17-goal-to-three performance after the quarter time break which was built upon the strong work done in the middle of the ground.

Ryan Lester, Zac O’Brien, Nick Hayes, Claye Beams and James Polkinghorne all won plenty of footy on the afternoon. O’Brien in particular was a stand out on the afternoon collecting 39 disposals. Jordan Lisle was impressive in the front half of the ground kicking a bag of five goals.

This week the Lions Reserves take on the Gold Coast Suns Reserves at Metricon Stadium as a curtain raiser to the Gold Coast and Port Adelaide AFL match. The game kicks off at 10:20am with the Lions looking to go back-to-back and the Suns reserves still searching for the first win of the season.

The Lions reserves currently have a 5-11 record and sit 10th on the ladder.