THE BRISBANE Lions have made three changes for Saturday’s match against North Melbourne at Docklands, with veteran Tim Notting to line up for his 200th game.

Small forward Rhan Hooper will come back for his first senior match since injuring his ankle in round two, while Albert Proud returns from injury, and Lachlan Henderson is added to the squad for his size.

Aaron Cornelius makes way after making his debut in the 16-point loss to St Kilda, as do Tom Collier and midfielder Travis Johnstone.

Utility Cheynee Stiller was one of the Lions’ best last week and says the team must back up the strong showing against St Kilda with a win over the Kangaroos.

"It's a really important game for us with all the teams around the same points on the ladder,’’ he said.

"North Melbourne are always hard fighters and going back to Melbourne we’d like to win.

"We’ve really got to win the footy through the middle and use the big forwards to kick a good score."

North Melbourne have brought in Levi Greenwood for the injured Sam Power (hamstring).

The teams
Brisbane Lions
B: Ashley McGrath, Joel Macdonald, James Polkinghorne
HB: Sam Sheldon, Jared Brennan, Josh Drummond
C: Scott Harding, Simon Black, Daniel Rich
HF: Michael Rischitelli, Jonathan Brown, Justin Sherman
F: Cheynee Stiller, Daniel Bradshaw, Luke Power
Foll: Mitch Clark, Rhan Hooper, Jed Adcock
Int: Albert Proud, Tim Notting, Lachlan Henderson, Matt Austin
 
In: Proud, Hooper, Henderson
Out: Travis Johnstone, Aaron Cornelius, Tom Collier

North Melbourne
B: Nathan Grima, Scott Thompson, Gavin Urquhart
HB: Brady Rawlings, Michael Firrito, Leigh Harding
C: Ben Ross, Jack Ziebell, Sam Wright
HF: Daniel Wells, Drew Petrie, Ben Warren
F: Lindsay Thomas, David Hale, Scott McMahon
Foll: Hamish McIntosh, Levi Greenwood, Andrew Swallow
Int: Adam Simpson, Todd Goldstein, Aaron Edwards, Josh Gibson

In: Greenwood
Out: Sam Power (hamstring)

On the punt
Despite being poor travellers, the Lions have been installed as $1.75 favourites for Saturday’s match. Coming off last week’s bold showing against St Kilda, the price looks good value up against the Kangaroos’ quote of $2. It might be worth having a look at the odds for the match’s leading goalkicker, with Jonathan Brown listed as a $3 favourite. Brown has been stood by Michael Firrito in the past and generally had a field day against the Kangas.
 
Key match-up
Daniel Bradshaw (Lions) v David Hale (North Melbourne). With Lachlan Henderson named in the Lions line-up, it’s likely a number of players will be rotated through the backline. But Hale is a big target and coming off five goals against Fremantle last week is in good touch. Bradshaw showed last week he was just as effective down back on Nick Reiwoldt as he was up forward kicking goals. He might not get first crack, but expect Bradshaw to match up with the former Gold Coaster during the contest.

Odds and sods
At a tick under 79 points a game, North Melbourne are the second worst attacking team in the competition, with just the one-win Melbourne scoring less. Coupled against the Lions’ fourth best defence in the league, the Kangaroos will have to work hard for their points.

In nine matches so far this season North Melbourne have won just one final quarter. The Lions are far from perfect, but have won four times after three-quarter time. In total the Lions have won 18 quarters this season and North Melbourne just 11.

The Lions and Kangaroos have not played each other at the Docklands since 2006. On that occasion the Lions got home by the barest of margins, 12.13 (85) to 11.18 (84).

And the winner is ...
If they play like last week, it’s impossible to go past the Lions. But with just one win from their past 10 road trips, that’s a mighty big ‘if’ as the Lions head south for the second week in succession. North Melbourne works hard in the middle and has marking targets Hale, Drew Petrie and Scott McMahon to test the skinny Lions defence. However, the boys from Brisbane are gaining momentum and with a host of new avenues to goal over the past month should have enough to kick a winning score on Saturday. Lions by 20.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club