FORM GUIDE
The Brisbane Lions last weekend came as close as they possibly could to producing the upset of Round Eight. An extremely competitive effort against Essendon ultimately fell just short but all Lions supporters would have been proud of the way that the players contested the football and kept running deep into the fourth quarter.

In the end it took a miracle goal on the run from young Bomber Jackson Merrett and a last minute mark and goal from Paddy Ryder to seal a tight win for the Bombers at the Gabba.

The Lions players and coaching staff will take great heart from the match and now need to replicate the same effort against North Melbourne this Saturday afternoon.

The Lions head into their Round Nine match with a 1-7 record.

The Kangaroos on the other hand have well and truly been the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the competition to date. Impressive wins have been followed up with surprising losses and their last start two weeks ago saw them well beaten by the Gold Coast Suns under the roof at Etihad Stadium.

They are well rested and ready to go for their clash with the Lions and will be doing all they can to improve their current 4-3 record and 10^th position on the AFL Ladder.

TEAM SELECTION
The Lions Match Committee have been forced to make two changes with Matt Maguire suspended for this weekend and Sam Mayes will be missing after suffering a concussion at training.

Young Lion Nick Robertson has been omitted and this may be a tactic from Senior Coach Justin Lepptisch to manage the workload of his younger players during the course of a long season.

Coming in to replace them is Mitch Golby, Jordan Lisle and we will also see Claye Beams make his return from injury. Beams has had a tough run with injury recently and hopefully he can get through the game unscathed and have a long injury-free run in the senior side.

North Melbourne has omitted both Brad McKenzie and Michael Firrito from the senior squad and Nathan Grima will miss with a foot injury.

Coming in to replace them is Robin Nahas, Sam Wright and the Kangaroos’ Captain Andrew Swallow will play his first game in almost a year after an Achilles injury.

KEY MATCH-UPS
This match on paper looks to provide plenty of interesting match-ups right across the ground.

Starting with the Lions backline, the key battle will be Justin Clarke on Drew Petrie. Generally if Petrie kicks a bag, then North Melbourne wins. So it is vital that Clarke locks Petrie down. While Petrie has not had the best of seasons to date yet he can break a game open with strong marking and accurate finishing.

If Clarke gets Petrie, then expect Darcy Gardiner will be given the job on the super athletic Majak Daw who is looking more dangerous with each game that he plays. Gardiner has had a very good start to his career in the senior side and Daw will pose a tough challenge with his aerial ability.

It will be intriguing to see who gets the starting job on Brent Harvey, the evergreen running machine. Harvey is enjoying another stellar season playing at his lofty standard and influencing games for the Kangaroos, and the Lions will need to curtail his influence. The Lions haven’t been playing hard tags this season, but Andrew Raines has a history of shutting down the opposition’s best players if required.

In the middle of the ground Andrew Swallow could go head-to-head in the clinches against Lion Jack Redden. Redden has been continuing to rack up consecutive games for the Lions, which is currently at 106, while Swallow is returning for his first game in almost a year after suffering an Achilles injury in 2013. It will be interesting to see whether Swallow goes the distance against Redden on Saturday or whether he becomes the sub at some stage.

Trent West will be up against Todd Goldstein as the first choice ruckman looking to give first use to their on ball brigade. Both ruckman have been doing well this season and a tough battle lies ahead for either to gain the ascendency in their duel.

If the sides line-up as they’ve been named, then we could see a tantalising match up on the Lions’ half-forward line, with Tom Rockliff going up against Roos recruit Nick Dal Santo. Rockliff has shown an adept ability to get forward this year and kick goals, contributing seven, while on the disposal front Rockliff is averaging 28 with Dal Santo averaging 26.

The Lions have again opted for a three-pronged tall forward attack with Jonathan Brown, Jackson Paine and Daniel Merrett. With Grima out injured and Dirrito omitted, the Kangaroos’ key defenders will likely be Aaron Mullett, Scott Thompson and Joel Tippett. The Lions probably have an edge in experience, and will need to use that to their advantage and impact the scoreboard when they get the chance.

Thompson for the Kangaroos has been in good form so far this year and will marshall the North Melbourne backline as and when required, and will also look to go third man up when the opportunity arises.

RECENT HISTORY
The Lions and the Kangaroos faced each other twice last season and split the games with one win apiece.

In Round Four at Etihad Stadium the Kangaroos romped to a 63-point win with both Lindsay Thomas and Drew Petrie kicking four goals, while for the Lions Tom Rockliff was the best performer in a big loss.

In Round 16 at the Gabba the Lions snuck over the line by 12-points, which further derailed the Kangaroos finals campaign in 2013. Both Sam Mayes and Pearce Hanley kicked three goals on the afternoon, which included an amazing running goal from Hanley beating a number of Kangaroos defenders before unleashing a right foot snap for the win. Tom Rockliff was best of the Lions midfielders on the afternoon picking up 28 disposals to go along with 11 tackles.

As you can see above plenty of the best performers in the 2013 clashes are involved in this weekend’s clash and will more than likely be the main protagonists again come Saturday.

The Lions have a poor recent record at Etihad Stadium winning just two of their past ten at the venue with an average losing margin of 54 points.

They can take some inspiration from the neighbours down the M1 on the Gold Coast who themselves broke a hoodoo at Etihad Stadium, finally winning on their seventh attempt at the venue against….. North Melbourne!

Will the Lions give North Melbourne back-to-back losses to Queensland teams at Etihad Stadium?

LIONS RESERVES
The Lions Reserves last weekend played Southport on the Gold Coast and were overrun by the Sharks to the tune of 33 points.

The Lions fielded a strong side, which included senior players Claye Beams, Mitch Golby, Brent Moloney, Ryan Harwood and Rohan Bewick.

While it was a close run contest through most of the afternoon the Sharks put on a four goal burst to finish the game of stronger. The Lions were down a rotation after half time with Jack Crisp withdrawn as he was the Lions emergency.

Zac O’Brien had another impressive game with 30 disposals, six clearances and five rebound fifties as one of the best for the Lions.

This week the team travels to the Northern Territory to take on the table topping NT Thunder at TIO Stadium on Saturday night at 7:30pm.

The match could see the return of versatile big man Stefan Martin, who has been sidelined throughout the pre-season with a back complaint.

Fans will be able to watch the match LIVE on the NT Thunder’s YouTube channel – ThunderVision.