Reserves Coach Nathan Clarke said the week off shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for his young side.
“We’re lucky because our guys are professionals, and their preparation all week has been really good,” Clarke said.
“There’s always a danger coming off a Bye that you can take a while to get yourself going, but both sides will be in the exact same position so it should have no effect.”
Broadbeach have developed a very strong list and have traditionally caused the Lions some headaches in the past - particularly on the Gold Coast.
“I really rate them,” Clarke said.
“When we beat them back in Round 1, I thought it was a really good win by our boys. They’re a very talented side and probably weren’t up-and-going when we played them first-up. On the weekend before the State game, they absolutely smashed Aspley.”
“They have a lot of good players including Kallen Geary who played in State game. Then there’s Jason Eagle - who kicked 11 in his last match - and former Essendon forward Jay Neagle. Another former AFL player, Ezra Poyas, has been out recently, but we’re preparing for him to play,” Clarke said.
“They are also really well coached by Matt Angus who is a good teacher and highly respected across the NEAFL.”
While Clarke remained tight-lipped on how he expected the Lions to line-up, he said that some of his players had already proven they could match-up well against the Cats.
“I’m still unsure exactly how we’ll shape up at this stage, but we should be able to field full complement of 18 listed blokes,” he said.
“We’ll lose a couple with Billy Longer and Blacky being out injured, plus we’ll hold another player over as an emergency for the seniors.”
“Justin Clarke played on Jason Eagle last time and did a pretty good job - albeit on a tough day for forwards.”
“We also had Callum Bartlett running around with Poyas in an entertaining duel.”
“It should be a good game to go and watch - so I hope we can get a few Lions fans out there on the Saturday afternoon.”
Former Broadbeach player-turned-Lion Dayne Zorko might also be among the crowd of interested onlookers.
“He was injured last time we played them, so missed the chance to play against his old mates. But he just loves being part of it all and watching football in general.”
The Lions Reserves will face Broadbeach at H&A Oval (Dunlop Crt, Mermaid Waters) at 1:30pm this Saturday 2 June.
