Sam Sheldon has been rewarded for his strong form in the reserves and will make his debut, while Cheynee Stiller, Scott Harding and Albert Proud have also been recalled.
All are small and medium sized players and come in at the expense of injured Bradd Dalziell and Tom Collier and omitted big men Lachlan Henderson and Jason Roe.
Assistant coach Justin Leppitsch said Lions’ selections would not be dictated to by opposition line-ups but admitted they had to watch the Bombers’ pace if they wanted to win.
‘’Our tackling pressure, like every week, is going to have to be exceptional,’’ he said.
Essendon has made just one change to its line-up, with Cale Hooker coming in for ruckman David Hille who is out for the season with an ACL injury.
The teams
Brisbane Lions
B: Ashley McGrath, Daniel Merrett, Joel Patfull
HB: Troy Selwood, Joel Macdonald, Josh Drummond
C: Jared Brennan, Simon Black, Daniel Rich
HF: Michael Rischitelli, Jonathan Brown, Justin Sherman
F: Cheynee Stiller, Daniel Bradshaw, Luke Power
Foll: Mitch Clark, Travis Johnstone, Jed Adcock
Int: Scott Harding, James Polkinghorne, Albert Proud, Sam Sheldon
In: Stiller, Harding, Proud, Sheldon (debut)
Out: Bradd Dalziell (knee), Collier (AC joint), Lachlan Henderson (omit), Jason Roe (omit)
Essendon
B: Dustin Fletcher, Tayte Pears, Henry Slattery
HB: Courtenay Dempsey, Nathan Lovett-Murray, David Myers
C: Ricky Dyson, Brent Stanton, Angus Monfries
HF: Jason Winderlich, Scott Lucas, Leroy Jetta
F: Adam McPhee, Matthew Lloyd, Alwyn Davey
Foll: Patrick Ryder, Jobe Watson, Andrew Lovett
Int: Sam Lonergan, Heath Hocking, David Zaharakis, Cale Hooker
In: Hooker
Out: David Hille (knee)
On the punt
Despite last week’s heavy loss to premiership favourites Geelong, the Lions are strong favourites to bounce back with a win against Essendon. Bookies have installed the home team as $1.45 favourites to win their first match against the Bombers ($2.60) in three years. Elsewhere around the league, last season’s leading full-forwards Brendan Fevola and Lance Franklin go head-to-head as the Blues take on the Hawks. Carlton ($1.85) is slight favourite, but Hawthorn ($1.90) is very good money as outsiders with some of its guns running into form. Geelong ($1.01) takes on a Melbourne ($13) outfit that is the most dismissed by punters in history.
Key match-up
Dustin Fletcher v Daniel Bradshaw. After a great start to the season, Bradshaw has barely been sighted the past two weeks, coming up with a pair of donuts against Collingwood and Geelong. First it was Harry O’Brien and last week Matthew Scarlett getting the better of him. While the Lions have fallen down in more areas than their forward line in the past fortnight, it is more than coincidence the scoring has dipped with Bradshaw’s quiet patch. The Lion is quick on the lead, but Fletcher’s renowned Inspector Gadget arms make it hard for any opponent to feel safe.
Odds and sods
Essendon has completely dominated the past three match-ups between the two clubs. The Bombers have piled on an average of 147 points a contest, with average winning margins of 46 points. But all those matches were played at Docklands and the Lions won the last match at the Gabba in 2006.
The Lions have not coughed up the final-quarter leads as they did in 2008, but the fourth-quarter stats still make poor reading. The Lions have lost four of five final terms, kicking just nine goals during last quarters. Conversely, Essendon’s strength seems to come after the half time break, winning four of five third quarters.
While the Lions’ engine room was poor in the effort stakes last week, generally it has been strong in 2009. Michael Rischitelli, Jed Adcock, Daniel Rich and Luke Power are all in the league’s top-25 tacklers, the most from any one club. St Kilda and North Melbourne both have three players in the same bracket.
And the winner is ...
Surely the Lions cannot play as poorly as they did against Geelong again. If the Lions can batten down the hatches around the stoppages and stop Essendon’s running game, they will go a long way towards ending a three-year dry spell against the Bombers. The respective forward and back lines match up well and the Lions should have an experience edge in the middle that will get them home. Essendon was flat against the Kangaroos after a huge win against Carlton, and after last week’s Anzac Day blockbuster will have to guard against a similar let-down. The Lions will get home by four goals.
