JAMIE CHARMAN and his Brisbane Lions teammates have high hopes of going into the split round with six wins under their belt – starting with Saturday night’s showdown with the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba.
The Lions have made three changes to the side which drew with Richmond last week, bringing in Joel Macdonald, Ash McGrath and Marcus Allan for Chris Johnson (foot), Chris Schmidt and Scott Harding.
It will be MacDonald’s first game since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament against Hawthorn at Carrara in round seven of last year.
”Saturday night’s really important to us – we started the season so well and now, all of a sudden, we haven’t won for four weeks,” Charman said.
”But another two wins going into the break and we’d be right back in the hunt for the finals.
”We’ve spent this week working on the things we haven’t done so well in the last few weeks and hopefully what we’ve put in place can help us get a win.”
The Bulldogs made four changes to the team which suffered a shock loss to Carlton last Sunday, including Jarrod Harbrow, Robert Murphy, Farren Ray and Tom Williams at the expense of Sam Power, Jordan McMahon, Matthew Robbins and Cameron Wight.
Harbrow and Williams are both native Queenslanders.
TEAMS
BRISBANE LIONS
B: Colm Begley, Daniel Merrett, Jared Brennan
HB: Jed Adcock, Josh Drummond, Robert Copeland
C: Tim Notting, Nigel Lappin, Cheynee Stiller
HF: Justin Sherman, Jonathan Brown, Troy Selwood
F: Ashley McGrath, Joel Patfull, Mitch Clark
FOLL: Jamie Charman, Simon Black, Richard Hadley
I/C: Michael Rischitelli, Rhan Hooper, Joel MacDonald, Marcus Allan
EMG: Chris Schmidt, Albert Proud, Cameron Wood
In: McGrath, Allan, MacDonald
Out: Chris Johnson (foot), Schmidt, Scott Harding
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Ryan Griffen, Brian Harris, Dale Morris
HB: Lindsay Gilbee, Tom Williams, Ryan Hargrave
C: Nathan Eagleton, Scott West, Jason Akermanis
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Brad Johnson, Adam Cooney
F: Robert Murphy, Luke Darcy, Shaun Higgins
FOLL: Peter Street, Daniel Cross, Matthew Boyd
I/C: Dylan Addison, Mitch Hahn, Jarrod Harbrow, Farren Ray
EMG: Andrejs Everitt, Will Minson, Cameron Wight
In: Harbrow, Murphy, Ray, Williams
Out: Jordan McMahon, Sam Power, Matthew Robbins, Wight
ON THE PUNT
For the second week in a row, the Lions will start as warmish underdogs (appropriately against the Dogs!) at $2 even on UNiTAB. The visiting Bulldogs are $1.75. The Bulldogs’ penchant for end-to-end football and lack of key defenders is evident in the very short $2.60 being quoted for a combined score of 221 points or more. For those who fancy that history might repeat itself, a draw is paying $51.
Lions midfielder and co-captain Simon Black remains steady in the Brownlow Medal betting at $10 – four rungs above Bulldogs veteran Scott West, who, as a dual Brownlow runner-up, is very generously priced at $35. The seasonal exotic market now also includes a category for the premiership-winning state, with Queensland quoted at $151. The $2.20 favourite is Victoria, just in front of WA ($2.25)
KEY MATCH-UP
Jed Adcock (Lions) v Brad Johnson (Bulldogs)
Several Lions would be in the running to stand Johnson, including Robbie Copeland and Josh Drummond. But Adcock’s past record against dangerous small forwards like Jeff Farmer, Gary Ablett and Adem Yze could see him get first crack. Whoever matches up on Johnson has a big job ahead of them. The Bulldogs skipper has kicked 14 goals from his past three games against the Lions, including a miracle mid-air soccer effort at the Gabba in Round 7 of 2005.
ODDS AND SODS
*** An injury and a selection table decision mean the Power family can probably breath easier while watching Saturday night’s game than would otherwise have been the case. Lions co-captain Luke has been ruled out for a second week with a quad problem, while Bulldogs utility and younger brother Sam was omitted.
*** The Lions-Bulldogs clash of round 18 2005 is often described as an amazing match – and not without reason. The Lions came from 47 points down in the second quarter to grab a last-term lead, before running out of puff. Had they managed to hang on, it would have ranked in the top-25 comebacks in the 110-year existence of the league. The Lions have never kicked less than 12 goals and have averaged 103 points in each of their past three games against the Dogs, but have ended up on the wrong side of the ledger each time.
*** Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade was only 18 years old and in his first season of VFL football when he lined up alongside Lions coach Leigh Matthews in Hawthorn’s 1976 premiership team. Eade, now 49, went on to play in another three flags as a Hawk but is yet to achieve the ultimate success as a coach – despite taking Sydney to a Grand Final in his first year at the helm. Matthews, who turned 55 in March, finished his Hawthorn career with four premiership medallions and has since added another four as a coach.
*** Last weekend’s draw against Richmond was the 137th in VFL/AFL history. With both the Lions and the Tigers kicking 10.13, it was also the 60th perfect draw. Oddly enough, all of the Lions’ previous draws – twice against Port Adelaide and once against the Kangaroos – were also perfect.
