WHERE & WHEN: The Gabba, 7.10pm, Saturday 8 April.
TV & RADIO: Channel 10 (Vic, Qld, NSW, SA), Fox Footy (WA only), 3AW, Triple-M, ABC Radio, NIRS
OUR COVERAGE: live scores, stats & audio, Game Day News Desk, match replay (24 hour delay)
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 29 - Won: Brisbane - 12, Essendon - 17
LAST TIME: Brisbane 17.12 (114) def. Essendon 14.17 (101), Round 17, 2005, at the Gabba
TAB SPORTSBET: Brisbane Lions $1.72, Essendon $2
THE MEDICAL ROOM: The Lions have Nigel Lappin (ankle), Chris Scott (hip surgery) and Richard Hadley (knee reconstruction) sidelined long-term. Impressive young defender Jed Adcock will miss up to five weeks after straining a quad at training last week, while Josh Drummond, who dislocated his left shoulder against the Cats, is expected to be out for between four and eight weeks. Joel Macdonald, who missed last week with tonsillitis, may be favoured to come in. Essendon is better-placed with four players - James Hird (calf), Jason Laycock (knee), Heath Hocking (quad) and Courtney Johns (ankle) to be tested. Of the four, only Hird is an outside chance to play.
THE STORY SO FAR: The Bombers made an emphatic statement first-up with an excellent 27-point win over reigning premiers, Sydney at Telstra Dome last Saturday night. The win was set up by a withering nine-goal opening term which included six to Matthew Lloyd in his first premiership match as captain. Brisbane faced a tough task first-up against the Cats who were coming off their NAB Cup grand final triumph over Adelaide. The Lions weren't fancied to win, but they certainly wouldn't have been expecting to be thumped the way they were by 77 points. Brisbane managed just one goal to half-time and had only two majors on the board to three-quarter time.
THE WHITEBOARD: As is generally the case with Essendon and Brisbane, their respective star forwards, Matthew Lloyd and Jonathan Brown are central to their fortunes. Lloyd had a dream start to his captaincy with six opening-term goals and a match-tally of eight against Sydney, but he will find a focused Mal Michael at the Gabba a much tougher assignment than Leo Barry who had 'one of those nights' in the opening round. Brown had a shocker against Geelong and was held goalless and to just 10 possessions by second-year defender Matthew Egan. Even worse, he endured the indignity of acting as stepladder for the smallest player on the ground, Shannon Byrnes' mark-of-the-day. Brown had an interrupted pre-season after undergoing minor knee surgery, but he has an awesome record against Essendon and single-handedly took the Bombers apart in his comeback match at Telstra Dome in round six last season. Kevin Sheedy had the luxury of leaving Kepler Bradley on a rampant Barry Hall for the entire match last week as the Sydney skipper racked up seven goals. It was all part of Bradley's education, Sheedy reasoned. Bradley will have every opportunity to take any lessons learned and apply them to Brown, but if the big Lion starts to cut loose, don’t expect Sheedy to be as patient with Bradley this week.
THE VERDICT: The Bombers will head north to Brisbane feeling settled and confident after an excellent first-up victory. There will be plenty of speculation regarding James Hird's fitness, but the former Bombers captain remains highly likely to miss again with a calf strain. If he plays, it will be a bonus. Playing as a stay-at-home centreman last week, the new, streamlined Jobe Watson was a revelation against the Swans, but he will find the likes of Simon Black, who has made a habit of polling Brownlow votes against the Bombers in recent seasons, a much tougher assignment. Brisbane has a fine recent record against Essendon, having won eight of their last nine clashes since 2001. It's impossible to tip the Lions on form, but home advantage and the rebound factor may just be enough to get them over the line. Brisbane by 15 points.
