STARS Simon Black and Jonathan Brown will make their first appearances of 2008, but hard-running utility Troy Selwood says the Brisbane Lions’ “middle-aged” players must take a step up against Geelong on Friday night.

The inclusion of Brown and Black, along with the return of Luke Power, will give the Lions significantly more firepower when they trek down the M1 to play the Cats in a NAB Challenge fixture at Carrara.

However, Selwood believes leadership must come from some younger Lions “veterans” - himself included - as much as the trio of co-captains.

"It’s great to have those boys back, you tend to walk a little taller with them around," Selwood said.

"But the younger guys who have got a bit of experience, like myself, need to back those guys up and provide leadership as well.

"The last couple of weeks we’ve had a very young side and it’s been pretty tough for some of the younger guys – not only are they probably a bit nervous, but they are also trying to adapt to a quicker game and playing against men for the first time."

Gun midfielder Gary Ablett will be missing for Geelong, but the Cats were still able to name a strong squad that included Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel and All-Australians Joel Corey, Steve Johnson and Paul Chapman.

Squads:

BRISBANE LIONS - 2 - Albert Proud, 4 - Travis Johnstone. 6 - Luke Power, 7 - Jed Adcock, 8 - Tim Notting, 11 - Justin Sherman, 14 - Lachlan Henderson, 16 - Jonathan Brown, 17 - Jared Brennan, 18 - Anthony Corrie, 19 - Jamie Charman, 20 - Simon Black, 22 - Tom Collier, 24 - Joel Patfull, 25 - Wayde Mills, 26 - Joel Macdonald, 28 - Troy Selwood, 30 - Robert Copeland, 32 - Cheynee Stiller, 33 - Rhan Hooper, 35 - Michael Rischitelli, 38 - Haydn Kiel, 39 - Josh Drummond, 40 - Phillip Smith, 41 - Scott Clouston, 42 - Pearce Hanley, 44 - Nigel Lappin, 45 - Daniel Dzufer, 47 - Joel Tippett

GEELONG - 2 - Tom Harley, 3 - Jimmy Bartel, 4 - Andrew Mackie, 7 - Harry Taylor, 8 - Josh Hunt, 9 - James Kelly, 10 - Kane Tenace, 11 - Joel Corey, 12 - Trent West, 13 - Tom Lonergan, 14 - Joel Selwood, 15 - Ryan Gamble, 17 - Shannon Byrnes, 20 - Steve Johnson, 24 - Mark Blake, 26 - Tom Hawkins, 27 - Matthew Stokes, 28 - David Johnson, 32 - Brent Prismall, 33 - Max Rooke, 35 - Paul Chapman, 36 - Brodie Moles, 40 - David Wojcinski, 41 - Shane Mumford, 44 - Corey Enright

The Cats (at a glance):
What is there to say about a side that won its last AFL fixture (and a premiership) by 119 points?

Geelong was the footballing equivalent of a perfect storm for much of last year, sweeping all before them en route to a first flag for 44 years.

Jimmy Bartel won the Brownlow Medal and a record nine Cats were named in the All-Australian team. To date in 2008, the Cats have thumped Melbourne in round one of the NAB Cup, before falling narrowly to St Kilda last week.

Look out for powerful young forward Tom Hawkins, who has trimmed down considerably over the summer and looks set to fill the vacancy left by Nathan Ablett.

Last time they met:
Considering the Lions were out of the finals running and Geelong had already secured the minor premiership, the round-22 clash at the Gabba had no shortage of talking points.

Cats defender Corey Enright lost his shorts and played for more than a minute in a pair of racing bathers, a pair of streakers ran onto the field in the final quarter and Jonathan Brown sealed the Coleman Medal with seven brilliant goals.

The Lions lost by 32 points but were competitive throughout and left no doubt that a bright future lay ahead.

Odds and sods:
# The Cats’ achievement of having nine All-Australians named in 2007 was unprecedented. To give an indication of how all the stars aligned for Geelong, eight of those players were named to the All-Australian side for the first time – with the exception of Matthew Scarlett.

The Lions’ best tally in their hat-trick of premierships earlier in the decade was a total of six in 2002.

# From round six until the grand final, only two sides registered more than 100 points in a game against the Cats.

The first was Port Adelaide in round 21; the second was the Lions with 15.13 (103) in round 22.

Brown’s haul of seven majors that night was one more than the entire Port Adelaide side managed against Geelong in the grand final.

# Geelong’s score of 163 points in the 2007 decider was the highest grand final score since the Lions racked up 134 points against Collingwood in 2003.

That Lions side and the Cats are the only two teams to kick 20 or more goals in a grand final since 1995.