It’s a massive game for both Brisbane Lions and the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night at the Gabba.
Probably more so for the visiting Dogs, who are only percentage outside of the eight, but are in serious danger of dropping out of the race for the eight with just seven games to go for the home and away season. Position for spots in that top eight are at an all-time premium.
By reckoning, the should’ve beaten Port Adelaide on Monday night, but poor kicking, both around the ground and in front of goal cost them dearly. Oh, and there was that third quarter in which Port absolutely dominated in all facets of the stat sheet and showed the Dogs how to make the most of their opportunities.
In a season where they have played a large portion of their football in Queensland, they have not played at the Gabba yet this season. However, recent history at the home of the Lions has not been great. Since 2010, these two clubs have met at the Gabba six times, with Brisbane winning all but one of those games.
The Brisbane wins include when they were cellar-dwellers in 2015 and beat the Doggies in a shootout and in 2010, when the Dogs coughed up a five-goal lead early in the third quarter. Probably also best to mention that Brisbane did win four in a row to start the season in 2010, but only won three more games in the remainder of the season.
Just to make things more difficult for the Bulldogs, Brisbane’s home record since the start of 2019 is alarming. They won nine of 11 games at home last year and have so far won all four of their games at the Gabba. It should come as no shock to anyone that they are poised to make it five from five at home on Saturday night. But, given the nature and the results of what has been a pretty wacky season, anything is possible.
I watched the Lions play Richmond on Tuesday night at Metricon Stadium, keen to see how the Lions would handle a Richmond team that had arguably played themselves into form against the Doggies just less than a week prior. I thought the Lions didn’t exactly lower their colours the way the Bulldogs did, but their kicking for goal was perhaps just as diabolical, if not worse – I’ll leave that to you readers.
To sum it up, they had one less scoring shot than Richmond, and lost by 41 points. Brisbane kicked two goals in the opening quarter and in the final three quarters kicked 2.14 – which is about as nasty as looking at the photo of Isaac Quaynor’s leg after he got stretchered off – trust me, it’s not for the faint of heart.
The Tigers did invite the Lions to play more wide on Tuesday night and a lot of the shots on goal were from tough angles and hard distances. And then there were some pretty gettable ones like poor Sam Skinner from about 15 metres out directly in front. Suppose they lacked a bit of poise too as he marked and played on, whilst a Richmond defender was bearing down upon him.
How the Bulldogs manage to quell the mammoth presence of Lachie Neale and the tackling pressure of Jarryd Lyons around the stoppages and centre bounces will be fascinating to watch. But it’s how Bulldogs’ ruckman Tim English will fare against Oscar McInerney that I’m most intrigued to see unfold on Saturday night.
Big Tim has been found out a bit in recent weeks and hasn’t had as big of an impact on games as he probably would’ve liked. He’s got a good test in front him, ‘The Big O’ is definitely no slouch and has made a name for himself playing that hybrid ruck-tall forward option. But with both Stefan Martin and Archie Smith out with injury, he’s been the man shouldering the ruck duties at Brisbane and has run with the likes of Max Gawn and Ivan Soldo in recent weeks.
Aaron Naughton is back – Thank heavens for that! It’s no secret that the Western Bulldogs’ forward line is an absolute shambles. If it wasn’t for what monstrosity is brewing over in Adelaide, then the Bulldogs’ forward issues would be under extreme spotlight. Watching them bomb forward against Port Adelaide so often it was just painful to watch. Josh Bruce had the ball sat on his head and the guys like Tom Jonas, Tom Clurey and others were able to spoil with monotonous regularity.
If they bring that sort of style to Brisbane, then Harris Andrews and Darcy Gardiner will have a breeze clearing it out. Watching how Tom Lynch played Andrews on Tuesday night, he sucked Andrews in to commit to the contest, whilst he stayed down – he got himself on the end of a couple of goals. Luke Beveridge would be showing footage of that game to Bruce and Naughton and telling them that this is how you can beat someone like Andrews, who prefers to spoil rather than mark.
But in the overall grand scheme of things, Naughton’s inclusion not only should relieve some pressure off of Bruce, but in the likely chance the Bulldogs butcher and bastardise their use of the football, Naughton’s marking hands will be a plus. Given that he is coming back from a lengthy injury stint, I wouldn’t be putting so high expectations on him immediately.
As much as the average Bulldog supporter shakes their head in disgust that Ryan Gardner is back in the team as a replacement for Hayden Crozier, who injured his toe. The reality is that he hasn’t played a senior game since round two. Maybe he’s going to be playing a different role? Maybe he’s turned his luck around. That’s the only sort of hope I’m holding out, otherwise it’ll be another decision at selection that will make Luke Beveridge look ridiculous.
All things considered, I’m feeling pretty optimistic about tomorrow night. If they can tidy their disposal up and show some composure by honouring leads forward of centre, they can absolutely cause an upset. Brisbane has turned the Gabba back into a fortress in recent years, but it is still manageable to get one over them.
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