1. It’s been how long?
What do you remember about August 2009?
Kevin Rudd, the only Brisbane Lions fan to occupy The Lodge was a bit over a year into his first term as prime minister, The Black Eyed Peas ruled the airwaves and Lewis Young was four months away from his eleventh birthday.
It was also the last time you celebrated a Bulldog win up at the Gabba. That’s right, it was Round 20, eight years ago when the Dogs won a tight one before 33,421 fans up in Brisvegas.
It’s been a better run since then, of course - the Lions have only beaten a Luke Beveridge coached side once. But what does it all matter? Probably nothing, but there you have it.
2. Lion hunter
You get the feeling that the Lions may have circled this one on the calendar looking at their ins this week, and they’ll also get midfield jet Dayne Zorko back after as he returns from an MRP sanctioned holiday.
While Hipwood, McCluggage,
So don’t be surprised if you see Tom Liberatore standing next to him at the first bounce. And at every stoppage, and possibly in the car on the way home.
Libba was lethal last week in curbing Zach Merrett’s influence on the game, and we could see him deployed in a similar role again on Saturday.
3. The traveller
Luke Beveridge’s listing of Robert Murphy as a ‘travelling emergency’ on the team sheet Thursday had the footy media a little worked up about what it means, but the coach offered a straight forward explanation at his press conference on Friday morning.
With some six day breaks at AFL level, a VFL bye on the horizon and a few players in need of game time as they return from various layoffs, it was thought Murphy was the best choice to take up to Brisbane.
Is there a chance he’ll play? The coach says yes, but in an ideal world, the skipper will take a week to freshen up for the run home.
4. The boys light up
It’s forecasted to be 25 and sunny on Saturday in
So while most of us will have
While it’s fair to say the Bulldogs haven’t been known as a high scoring team in recent times, there does seem to be something about the Lions, where we’ve averaged 127.5 points per game in the Luke Beveridge era.
But make no mistake, the Lions will want this one and they showed they can get us when it all clicks as it did back in Round 5 when they got 38 points up in the second quarter.
That said, while we all love a shootout, let’s be honest, we probably don’t care how we do it, so long as we’re leading when the siren sounds at around 5:30ish on Saturday afternoon.
Should be
