The absence of Simon Black and Brent Moloney on Saturday will alter the look of the Brisbane Lions' midfield at the Gabba.
Black is missing his second consecutive match to injury, while Moloney strained his calf in the Lions’ win over Gold Coast.
In minutes played per disposal, Black and Moloney make up two of the top three in the Brisbane midfield.
| Player | Minutes per disposal; midfielders |
| Simon Black | 3.5 (AFL Rank: 10th) |
| Brent Moloney | 4.5 |
Black and Moloney also both rank in the top five at Brisbane for average handballs per game and are the top two players in clearances.
The Lions rely heavily on the two seasoned campaigners to extract the ball from the bottom of the pack so they can begin their running game.
| Player | Handballs | Clearances |
| Black | 12.0 (Brisbane rank: 2nd) | 5.0 (Brisbane rank: 2nd) |
| Moloney | 9.8 (Brisbane rank: 5th) | 5.3 (Brisbane rank: 1st) |
Black and Moloney are surrounded by the likes of Tom Rockliff, Pearce Hanley, Daniel Rich and Jack Redden, all players who can use their skills to hurt the opposition.
With that in mind, it is no surprise Brisbane has the second highest mark-play on ratio in the competition at 33.7 per cent, trying to get the ball into its prime movers’ hands as quickly as possible.
However Brisbane doesn’t play on quickly to run and carry. With 116 running bounces for the season, the Lions rank 13th in the AFL in that statistic.
It is difficult to pin point exactly which way Brisbane will line up in any given match – the unpredictability is often an advantage for Michael Voss and the coaching staff as teams try to counter.
For instance, Daniel Merrett spent time forward against the Suns. Before the clash, the big defender didn’t have a scoring shot this season.
In addition to Merrett, Brent Staker can also play forward or back depending on the game situation. Even Rockliff had been playing almost permanently down forward before the game against Gold Coast, when he drifted into the middle.
| Centre bounce involvements | Rounds 12-14 | Round 15 |
| Tom Rockliff | 4 | 11 |
It all shapes for a wildly unpredictable game, and if the forecast showers arrive at the Gabba on Saturday night the structures could be thrown even more out of order.
